SPORTS DIGEST || Mariners, D’backs make five-player trade
Mariners, D’backs make five-player trade
SEATTLE
The Seattle Mariners traded right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura and two prospects.
The teams completed the surprising trade Wednesday night. Walker was considered one of the top young pitchers in the American League, but struggled with consistency. Yet he’s shown flashes of having the potential to become an ace during his young career. Marte had many of the same problems with consistency but had also become a liability in the field.
Walker, 24, was 8-11 with a 4.22 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 25 starts last season.
Segura is an immediate upgrade at shortstop for Seattle. He hit .319 with 20 home runs and 63 RBIs last season for the Diamondbacks. Arizona also sent outfielder Mitch Haniger and left-handed pitcher Zac Curtis to Seattle.
Spartan Stadium hosts D-IV state semfinal
BOARDMAN
Boardman High School will host tonight’s Division IV state semifinal football game between Steubenville and Perry.
The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the new Spartan Stadium. Tickets cost $10 at the gate.
The gates will open at 5:30 p.m.
This marks the second year in a row that Boardman has been awarded a state semifinal game. Last year, Boardman played host to the Steubenville-Ursuline game.
Longtime golf teacher Peggy Kirk Bell dies
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C.
Peggy Kirk Bell, a leading teacher and one of the most passionate advocates for women’s golf, has died at her home in Pine Needles at age 95.
Kelly Miller, her son-in-law and the club president at Pine Needles and Mid Pines, informed club members that she died on Wednesday, according to The Pilot newspaper.
Kirk Bell was one of the top amateurs in women’s golf in the years before the LPGA Tour was formed. She and her late husband bought and developed Pine Needles Lodge, and the Bell family later purchased Mid Pines. The U.S. Women’s Open has been played three times at Pine Needles.
She was a member of seven Halls of Fame and was the first woman inducted to the PGA Golf Instructors Hall of Fame.
Ex-Red Sox pitcher Dave Ferriss dies at 94
JACKSON, Miss.
David “Boo” Ferriss, a Boston Red Sox pitcher who helped lead the team to the 1946 World Series, has died. He was 94.
Rick Cleveland, a close friend of the former player, says Ferriss died Thursday at his home in Cleveland, Mississippi, surrounded by family. Cleveland says Ferriss had been in declining health for several weeks.
Ferriss pitched six years for the Red Sox from 1945-50. He had his best season in 1946, when he finished with a 25-6 record and 3.25 ERA and was named an American League All-Star. The Shaw, Mississippi, native’s career was shortened by a shoulder injury in 1947, but he finished with a 65-30 career record.
Ferriss was later the baseball coach at Delta State University, where he won 639 games over 26 seasons.
Liverpool soccer great Gerrard retires at 36
LONDON
After an illustrious playing career full of remarkable cup comebacks alongside jarring Premier League lows, Steven Gerrard is done.
The 36-year-old Gerrard, who won every major club honor with Liverpool apart from the English title, said Thursday he was retiring from soccer after an 18-year professional career.
Gerrard was one of the best midfielders of his era and won admiration for staying loyal to his boyhood club and resisting the riches offered by Premier League rivals.
He only left Liverpool in 2015 after no longer being able to reach the formidable levels of his peak years and losing his place in the team.
Staff and wire reports