Apr 28, 2023 3 min read

High school baseball

Steve Laurence and Jack Natili each homered and drove in four runs as the Indians crushed visiting Latrobe 19-4 in four innings late Thursday night at Peterswood Park.

The Indians (8-6) had a 15-hit attack, drew eight walks, hit three home runs and scored in every inning. PT led 5-3 before scoring eight times in the third inning.

Carter Shanafelt also homered for PT and Will Somers scored four times. Luke Markowski and David Oberschelp combined on a five-hitter.

Latrobe’s record is 10-6.

Track and field

Trinity High School’s Jake Phillips took home two individual gold medals and was part of a winning relay team Thursday at the Big South Invitational held at Thomas Jefferson.

Phillips won the 200- and 400-meter dashes and helepd the Hillers finish first in the 1,600 relay.

Andrew Durig won the 100 dash, John Garcia was second in the 800 and Zach Noble finished second in the pole vault. Mason Kraeer placed third in the shot put, Ben Pason was third in the 3,200 and the Hillers’ 3,200 relay team finished in third place.

Trinity’s Kaylee Foringer was the Girls Overall MVP after winning the 1,600 and 3,200, placing third in the 800 and being part of the 1,600 relay team that finished fourth.

Nakyra Paith (100), Carys Miller (discus), Rayne Elling (javelin) and Rylee Elling (shot put) all had second-place finishes.

NFL draft ratings up

Viewership of the first round of the NFL draft was up 11% over last year, the league announced Friday.

According to the league, an average of 11.4 million viewers watched the draft on TV and digital platforms. The average was 10.3 million in 2022.

The total audience was 34.2 million, up from the 32.8 million who watched the year before.

In college sports

New Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said he’s ready to lead a conference that’s on solid footing but insisted there are still hurdles to clear.

The most immediate task, he said, is ensuring a smooth transition when Southern California and UCLA arrive next year.

“There’s a ton of work that has to be done to make sure that we organize it properly,” he said.

Beyond that, he said simply: “As commissioner of the Big Ten, my job is to make sure the conference is as strong in the future as it’s always been. And I’ll just leave it at that.”

The longtime Major League Baseball and TV executive was introduced as the Big Ten’s seventh commissioner on Friday, just over two weeks after he was hired to replace Kevin Warren.