Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar stabbed multiple times at Florida federal prison

• July 10, 2023

By MIKE BALSAMO

WASHINGTON — Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing female gymnasts, was stabbed multiple times during an altercation with another incarcerated person at a federal prison in Florida.

Two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press the attack happened Sunday at United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida. The people said he was in stable condition Monday.

One of the people said he had been stabbed in the back and in the chest.

The people were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack or the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Nassar was sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting gymnasts, including Olympic medalists.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Matt Turner saves 2 PKs, USMNT edges Canada to reach CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals

• July 10, 2023

CINCINNATI — Matt Turner told his American teammates not to worry when their match against Canada went to penalty kicks.

“He had the last word before we went out to the field,” U.S. interim coach B.J. Callaghan said. “It’s just encouraging the guys to stay calm, stay committed to what they’ve practiced.”

Turner stopped two penalty kicks, and the Americans beat Canada, 3-2, in the shootout after a 2-2 draw on Sunday night for a berth in a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal against Panama. The U.S. had not won a shootout since 2005.

“A lot of the penalties that I had seen on my sheets or in my preparation, most of those guys were off the pitch by the time the pens were there,” Turner said. “I just trusted my instincts, really, and typically when I do that, I find myself having a lot more success.”

Brandon Vázquez gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the 88th minute, but Steven Vitória tied the score in the third minute of stoppage time with a penalty kick after a hand ball on Miles Robinson. Jacob Shaffelburg then put Canada ahead in the 109th, but an own goal by Canada’s Scott Kennedy made it 2-2 in the 115th.

Turner stopped Vitória’s opening penalty kick with his right hand when Vitória shot down the middle, as he did in regulation. Vázquez skied his attempt over the crossbar and Turner dived left to bat away Liam Fraser’s attempt.

“He’s a really settling force at the back for the U.S.,” Canada coach John Herdman said. “He’s got wonderful feet. His game management is very good, and he can save penalties.”

Cade Cowell, Gianluca Busio and Jesús Ferreira all converted for the U.S. while Kamal Miller and Jacen Russell-Rowe made shots for Canada. Charles-Andreas Brym put Canada’s final attempt off the crossbar.

The U.S.-Panama winner on Wednesday night in San Diego advances to the championship match on July 16 against Mexico or Jamaica at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The Americans have reached 12 consecutive Gold Cup semifinals. Going to a shootout for the first time since losing to Panama in the 2015 Gold Cup third-place game, the Americans improved to 5-4 in games decided by penalty kicks, including 5-2 in competitive matches. They had not won a shootout since beating Panama in the 2005 Gold Cup final.

Vázquez had put the U.S. ahead with a header from DeJuan Jones’ looping cross. In his home stadium where he plays for Cincinnati, Vázquez scored his fourth international goal and third goal of the tournament. He had entered in the 73rd minute.

Vitória tied the score with his fifth international goal. Robinson was called for the penalty by Mexican referee Marco Ortíz after a video review of a ball bouncing off the defender’s arm while Robinson was challenging Rowe. Ortíz declined to award a penalty after a video review of a ball off Robinson’s arm in first-half stoppage time,

Shaffelburg gave Canada the lead when he picked up a loose ball near midfield and dribbled past Ferreira. From just inside the penalty area, Shaffelburg sent a shot that deflected off a calf of defender Matt Miazga for his first international goal.

Turner lofted the ball from midfield into the penalty area. Miazga centered a header to Jordan Morris, who headed the ball in front. Dayne St. Clair made a leg save on Busio, but the shot deflected off defender Kennedy and in for an own goal.

In the opening game, Jamaica beat Guatemala, 1-0, on a 51st-minute goal by Amari’i Bell. The defender scored from a Demarai Gray pass with a right-foot shot from 8 yards for his first international goal. Jamaica will face Mexico on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers draft Kendall George, Jake Gelof on Day 1 of MLB draft

• July 10, 2023

The Dodgers made a statement with their first pick of the 2023 amateur draft: they’ve bought into the new rules designed to make speed a more integral part of the game.

High school outfielder Kendall George was not projected to be a first-round draft selection leading into this year’s event. Yet the Dodgers tabbed the 18-year-old with their first selection, 36th overall, on Sunday.

The Dodgers also selected University of Virginia third baseman Jake Gelof with the 60th pick in the draft.

George, from Atascocita High School in the suburbs of Houston, hit .445 with 32 stolen bases, a .581 on-base percentage, nine doubles, seven triples and 45 runs scored in 39 games during his senior season.

George also starred on the USA Baseball Under-18 National team that won the 18 and under World Cup last September. In that event, he hit .364 and reached base in 10 of 18 plate appearances while stealing five bases.

“George was the perfect fit,” Dodgers amateur scouting director Billy Gasparino said. “He can hit. We’re going to add power. He just checked so many boxes for us.”

Speed was a big box. Gasparino said “the way the game’s evolving, his ability to collect hits and steal bases” were attributes favored by MLB’s new restrictions on pickoff attempts, bigger bases, and infield shift limits.

“We feel it at the major league level daily,” Gasparino said.

George also attended Major League Baseball’s Breakthrough Series and Hank Aaron Invitational, where he traded tips with Rajai Davis, the veteran outfielder who taught him how to overcome a shared weakness ― a lack of arm strength.

Gasparino said he is “very confident” that he will be able to sign George. The slot value for the number-36 pick is $2.36 million. The Dodgers and George are “still working through the (financial) details,” Gasparino said.

Gelof, 21, set Virginia’s school record for home runs in a season (23) as a senior. He also set the school’s single-season RBI record (90) that he set in 2022 as a junior.

The Dodgers’ next pick will be No. 95 on Monday, as Rounds 3-10 begin at 11 a.m. The final rounds (11-20) continue Tuesday starting at 11 a.m.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Wrong-way driver killed in head-on collision in Orange

• July 10, 2023

A man drove a sedan the wrong way on a major street in Orange and collided with a pickup truck and a car before he was ejected and killed, authorities said Sunday.

The chain of events started at 8:19 p.m. Saturday when dispatchers received two calls about a man passed out in the driver’s seat of a Hyundai Elantra at a green light at Katella Avenue and Tustin Street, said Orange police Lt. Phillip McMullin.

“At 8:20 p.m. and as patrol officers were responding, the driver awoke and proceeded west on Katella,” McMullin said. “Between Cambridge and Shaffer streets, the Hyundai drifted into oncoming traffic and collided into a Toyota Tundra and a Honda Insight.”

The driver and sole occupant of the Hyundai was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene by Orange firefighters, he said. It was not known if drugs or alcohol were factors in the collision or if the driver of the Hyundai experienced a medical emergency. The driver does have prior arrests for DUI and being under the influence of controlled substances, McMullen said.

The Tundra driver and his 4-year-old daughter were taken to a hospital with minor injuries and the Honda driver remained at the scene with minor injuries. Both of these drivers were not impaired.

Katella Avenue was closed for between Cambridge and Shaffer streets for the investigation, he said.

Anyone with information can contact Det. Rocha at 714-744-7342.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Lake Forest’s Paul Skenes headlines local players chosen in MLB amateur draft

• July 10, 2023

Paul Skenes, a Lake Forest native who starred at El Toro High School before winning the 2023 National Pitcher of the Year Award with Louisiana State, was chosen first overall in the Major League Baseball amateur draft Sunday by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Skenes went 12-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings for the Tigers, who won the College World Series title. Teammate Dylan Crews was the second player chosen overall by the Washington Nationals.

“It feels like a lot of work and a lot of surrounding myself with the right people, and doing the right things for a long period of time,” Skenes said in an interview with MLB Network after the pick was announced.

Skenes was one of several Southern Californians who were selected on the first day of the MLB draft, which consisted of the first two rounds as well as all competitive balance round picks.

There was a strong industry consensus around the top five draft choices: Skenes, Crews, high school outfielder Max Clark (Detroit Tigers), Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford (Texas Rangers), and high school outfielder Walker Jenkins (Minnesota Twins).

The sixth player selected was Grand Canyon University shortstop Jacob Wilson, a native of Thousand Oaks. Wilson was chosen by the Oakland A’s, who also drafted Thousand Oaks High School infielder Max Muncy in the first round in 2021.

Wilson was among the handful of Day 1 picks who attended the draft ceremony in person, where he shook hands with commissioner Rob Manfred on stage at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. He was joined there by family, including his father Jack Wilson, a former major league infielder.

With the 15th pick, the Chicago White Sox selected Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez from Glendora. The 2021 Freshman of the Year is the first player from his college to be drafted in the first round.

With the 23rd pick, the Cleveland Guardians selected Huntington Beach High School catcher Ralphy Velazquez. A left-handed hitter, Velazquez helped the Oilers win the National High School Invitational title as a senior.

UCLA pitcher Alonzo Tredwell was chosen 61st overall, at the end of the second round, by the Houston Astros. The 6-foot-8 right-hander had his career at Mater Dei High School curtailed by Tommy John surgery, but he closed for the Bruins as a freshman in 2022 before moving into their rotation this year.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Angel City FC defeats North Carolina thanks to late own goal

• July 10, 2023

LOS ANGELES — A little bit of luck can go a long way for the Angel City Football Club and Sunday, it was enough to earn a much-needed win.

In the 77th minute, Elizabeth Eddy, who just recently joined the team as a National Team Replacement Player, beat her defender on the right, whipped in a cross that went into the goal off of North Carolina defender Kaleigh Kurtz.

“I had a great pass, I was going to enter into a 1v1 duel and she overstepped,” Eddy said. “I got a shot off before the center back slid. It wasn’t even on target, but you know in soccer if you hit a ball hard across the center of goal, sometimes it goes in. We’ll take it.”

No matter, how it looked or developed, it goes the game goes into record book as a 2-1 Angel City FC (4-6-5, 17 points) win in front of 17,876 at BMO Stadium.

This was the last league game for Angel City until Aug. 19. The club will be off until a July 29 Challenge Cup game against the Portland Thorns.

“We knew coming into the game that this game needed to be three points,” Angel City midfielder Savannah McCaskill said. “We should have three points the last two games, if we’re being honest, a couple of draws … a point away at Gotham was good, but we should have gotten three points out of the Houston game, so going into this game, we knew three points was the job.

Both games ended in scoreless draws.

“It took every single person to get the job done and going into the break it’s even better because we feel like we’ve kind of earned the break now …puts us back closer to a playoff spot, which the rest of the season is ours to battle for,” McCaskill said.”

North Carolina entered the game riding a four consecutive shutout winning streak. Also, by the time the game kicked off, Angel City had fell back into last place in the league.

North Carolina opened the scoring in the 16th minute on a goal by Brianna Pinto.

After that goal, Angel City had a brief huddle to address things.

“We were basically saying that was too easy,” McCaskill said. “That was way too easy for them to go from their own defensive goal and score a goal. It was way too easy. We basically said it’s got to be better.”

Angel City responded two minutes later as McCaskill knocked home a cross from Scarlett Camberos to tie the game at 1-1. That’s where things remained until Eddy helped provide the winning goal.

Eddy, who is from Costa Mesa and attended USC, signed with Angel City late last month. She was cut by the Houston Dash in preseason.

“We just knew what she was going to bring us,” Angel City interim coach Becki Tweed said of Eddy. “She brings a no-fear attitude, she brings a I’m here to train, I’m here to work and whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. She’s played as a forward for us, she’s played as an outside back in the past three games and she comes into training everyday to win.

“When you bring in winners, it obviously improves the team environment and she’s willing to run through a brick wall for anybody. I said it a couple of weeks ago, she’s been here for two weeks, but it feels like she’s been here for two years and those are the players that we’re really looking to bring in and become part of something that’s bigger than themselves.”

The win moves Angel City just one space (to 10th) in the league standings, but they’re now just four points behind the sixth and final playoff spot and also improved the unbeaten streak under Tweed to five games overall and four in league play (2-0-2).

“I’m disappointed that it (unbeaten streak) is not five wins, I’ll be really honest with you,” Tweed said. “I think momentum is really important. I don’t believe in luck. I believe you create your own luck and I believe you create your own luck Monday-Friday and we’re starting to do that now and I think hard work pays off and hopefully we can continue to grow.”

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Griner dunks, Taurasi gets hot as Mercury pull out win over Sparks

• July 10, 2023

PHOENIX — Brittney Griner scored 29 points, including her 25th dunk as a professional, and the Phoenix Mercury held on for a 78-72 win over the Sparks in a matchup between two struggling teams on Sunday.

Nneka Ogwumike had 20 points and 14 boards to lead the short-handed Sparks (7-12), who have lost five straight. Jordin Canada scored 16 points, Azura Stevens added 13 and Jasmine Thomas 10.

The Sparks were without five players and lost starter Dearica Hamby with a sprained ankle midway through the first half.

Diana Taurasi added 12 of her 22 for the Mercury (4-14) in the fourth quarter to put her less than 100 points from 10,000 in her career. Moriah Jefferson scored 11 for the Mercury (4-14), who had lost three straight and nine of 10 for the worst record in the WNBA. Griner, who matched her season high for points, also had 11 rebounds.

Griner had 16 points in the first half as the Mercury took a 42-36 lead. Griner was 7-of-11 shooting, including a dunk early in the second quarter. It was her 18th in the regular season to go with five in all-star games and two in the playoffs.

“It felt good, felt good,” Griner said. “I thought I forgot how to dunk for a little bit there.”

Griner converted a three-point play to put Phoenix on top 68-55 with six minutes to play but Ogwumike scored eight points before Canada drilled back-to-back 3-pointers and the Sparks were within 72-69 with two minutes to go.

Stevens made a free throw and then the Sparks had a chance to tie with a minute left but a Taurasi foul on Canada was overturned on a coach’s challenge. Taurasi made four free throws and Griner two to secure the win.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Angels take Florida Atlantic first baseman Nolan Schanuel with 1st-round pick

• July 10, 2023

Nolan Schanuel hopes to follow in the footsteps — literally — of Zach Neto.

Schanuel, who the Angels took with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 draft on Sunday, said he drew inspiration from Neto, the Angels’ first-round pick in 2022, in the way he swings the bat.

Schanuel also has an exaggerated leg kick. Schanuel, who is also from Florida, said he played with Neto in the summer before his freshman year at Florida Atlantic.

“I wouldn’t say he influenced me but it definitely made me more comfortable for what my swing is, especially how unorthodox it is and how different it is from other players,” said Schanuel, a first baseman. “Scouts were saying the same thing about his swing throughout college and he’s playing with flying colors. He’s insane. So it just shows that throughout my progression I could do the same thing.”

Neto, of course, went from Campbell University to the majors in nine months. Schanuel (pronounced SHAN-yew-EL) would love to do the same thing.

Tim McIlvaine, who took Neto with his first selection as Angels scouting director last year, said the similarities to Neto are a coincidence. He said they didn’t pick Schanuel to fit any sort of mold, but simply because they like what he does as a hitter.

“We looked at a ton of players, and in the end, Nolan did a lot of things that that we really liked, that we sought out to look for,” McIlvaine said. “He’s got power. He can hit. He knows his zone. He’s very patient. He doesn’t get himself out, rarely ever strikes out, took a lot of walks this year. A lot of extra base hits. He can hit the ball over the wall. He’s a good player. He’s a really good baseball mind.”

Schanuel, 21, hit .385 with 46 homers in his three-year career at Florida Atlantic. This season he led all of Division I in batting average (.447), on-base percentage (.615) and walks (71), on his way to winning the Conference USA Player of the Year Award.

Schanuel, who is listed at 6-4, 220 pounds, hit 19 homers and struck out 14 times during his junior year.

McIlvaine said they will start him at first base, but will also try him in the outfield at some point later this year.

One of the knocks against Schanuel is that he did not fare well last summer when playing with a wood bat in the Cape Cod League. McIlvaine said they talked to Schanuel about his performance, and came away convinced that he had made the proper adjustments.

“He’s better now,” McIlvaine said. “We watched him a lot last year, a lot this year. He proved beyond a doubt to us that he’s ready. He’ll do fine.”

Schanuel said another key to his improvement was that he was diagnosed with an astigmatism in his right eye last winter. He now wears a contact lens, and he said the difference in his vision has been dramatic.

“It was like the ball was not even in 3D, it was in 4D,” Schanuel said.

The slot value for the 11th pick is $5.25 million. McIlvaine did not indicate any concern about getting him signed. He said he expects him to start somewhere in Class-A.

Schanuel said he was “ready to fly out today” to get his pro career started. He was fully aware that Neto and Ben Joyce, the Angels’ third-round pick from last summer, have already been in the big leagues.

“I want to be right there with Zach Neto, Ben Joyce, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani,” he said. “I’m ready to be a teammate of theirs and get going. I’m stoked to call myself an Angel.”

The Angels did not have a pick in the second round, because they forfeited their selection when they signed left-hander Tyler Anderson.

Their next pick will be in the third round, the 79th overall pick, on Monday. The draft will continue through the 10th round on Monday, and conclude with the 20th round on Tuesday.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register