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Only One Focus for Ben Cherington in First Round of Draft

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Only One Focus for Ben Cherington in First Round of Draft

PITTSBURGH — Ben Cherington’s draft strategy as general manager is clear. Take the best player available.

Sure, there are other factors that are weighed, but when the Pittsburgh Pirates are on the clock with the sixth pick in the first round on July 13, there will be only one focus.

“We need to get better, so the best talent available,” he said on the Pirates’ strategy.

Baseball is not like other sports. Whereas teams in the NFL and NBA, for example, draft for need, teams in Major League Baseball generally hunt upside since draftees have to ascend through the minor leagues before making any impact on the big-league club.

The process for how long a prospect takes to develop a case by case basis. Some players need more time to  polish their games in the minor leagues. It’s not too common to see someone like Paul Skenes, who was selected by the Pirates with the top pick of the 2023 draft, make his Major League debut within a year of getting drafted.

By that logic, the Pirates will be open to both hitters and pitchers depending on how the top five picks of the draft unfold.

“I really just want to look for the best player,” Cherington reiterated. “We’re confident in our ability to draft and develop pitching, certainly. So, if that’s the way it falls and it’s a pitcher, we’ll be excited about that. But we have to create more offense, too. We know that as an organization. It’s going to come down to the best player.”

The Pirates’ track record of developing pitching under Cherington’s guide is much stronger than the development of position players.

The aforementioned Skenes is already one of the best pitchers in baseball despite only being with the Pirates for a little over a year. Jared Jones showed promise last season before needing elbow surgery this year. Bubba Chandler is the top pitching prospect in baseball, and other pitchers such as Carmen Mlodzinski and Braxton Ashcraft, though the latter wasn’t drafted by this regime, have found early success in the majors.

On the position player side of things, Nick Gonzales is really the only one to make an impact with Pittsburgh. Last year’s first-rounder Konnor Griffin looks as promising as any minor-leaguer, though.

Cherington admitted that the Pirates are understandably feeling pressure to improve the offense, but one draft pick isn’t going to be enough to be the sole solution.

“One decision, one free agent, one trade, one draft pick, it’s never going to be about that. It’s going to be about 100 things,” he explained. “We need to create more offense. So what I want to avoid in the draft is making our decision any harder because of that. Let’s just find the best player, and with that, we need to create more offense over time.”

If the best player on the Pirates’ board when they are on the clock is a pitcher, the Pirates could theoretically trade the player they take — pitcher or position player — for an established lineup addition down the road.

Of course, the Pirates could also entertain the idea of taking a player who could be quick to reach the big leagues. It’s become more and more of a common practice in recent years.

Four position players taken in the first round of last year’s draft have already made it to the majors, and three of them have had reasonable levels of success.

Cam Smith, who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs but traded to the Houston Astros in the offseason, has a 2.1 bWAR through his first 68 games and is batting .277 with a .773 OPS. Nick Kurtz, who was selected with the fourth pick by the A’s, has slugged 11 home runs through his first 44 games. Christian Moore was recently called up by the Angels and has three home runs and a .723 OPS through 14 games.

Obviously, players taken out of college are more developed and are on a faster track once drafted. There are two players in particular who could fit that criteria for the Pirates to consider in the first round — Oregon State shortstop Aiva Arquette and Auburn catcher/outfielder Ike Irish.

The Pirates could be wise to consider this idea, and it might work out that way in the end, but Cherington again circled back to his main point.

“I don’t feel like now we’re really having to think about the decision maybe between upside and risk of being further away, versus closer and safer,”  he said. “I think it’s all part of the process, and the process itself is, I believe, doing a good job of capturing all of that. Capturing both the upside and the risk of every player. It’s getting them in an order and we’re gonna be disciplined and honor that order when we’re done with it on July 6 and just take the best player available.”

Cherington’s draft philosophy is simple enough. Take the best player available.

The hard part will be developing that player into a big-league contributor, whenever the time comes.

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Creighton vs. Kentucky volleyball: Elite Eight scores, highlights

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December 13, 2025

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Updated Dec. 13, 2025, 6:02 p.m. ET



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A reverse-sweep comeback over Louisville pushes Texas A&M volleyball to third-ever Elite Eight

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December 13, 2025

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(KBTX) – In the middle of the third set of Friday’s NCAA Tournament region semifinal volleyball match, Texas A&M opposite hitter Logan Lednicky glanced at a random piece of paper in the middle of the score’s table.

After being the first team to 15 points in both of the first two sets, the third-seeded Aggies’ allowed No. 2 seed Louisville to rally and set up a three-game sweep. The Aggies needed a rare reverse sweep to keep their season alive. They were looking for an answer to the situation they found themselves in.

Sometimes the sign is literally a sign.

“Something great is about to happen,” the piece of paper read.

Three sets later, the Aggies were celebrating on the court of the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Nebraska, having rallied to beat Louisville 3-2 in a five set thriller. It was A&M’s first reverse sweep since September 29 of last year, when the Aggies’ came from behind to beat Missouri in Reed Arena.

“I’m like floating on air,” Lednicky said after the match. “That was the most insane experience I have ever been a part of.”

From the start, A&M appeared to be in control of the match, jumping out to a 17-12 lead. However, after A&M reached 15 points, Louisville did not commit another error in the set. The Cardinals closed out the set on a 6-3 run to take the first game.

History repeated itself in the second set. A&M pulled out to a 21-16 lead, but allowed a 5-0 Cardinal run to tie the game. An 8-0 run ultimately sealed the 2-0 start for Louisville and put the Aggies’ season in jeopardy.

It wasn’t unfamiliar territory for the Aggies. Not only did A&M travel to Nebraska last season for the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, they fell behind 2-1 to Wisconsin and needed to push the game to a fifth set to try to advance. That effort fell short in the final game, 15-13, ending the Aggies season.

The story of this season wouldn’t end the same way.

“I think we spent a lot of time under tension,” Aggie middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla said. “I think that was something we all said when we were in that fifth set, just knowing that we had been here before. We played here before. We’ve been in this exact situation before and it’s really just on us to turn it around and capitalize.”

The Aggie block leader was key at the net in the match turn-around. A&M finished the match with 17 blocks, 12 of which came from Cos-Okpalla. The Aggies had nine blocks in the fourth set, seven off the hands of Cos-Okpalla.

The senior finished with nine kills, to go along with her blocking effort and a .316 hit percentage.

“Even when I wasn’t getting blocked or good touches, I think I was in a good enough spot to like funnel out space for the defense to work behind me,” Cos-Okpalla said. “We can just run our offense from there. So yeah, it takes everybody on the team honestly, but, yeah, I’m just so proud.”

The fifth set saw nine ties and three lead changes in a back-and-forth struggle for the next line of the bracket. The Aggies needed a 3-0 run through the middle of the set to take a 10-9 lead, thanks to two Louisville errors and a block by Cos-Okpalla and Lednicky. Then, the Aggies closed the match out on a 5-2 run with outside hitter Kyndal Stowers recording the final kill.

Lednicky paced the Aggies with 20 kills and added 12 digs and seven blocks. Stowers had 17 kills and 11 digs.

Louisville’s Chloe Chicoine led all attackers with 26 kills.

A&M hit at a .277 clip, slightly better than Louisville’s .229.

The Aggies advance to the program’s third-ever regional final and will face the No. 1 overall seed Nebraska on its home court Sunday at 2 p.m. The Cornhuskers took down No. 4 seed Kansas 3-0 in a match directly following A&M’s win.

In the meantime, A&M can take a moment to relish in the program they’ve builtin the three years of the Morrison era.

“My No. 1 thing that I said when I first got here was to get it back to where its was and take it further and we have it back to where it was… Now, it’s time, in two days, to take it further,” Morrison said.

Copyright 2025 KBTX. All rights reserved.



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Gonzaga Volleyball signs Lydia Fisher

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December 13, 2025

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SPOKANE, Wash- Gonzaga Volleyball continues to build for the future with the addition of another signee for next season, as head coach JT Wenger announced the signing of Lydia Fisher on Thursday night. 

Coming to Spokane after completing her high school career her hometown of Dallas, Lydia has starred for Highland Park High School as middle blocker and right side hitter. She was named to the First Team All-District while representing the Scots. Fisher helped the team to a capture a state championship last month, as Highland Park won the 5A State Championship. A 6’5″ blocker, Fisher will help further establish the net front presence for the Zags when she comes to campus next season. 



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Badgers news: Wisconsin back in Elite 8 with big win over Stanford

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December 13, 2025

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The Wisconsin Badgers are back in the Elite 8. The Badgers faced off against the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal on Friday afternoon, winning 3-1 to face the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

Mimi Colyer had one of her best games as a Badger, recording 27 kills on 51 attempts with just eight errors. Carter Booth had 14 kills of her own with zero errors, while Una Vagajic had 13 kills as well. The Badgers had 70 kills as a whole, while Charlie Fuerbringer had 61 assists.

Wisconsin started off the first set well, getting off to an early 7-3 lead as Colyer and Booth each recorded a pair of kills. Things got tight, with Stanford cutting the lead to 10-9, but Wisconsin went on a 5-0 run to separate itself, with Colyer recording two more kills in the stretch.

From there, Wisconsin comfortably led the rest of the way, ultimately taking the first set 25-17. From there, though, things got tight.

The second set was back-and-forth to start, as neither side had more than a two-point lead through the midway point in the set. Stanford began to pull away, though, going on a 4-1 run when leading 15-14 to get a four-point lead late in the set. That proved to be the difference, as the Cardinal extended that lead to 22-16 before ultimately taking the set 25-21.

Tied at 1-1, the Badgers had a great response coming into the third set, starting off with a 5-2 lead. Stanford hit Wisconsin back, though, tying things up at seven apiece, and the back-and-forth action continued from there. Once again, neither side had more than a two-point advantage until Stanford took a 17-14 lead off back-to-back kills from Ella Rubin.

It seemed like the momentum might be turning in Stanford’s favor, but Wisconsin stormed back with a four-point run to take an 18-17 lead as Natalie Wardlow had three consecutive service aces. Both sides traded points over the next few rallies, tying things up back again at 21 apiece.

The two biggest points of the set came next. Kristen Simon had a service ace of her own before Mimi Colyer got a kill to put Wisconsin up 23-21. Jordyn Harvey got a kill for Stanford, which Carter Booth responded to with a kill of her own. 24-22. Grace Egan had an attack error to cut the lead to one, but rebounded with the set-clinching kill and Wisconsin took the third set 25-23 for a 2-1 lead in the match.

Once again, Wisconsin started the fourth set well, getting out to a 7-3 lead thanks to a flurry of Stanford mistakes. The Cardinal had two service errors and three attack errors in the first ten points, and the Badgers capitalized. But, Stanford slowly chipped back at the lead and flipped the script, taking a 13-12 lead midway through the set.

After both sides traded a point, Wisconsin went on a three-point run to take a 16-14 lead. That stretch proved to be the difference-maker as the Badgers never trailed from that point on. Stanford did tie things up at 19 apiece, but the Badgers had another three-point run. Then, after the Cardinal brought it back within one at 23-22, Mimi Colyer and Grace Egan delivered the final blows to send Wisconsin to the Elite Eight.

With the 3-1 win, the Badgers are facing the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns, who swept the No. 4 Indiana Hoosiers on Friday. That game will be played in Austin on Sunday.



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Wisconsin volleyball knocks off Stanford in Sweet 16, moves to Elite 8

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December 13, 2025

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Updated Dec. 12, 2025, 7:56 p.m. CT

AUSTIN, Texas – Wisconsin volleyball has long eyed a deep postseason run.

In the NCAA tournament regional semifinals, the third-seeded Badgers fully looked the part as they outdueled second-seeded Stanford in four sets, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, to advance to the NCAA regional finals for the eighth consecutive season.

“The level of talent out there on the court and the level of play out there – that easily could have been a Final Four match,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said afterward. “It’s unusual to see that high level and back and forth in the Sweet 16.”



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Nebraska volleyball faces Texas A&M in regional final on Channel 8

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December 13, 2025

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Nebraska Vs Kansas Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Nebraska Athletics

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The undefeated Nebraska volleyball team is looking to punch its ticket to Kansas City with a win over Texas A&M on Sunday.

The Huskers face off against No. 6 Texas A&M on Channel 8.  That game begins at 2 p.m.

Texas A&M is coming off a five-set win over Louisville, Husker head coach Dani Busboom Kelly’s former team.

Shortly after that match, Nebraska swept Kansas in a dominant performance inside a sold-out John Cook Arena.

The Huskers are now onto their 34th regional final in program history.  That is the most regional final appearances in NCAA history.

Nebraska gets another postseason game at the Bob Devaney Center.  The Huskers have won 90 home matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Only four schools nationally have 90 or more victories in the tournament.

Nebraska and Texas A&M have faced off 39 times, most recently in 2010 when the Huskers swept the Aggies on the road.

Nebraska has won 32 of those matchups.





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