Sports briefs
W&J soccer in NCAA tournament
The Washington & Jefferson will play at John Carroll in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship on Saturday.
Match time is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Don Shula Stadium at Wasmer Field.
W&J won its first Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship in 12 years when it beat Geneva 4-2 Saturday night at Alexandre Stadium. The Presidents are 12-7-2 overall and 9-0-1 record in the PAC. The Presidents have won six in a row and nine of their past 10.
This will be the third NCAA tournament appearance in school history (2005, 2007, 2019).
John Carroll earned an automatic berth by winning the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament, beating Otterbein 1-0 in the title game. The Blue Streaks, who are ranked No. 7, are 17-2-2. JCU is on a nine-game winning streak.
Centre College (16-3-1) and Kalamazoo College (11-4-2) will square off in the other first round game in University Heights, Ohio. All tournament games leading up to the national semifinals will be played on the campuses of the competing institutions. Sixteen sites will host four teams for first-and second-round competition.
Alonso, Alvarez named Rookies of YearYoung sluggers known for their prodigious power, Pete Alonso and Yordan Álvarez knocked the Rookie of the Year voting out of the park.
In a rarity for the major league home run leader, Alonso didn’t land the biggest blow.
Alonso, a star first baseman with the New York Mets, got 29 of 30 first-place votes for NL Rookie of the Year. Braves right-hander Mike Soroka got the other first-place vote and finished second in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America revealed Monday night.
Álvarez, a hulking designated hitter from the Houston Astros, earned all 30 first-place votes to become the 24th unanimous selection since the award was introduced in 1949.
The 24-year-old Alonso led the majors with 53 homers, one better than Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s rookie record from 2017. “Polar Bear” Pete became the face of baseball in Flushing, beloved for his power, personality and philanthropy. He’s the sixth Met to win the award and first since teammate Jacob deGrom in 2014.
Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was third in NL balloting. The only voter to place Soroka ahead of Alonso was Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Alonso was the only NL player named on every ballot. Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds was fourth.