Sports briefs
High school baseball
Jack Natili drove in four runs with a home run, double and single, Steven Laurence scored four runs and Peters Township defeated Laurel Highlands, 13-3, in a six-inning non-section game late Thursday night at Peterswood Park.
Three Peters Township pitchers combined on a six-hitter. PT wasted no time in taking control of the game, scoring six runs in the first inning.
The Indians (13-6) have qualified for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.
In auto racing
Danish driver Christian Lundgaard won his first IndyCar pole Friday, claiming the No. 1 starting spot for Saturday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Last season’s rookie of the year posted a fast lap of 1 minute, 9.3321 seconds on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. It’s the first time Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has won a pole this season.
A late wiggle on Felix Rosenqvist’s final qualifying run left the Swede to start second after going 1:09.3348. Alex Palou, the Spaniard who won the 2021 series title, earned the No. 3 starting spot.
It certainly wasn’t easy on the cooling course, which was vastly different from the two practice rounds that were conducted in mostly sunny, hot conditions.
The result: Some of the pole favorites didn’t even make it out of the first round of qualifying. The list included defending race winner Colton Herta, four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves, three-time Indianapolis GP winner Simon Pagenaud, two-time series champ Josef Newgarden and two drivers in the top five of the current standings – Scott McLaughlin and Romain Grosjean.
In hockey
The United States overcame defending champion Finland, 4-1, to open the ice hockey world championship.
Alex Tuch scored two goals and Drew O’Çonnor had a goal and two assists to lead the U.S. Cutter Ganthier also scored and goaltender Casey DeSmith stopped 23 shots.
In golf
Two-time LPGA Tour player of the year Jin Young Ko shot her second straight 4-under 68 Friday in the Founders Cup and shared the halfway lead with 37-year-old non-winner Sarah Kemp.
Kemp, whose best finish on tour is a tie for second in 2019, had a one-stroke lead with three holes to play but pulled her drive on the par 4 16th at Upper Montclair Country Club. The Australian was short of the elevated green on her second shot and missed a long par putt after a chip from a tough stance. She had a 65 to match Ko at 8-under 136.