Jun 3, 2021 3 min read

Colt baseball

Braden Helmkamp homered and Luke Cowden and Jerrod Jackson each had an RBI double as Washington A overpowered Washington B 12-2 Wednesday night in the Chartiers Valley Baseball Association Colt League game.

Ryan Keith had an RBI triple and Jacob Ross drove in a run with a double for Washington B.

In the NHL

Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele was suspended for four games by the NHL on Thursday night for a crushing late hit on Montreal’s Jake Evans in Game 1 of the second-round series.

Evans was taken off the ice on a stretcher with 57 seconds left Wednesday night in Montreal’s 5-3 victory after being hit in the head and shoulder area an instant after tucking in an empty-net goal. Evans chased down the puck behind the net, tightly circled back around the goal cage and scored just before Scheifele’s sent him crashing to the ice. Scheifele was given a major for charging and a game misconduct.

Evans sustained a concussion. He was not taken to a hospital.

In college softball

James Madison looked like a Women’s College World Series regular on Thursday.

It actually was the Dukes’ first trip, and they made their first game memorable. Kate Gordon hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth inning and Odicci Alexander threw a complete game to help James Madison stun top-seeded Oklahoma 4-3 in eight innings.

The Dukes (40-2) got the win against a program that won national titles in 2000, 2013, 2016 and 2017 and was the runner-up in 2012 and 2019. In front of an amped-up crowd at the newly expanded USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium just 25 miles from Oklahoma’s campus, James Madison and its small group of energetic supporters looked right at home.

Alexander controlled the action. The second-team NFCA All-American threw 129 pitches and struck out nine. She faced the top of Oklahoma’s order in the eighth and escaped without allowing a run. The Dukes advanced to a winners bracket game against Oklahoma State on Friday. The Cowgirls defeated Georgia 3-2 on Thursday afternoon.

Oklahoma (50-3), which led the nation in home runs this season by a wide margin, never figured out the movement or the speed of Alexander’s pitches.

n Chyenne Factor’s two-run homer in the fourth inning helped No. 5 seed Oklahoma State defeat Georgia 3-2 in the Women’s College World Series opener for both teams.

n Montana Fouts struck out 16 and allowed two hits in a complete-game victory, helping No. 3 seed Alabama beat Arizona 5-1 in the Women’s College World Series opener for both teams.

Fouts threw 103 pitches, including 73 strikes. The first-team NFCA All-American lost her shutout when Jessie Harper hit a solo homer with two out in the seventh inning.