SPORTS digest

Gehm ranked No. 3 in Pan-Am games

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA

Youngstown State discus thrower Zach Gehm is projected for a bronze medal finish at the 2019 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The Penguins’ freshman has the third-best seed mark heading into the games at 60.31 meters. Cuba’s Daibirac Miguel Perez Ibal holds the top mark at 63.25, followed by Chile’s Claudio Romero Beltran at 62.68.

The games begin today with the men’s discus starting on Friday at 4:20 p.m.

Former Predators’ captain commits suicide

DETROIT

A police report says the death of former Nashville Predators captain Greg Johnson was an apparent suicide, according to the Detroit News.

The paper said Wednesday it had obtained a Rochester Police report, and that Johnson was found by his wife shortly before 10 a.m. on July 7. A gun and a single bullet were found near him. No suicide note was left.

The Oakland County Medical Examiner declined to discuss findings from an autopsy, according to the paper.

Johnson was with Nashville for the franchise’s first season in the league. He spent the last seven years of his career with the Predators. He also played for Detroit, Pittsburgh and Chicago during his 12 years in the NHL.

The Detroit News said Johnson’s agent, Tom Laidlaw, declined to discuss the specifics surrounding the former player’s death. Johnson was 48.

Former Auburn assistant avoids jail

NEW YORK

Former Auburn University assistant basketball coach Chuck Person has avoided prison in a bribery scandal that has touched some of the biggest schools in college basketball.

Person was sentenced on Wednesday to serve community service during two years of supervised release.

Judge Loretta A. Preska said “no purpose would be served by incarceration.”

Prosecutors say Person accepted $91,500 in bribes to steer top players to a government cooperator posing as a financial adviser.

Sentencing guidelines called for two years in prison, though three other coaches who pleaded guilty to the same charge received leniency.

Stevens OK with candidate likeness

BOSTON

If this basketball thing doesn’t work out for Brad Stevens, he already has a backup plan in mind.

The Boston Celtics coach joked on Wednesday that he’s hoping to capitalize on his resemblance to Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.

“I can get a job with ‘Saturday Night Live,”’ Stevens said. “That’s my goal.”

An Indiana native who coached at Butler in Indianapolis, Stevens was the youngest coach in the NBA when he was hired at the age of 36 to take over the Celtics in 2013. He says he is a fan of the 37-year-old South Bend, Indiana, mayor, who would be the youngest president in U.S. history.

Angels’ Ramirez suspended for 3 games

ANAHEIM, Calif.

Los Angeles pitcher Noe Ramirez has been suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount for throwing a pitch in the area of Houston outfielder Jake Marisnick’s head, and Angels manager Brad Ausmus has been suspended a game and fined.

Joe Torre, Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball, announced the penalties Wednesday, a day after Ramirez drilled Marisnick between the shoulder blades with a 1-1 pitch in the sixth inning of the Angels’ 7-2 home victory.

Marisnick was playing his first game against Los Angeles since his violent home plate collision with catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

Marisnick ran over Lucroy while trying to score in Houston nine days ago, leaving Lucroy with a concussion and a broken nose. He’s out for at least three more weeks. Marisnick is currently appealing his two-game suspension for the collision.

Staff/wire report