Beaver Local prepares for OVAC final

WHEELING, W.Va. — Top-seeded Beaver Local will take on No. 3 seed Weir at 6:30 p.m. today in the OVAC class 4A softball final at the I-470 Complex.

The Beavers (19-3) arrived at the final by way of a 4-2 win over Oak Glen on Tuesday. Weir High (15-6) earned its spot with a 9-1 win over No. 2 seed Edison.

The Beavers are led by a core of underclassmen. Sophomore pitcher Addie Thurik is 11-2 on the season with a 1.96 ERA. On the offensive end, Thurik leads the team with a .487 batting average. Sophomore Brylee Curtis, who tied the Ohio state record for home runs in a game with four against Edison, has 33 hits including nine home runs with 33 RBIs. Junior Ciara Call is batting .397 with 25 hits, 27 RBIs and seven home runs.

The Red Riders are led by Eliza Utt who is batting .556 with 34 RBIs. Utt is also the primary pitcher and has a 15-5 record with 140 strikeouts and a 1.62 ERA.

Beavers cash in

NILES — Several area soccer players will be awarded $500 scholarships by the Mahoning Valley High School Soccer Coaches Association at tonight’s banquet at the Niles Wellness Center.

For Beaver Local’s state semifinalist girls soccer team Emily Saphore and Sophia Smith will be presented with scholarships. For the Beaver Local boys team Brayden Hall and Brayden Price will be awarded.

Columbiana’s Madison Janis and West Branch’s Allie Brammer also earned the scholarship.

FIFA opens wallet for Cup

FIFA is paying out more than $100 million in extra cash to World Cup teams to help cover higher-than-expected costs of being in North America.

FIFA’s ruling council agreed Tuesday to increase the basic payments to each federation by $2 million to a minimum of $12.5 million. The governing body is expecting revenue of at least $11 billion for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico that starts June 11.

Some of the 48 federations, especially from Europe, told FIFA that the prize money structure and payments for preparation costs that had been set last year would see them lose money on the tournament unless their team went deep into the knockout rounds.

Teams playing games in the United States also face some tax obligations that are exempted in Canada and Mexico.

Cowboys tag ex-Steeler

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens signed his $27.3 million franchise tag Wednesday, making it almost certain the Pro Bowler will show up for mandatory offseason work while the club remains adamant it has no plans to trade CeeDee Lamb’s sidekick.

Pickens informed the Cowboys just hours before the start of the NFL draft last week that he intended to sign the one-year tender, which sparked trade speculation because executive vice president Stephen Jones had said a day earlier Dallas had no plans to negotiate a long-term contract with Pickens this offseason.

The 25-year-old, acquired last year in a trade with Pittsburgh, had career highs in catches (93), yards receiving (1,429) and touchdowns (nine) for one of the best offenses in the NFL last season. Dallas had one of the worst defenses in the league and finished 7-9-1, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Pickens thrived alongside Lamb, who is going into the second year of a $136 million, four-year contract that currently ranks him third among NFL receivers with an average annual value of $34 million.

There was incentive for Pickens to take the guaranteed money under the tag because it’s a huge payday compared to the total earnings of $6.8 million on his four-year rookie deal as a 2022 second-round pick out of Georgia.

By signing the contract, Pickens can participate in the voluntary offseason program that started this week.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones has said throughout the offseason the club has long-term plans for Pickens. Jones said he wouldn’t have made the lucrative offer under the tag without a belief that Pickens will be with the Cowboys beyond 2026.

Quarterback Dak Prescott and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence each played a season under the franchise tag within the past eight years for Dallas before reaching long-term deals. Tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Tony Pollard also played under the tag before leaving in free agency the next year.