Tickets available for Maine basketball hall inductions
BANGOR, Maine — Tickets are now available for the third annual Maine Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, scheduled for Aug. 21 at the Cross Insurance Center.
The event begins at 11:30 a.m., and tickets are $55 each.
To purchase tickets, go to www.mainebasketballhalloffame.com, click on “Events” and then “2016 Induction Ceremony.
Red Sox send Buchholz to bullpen
Clay Buchholz, who has been a starting pitcher throughout his 10 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, has been moved to the bullpen, manager John Farrell announced Friday.
Buchholz, 31, allowed six runs in five innings on Thursday in what was the latest of his poor outings this season. He is 2-5 with a 6.35 ERA in 10 starts, and his strikeout rate of 5.9 per nine innings is the lowest of his career.
Last season, Buchholz was 7-7 with a 3.26 ERA. His best season came in 2013 when he was named to the All-Star squad and went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA despite missing much of the season with a neck injury.
Now he’s likely to work in long relief for the time being.
Navy QB receives clearance to play in NFL
Former Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds has been cleared to defer his military service commitment and will be eligible to play for the Baltimore Ravens in 2016, secretary of defense Ashton Carter announced Friday.
Running back Chris Swain, who will go to training camp with the San Diego Chargers, also will be allowed to defer his military service.
Carter made the announcement during his speech to the 2016 graduates in Annapolis, Md.
Reynolds will be making the transition to receiver after being a record-setting rushing quarterback at Navy. He rushed for 4,559 yards and 88 touchdowns during his standout career.
Baltimore selected Reynolds in the sixth round of last month’s NFL Draft.
Ole Miss self-imposes reduction in scholarships
Ole Miss has self-imposed a reduction of 11 scholarships for football, starting with one last season and extending into 2018, as part of the university’s 154-page response Friday to an NCAA notice of allegations.
The notice indicates several violations occurred during head coach Hugh Freeze’s tenure, and include some Level I infractions, which the NCAA considers the most serious. Women’s basketball under former coach Adrian Wiggins and track and field under former coach Bryan O’Neal are also mentioned in the allegations.
“The NCAA has alleged, and we agree, that serious violations have occurred,” the school wrote in an open letter on the university’s website Friday morning.
The school received a notice of allegations from the NCAA in late January.
Bautista’s one-game suspension is upheld
Major League Baseball has elected to uphold Jose Bautista’s one-game suspension and the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder will serve the suspension Friday night against the Boston Red Sox.
The penalty stems from a May 15 incident with the Texas Rangers when Bautista slid hard at the legs of Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor.
Odor responded by punching Bautista in the face. Odor was originally suspended eight games before having it reduced to seven.
Bautista had an appeals hearing on Thursday in New York, but his attempt to get the suspension lifted was unsuccessful.
The incident with the Rangers began when Bautista was beaned in the ribs by reliever Matt Bush. The Blue Jays believed it was a purpose pitch in retaliation for Bautista’s bat flip after a homer in Game 5 of last season’s American League Division Series.