SPORTS DIGEST || Cowboys waive Mooney’s Vinopal

Cowboys waive Mooney’s Vinopal

OXNARD, CALIF.

The Dallas Cowboys waived safety Ray Vinopal after he injured his left ankle in Friday’s preseason game against the San Diego Chargers.

The Cardinal Mooney graduate played for the University of Pittsburgh.

Scrappers snap skid with 3-hitter

WILLIAMSPORT, PA.

Four Mahoning Valley Scrappers (24-29) pitched combined to toss a three-hitter in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over the Williamsport Crosscutters (35-20).

Leandro Linares went three innings and did not give up any hits. Matt Esparza (2-0) then tossed four innings while allowing just two hits. Esparza struck out a season-high seven batters en route to the win. Billy Strode and Yoiber Marquina each tossed a scoreless inning.

Daniel Salters drove in the game-winning run with his first-inning single. An inning later, Nate Winfrey scored on Austin Fisher’s single.

Canfield’s Heaven will swim at Miami

CANFIELD

Canfield High School graduate Sarah Heaven, a freshman at Miami University in Oxford, has joined the RedHawks swim team as a walk-on.

Heaven, the daughter of Bill and Jane Heaven, will be swimming in intermediate and backstroke races.

She holds the Canfield record in the 100 backstroke and was a member of the medley team that set the school record. At Miami, she is majoring in biochemistry and minoring in Spanish.

Sam steps away from CFL’s Alouettes

MONTREAL

Michael Sam is stepping away from pro football.

Sam, the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL, has told the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes that he is leaving the team.

“The last 12 months have been very difficult for me, to the point where I became concerned with my mental health,” Sam tweeted Friday. “Because of this I am going to step away from the game at this time.”

The Alouettes confirmed in a release that Sam has left the club for “personal reasons” and that he has been added to the team’s suspended list.

He did not play in Montreal’s home loss to Edmonton on Thursday night, with the team citing a sore back. He made his CFL debut the previous week.

The 25-year-old defensive end, the 2013 Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year at Missouri, failed to record a tackle in Montreal’s loss to Ottawa.

Sam agreed to a two-year deal with the Alouettes this summer. He left training camp June 12, citing personal reasons, and sat out the team’s first five games.

Sam was selected in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft by the Rams, did not make the team, and spent some time on the Cowboys’ practice squad before being released.

Gymnast Biles rolls to 3rd straight title

INDIANAPOLIS

Simone Biles won her third straight U.S. national gymnastics title Saturday night, pulling away from a field packed with Olympians to leave little doubt the gap between the two-time defending world champion and everyone else is widening a year ahead of the 2016 Summer Games.

Biles posted a two-round total of 124.100, nearly five points ahead of Maggie Nichols in a sport typically decided by fractions. Three-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman was third, Bailie Key was fourth and defending Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas was fifth in the final major event before the world championship this fall in Scotland. Biles can feel free to book her passport now after four near flawless rotations extended her winning streak to nine meets and counting.

Douglas, Raisman and Nichols also figure to be in great position to make the six-person world team as the U.S. tries to back up the team gold it won in China last October.

Staff/wire report