Sports
Millikan Alum Spencer Steer Making Long Beach Proud With Cincinnati Reds – The562.org
Photos courtesy Kate Woolson/Cincinnati Reds From the sun-soaked shores of Long Beach to the banks of the Ohio River, Millikan High alum Spencer Steer is living his dream on the baseball diamond. In the midst of his fourth big league season with the Cincinnati Reds, Steer has come a long way from the early days […]

Photos courtesy Kate Woolson/Cincinnati Reds
From the sun-soaked shores of Long Beach to the banks of the Ohio River, Millikan High alum Spencer Steer is living his dream on the baseball diamond.
In the midst of his fourth big league season with the Cincinnati Reds, Steer has come a long way from the early days at Los Altos Little League. Now looking to continue a promising young career and continue his hometown’s rich history within Major League Baseball.
Steer, 27, broke into the majors during a whirlwind 2022 season, which he began in Double-A. Thanks to a solid start to the season, he earned a promotion to Triple-A in May, followed by his selection to the MLB All-Star Futures Game, where he represented the Minnesota Twins organization.

That became a special homecoming for Steer, as the game was played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, allowing a number of family members, teammates, and coaches to come see him on the big stage.
“That was awesome,” Steer recalled. “A lot of people were at that game, and I think it was a lot of people’s first time seeing me play since high school … So yeah, a pretty incredible experience overall.”
After showcasing his skills against the other top minor league prospects in baseball, Steer was then traded by the Twins–the organization that drafted him out of Oregon in the 3rd round of the 2019 draft–over to Cincinnati in early August. Less than a month later, Steer was headed to the Queen City to make his MLB debut against the Colorado Rockies.
Steer said those two months “turned his world upside down,” but he sure landed among the stars for his big league debut. In his four plate appearances that day, Steer drew a pair of walks, doubled, and hit his first MLB home run. As if that wasn’t enough, he also ended the Reds’ walk-off victory by scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
“I don’t remember too much from that day, just because of how quick it went by,” Steer admitted. “I heard a lot of, ‘Soak it in, enjoy it. You only get one debut.’ And I tried my best to do that. But at the same time, your whole life’s kind of leading up to this moment. It feels a lot bigger than you think it would, honestly. I just remember being crazy nervous leading up to the game, but once it started, a kind of calmness came over me. It’s still baseball, it’s still the same game. And then having my family here, getting to share that with them, that was really special.”
Since that storybook debut, Steer has carved out an important role with the Reds, playing in at least 156 games in both of his first full seasons in 2023 and 2024. He’s also played six different positions around the diamond, showcasing valuable versatility to help out the ballclub in a number of different ways.
Steer’s 2025 campaign got off to a tough start after he was shut down early in Spring Training due to shoulder discomfort. He was able to work his way back in time for an Opening Day start, but was limited to DH duties for the first three weeks of the season and didn’t put up his usual numbers at the plate.
“I just didn’t really feel like a complete baseball player,” admitted Steer of his time serving as a DH only. “I think I add value by being that guy in the lineup who can kind of plug in and play different positions. It was kind of just a weird thing for me. I’ve never just DH’d before, so I think I struggled with that piece of it.”
He also didn’t get the normal buildup to the season that ballplayers are accustomed to, meaning he was trying to find his timing against live big league pitching, instead of during Spring Training. After having time to adjust at the plate, Steer has found a better rhythm offensively, hitting .264 in his last 29 games with an active 10-game hitting streak as of May 22.
“Every Spring Training I just try to get the game to slow down,” Steer explained. “Because when you get those first at-bats, 90 looks like 100 and 95 looks like it’s unhittable, just because your eyes aren’t adjusted to the speed of the game and seeing spin and all that stuff. So that was a challenge. I’m not going to use that as an excuse for poor performance, but it’s definitely real.”
Now that he’s back playing the field, Steer has added immediate value at first base for the Reds. In his first 243.2 innings at that spot, he’s been credited with 5 defensive runs saved, which ranks second-best among all MLB first basemen.
As Steer navigates the ups and downs of his professional career, he’s never lost touch with his roots. He said he misses the beach, as well as the comfort that comes from being close to friends and family in Long Beach. But Steer said he’s kept in touch with his high school coaches over the years, and still goes back to Millikan during the offseason to hit in the cages.
Now in his fourth MLB season, he’s already reached heights that the vast majority of ballplayers never attain. He’s gotten to play in all 30 big league stadiums, collecting countless memories along the way.
But nine years out of high school, he still remembers those cold nights at Blair Field, and the battles against Lakewood, Wilson, and the rest of the Moore League. Those games still hold a special place in his heart, even as he creates new memories in the big leagues.
“It’s pretty cool that in high school you’re able to play at a field like that,,” Steer said. “Those night games at Blair felt like the biggest games of our lives at that point. I think it’s awesome that you get that opportunity in high school, because some of my favorite memories of baseball are on that field.”
Steer and the Reds will make a couple of West Coast trips later in the 2025 season, including a visit to Anaheim from Aug. 18-20, then to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers from Aug. 25-27.

Sports
Jada Joseph Earns Honorable Mention All-America at NCAA Championships
EUGENE, Ore. – Brown track and field senior Jada Joseph competed at the NCAA National Championships in the triple jump on Saturday. She finished 20th with a leap of 12.58 meters and earned Honorable Mention All-American as a result. Joseph returned to Eugene for the second consecutive year after she earned Honorable Mention All-American in the same […]

Joseph returned to Eugene for the second consecutive year after she earned Honorable Mention All-American in the same event a season ago.
In her final outdoor season, she tied the second best marks in Brown history in the triple jump (13.15m) and long jump (6.29m). She ends her career as a two-time All-American.
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Singapore’s artistic swimmers gear up for home World C’ships with bronze in World Cup series
SINGAPORE – In their final international outing ahead of the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the Republic’s artistic swimmers earned a confidence-boosting overall bronze medal at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in Xi’an, China. Debbie Soh, 27, Yvette Chong, 17, and Kiera Lee, 16, won the bronze in […]

SINGAPORE – In their final international outing ahead of the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the Republic’s artistic swimmers earned a confidence-boosting overall bronze medal at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Super Final in Xi’an, China.
Debbie Soh, 27, Yvette Chong, 17, and Kiera Lee, 16, won the bronze in the duet category of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup Series, which also came with US$10,000 (S$12,800) in prize money.
Soh and Lee scored 183.6818 during their duet free routine at the Super Final in China on June 14, which placed them eighth out of 11 pairs in China.
Chinese twins Lin Yanjun and Yanhan won the gold medal with 266.1442 points to finish ahead of duets from Spain and Japan.
But Spain took the overall gold and US$15,000, while Kazakhstan bagged a silver as well as US$12,000 in the duet category of the World Cup Series.
Chong said: “It is a huge confidence boost ahead of the World Aquatics Championships. It reassures us that we’re on the right track and gives us momentum for a strong showing as the host country.”
For Soh, it is a milestone in a long campaign.
“It felt like our season began in December 2024, right after the exam period. Since then, we’ve been training six days a week, for about five to 10 hours a day, and have gone through multiple intensive training camps. It’s been a challenging and hectic few months, but we stayed focused and motivated to rise above the challenges we faced along the way,” said Soh.
The youngest of the trio, Lee added: “We feel very fulfilled that our efforts were rewarded. It wasn’t in our expectations at all. We were more focused on hitting personal bests at every stop of the World Cup series, so we were taken aback by the final world ranking.”
Final rankings are calculated based on the score from the Super Final and the top two scores from the rest of the series. To be ranked in the world series, teams must participate in at least two out of its three legs, plus the Super Final.
The first three legs were in Paris, France (Feb 28-March 2), Somabay, Egypt (April 11-13) and Markham, Canada (May 1-3) before the June 13-15 Super Final in Xi’an.
The artistic swimming national team’s performance director Anastasia Goutseva said that the bronze was an “incredible recognition for the athletes and the hard work they have put in throughout the year”.
She added: “The third-place overall ranking came as a bit of a surprise, but it shows that you have to dream big. It is a historic result for Singapore, and we are very happy that the team’s effort has paid off.”
Goutseva said that the duet (technical) score in Paris, the duet (free) in Egypt and their performances in the Super Final in Xi’an earned them the bronze.
In Egypt, Chong and Soh had combined for 184.8755 points in the duet free to place 14th out of 23 and in Paris they scored 238.3992 to finish sixth out of 21 in the duet technical.
Meanwhile, on the final day of competition on June 15, Rachel Thean scored 195.3688 to finish eighth out of 10 competitors in the women solo free, while Singapore finished eighth out of nine teams in the team acrobatic event with a score of 144.2251.
On the artistic swimmers’ performance in the series, Goutseva said: “Overall, we are very satisfied. There has been clear improvement from one world series to the next. After each competition, we make the necessary changes and modifications to our routines based on feedback from the judges and technical controllers.
“We had set specific goals for this year, and we can definitely see the progress here in Xi’an.”
Ranked second only to the Olympics in prestige for water sports, the world championships will see over 2,500 athletes from more than 190 countries and territories compete in six aquatic disciplines – swimming, water polo, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving – across various venues in Singapore.
As they make their final preparations ahead of the home showcase, Goutseva said: “Singapore is committed to raising the level of artistic swimming, and while there is still a lot of work to be done, we are positive and motivated. Our focus is to push the team as far as we can and help them achieve their fullest potential on home soil.”
- Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports journalist at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news.
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Sports
Gators Finish Track and Field Season at NCAA Outdoor Championships
EUGENE, Ore. – Florida Gators Track and Field concluded the 2025 season on Saturday, the final day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The fourth day of the championship meet saw six Gator entries, combining for 14 more team points to round out the team scoring. Highlights Throws Alida […]

The fourth day of the championship meet saw six Gator entries, combining for 14 more team points to round out the team scoring.
Highlights
Throws
Alida van Daalen, after two consecutive third-place finishes in the NCAA Discus event, managed a second-place finish in her junior season. Her 64.94m [213′ 1″] fifth attempt stands as the best Discus mark by a Florida Gator in the History of the NCAA Championship meet.
Her runner-up finish is the best finish in the Discus by a Gator athlete, man or woman, in Florida’s program history.
Sprints
Florida’s evening session was quickly derailed, as in the 4x100m Relay, Freshman and anchor leg Habiba Harris pulled up with around 80 meters to go, resulting in a DNF.
Harris, the collegiate leader in the 100m Hurdles event, was unable to take to the line for the hurdles final later in the session. Her ills drew her season to an untimely ending, though she will enter next season as one of the most promising young stars in the collegiate ranks.
Anthaya Charlton, who lit up the preliminary round of the 100m dash with her collegiate-leading 10.87, Faced a difficult headwind in the 100m final on Saturday. She managed to cross the line in 11.19 despite the adverse conditions, earning a fourth-place finish.
Charlton’s finish is the best by a Gator in the 100m since 2008, when Lakecia Ealey finished third.
Gabrielle Matthews picked up First-team All-America Honors for her eighth-place finish in the 200m final. Matthews, running out of the treacherous lane 1, managed to score after sneaking into the event final with the last time qualifying spot.
Jumps
Asia Phillips reached her first NCAA Championship event final, ultimately finishing ninth in the Triple Jump field. With her 13.13m [43′ 1″] effort, she becomes a two-time Second-team All-American, having picked up her first honor this past indoor season.
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships – Florida Gators Results
Saturday, June 14
Sports
Shaler baseball, softball, boys volleyball teams share success at WPIAL, PIAA level
By: Josh Rizzo Saturday, June 14, 2025 | 11:47 PM Christopher Horner | TribLive Shaler’s Max Saban celebrates his double next to Bethel Park’s Ryan Petras during their PIAA Class 5A state quarterfinal on June 5 at Gateway. Christopher Horner | TribLive Shaler’s Landon Schiffhauer (3) and Max Saban (11) are greeted in the dugout […]

By:
Saturday, June 14, 2025 | 11:47 PM
Tom Sorce is happy for the Shaler Area sports community. The Titans softball coach did wish he was worried less about the chores around the house and more about what his colleagues in other sports were.
The Shaler softball team joined the boys volleyball and baseball teams in capturing WPIAL championships this spring, but ushered out of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs in the first round following an extra-inning loss.
“I’m kind of jealous right now,” Sorce said. “They are rolling and we got bumped out in the first round. It’s exciting for the school and the community. At our games, when we were in the WPIAL playoffs, we had a lot of younger kids come out and watch games.”
The boys volleyball team won a third consecutive WPIAL crown despite graduating 12 seniors from last season’s Class 3A state championship squad. Shaler fell in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals to Meadville this year.
The baseball team played in the PIAA Class 5A championship game for the second time in four seasons.
The baseball team played District 1 runner-up Upper Dublin for the championship after deadline for this edition.
Shaler athletic director Clint Rausher said the success is a testament to everyone in the district.
It has given the Titans an opportunity to grow, while other districts have seen their numbers decline.
“What I’m most proud of is the consistency in leadership we’ve built within our programs,” Rauscher said. “While many districts across the state and country struggle with coaching turnover, with strong administrative support, we’ve been able to retain head coaches over extended periods. This stability, combined with our intentional outreach to younger grades and the community, has allowed us to not only sustain but actually grow the number of athletes in our program.”
Shaler boys volleyball coach Paul Stadelman said he appreciates the situation he is in.
“I hope the community appreciates how difficult, unique and amazing it is,” Shaler boys volleyball coach Paul Stadelman said. “With spring sports, it can be hard because the season goes past the school year and people aren’t hearing the announcements or bumping into each other. It’s nice the wonderful first responders we have in Shaler have welcomed all the teams back to the school and anyone near a major artery can think that is for the baseball, softball or volleyball team.”
Stadelman inherited the program with the least amount of success historically and slowly built it to the top. Shaler won the WPIAL championship in Class 3A in 2023 and 2024 before finding similar success when the program moved to Class 2A this season.
Stadelman said he had never really built anything from the ground up before.
“I wouldn’t say I had an opportunity to parallel the work with this program,” Stadelman said. “It took some patience at the beginning and believing in the process. We needed to find the right people in the program who were willing to go through that process.”
Brian Junker, the baseball coach, has led Shaler for 16 seasons and leads what has been the most consistent of the spring programs. The Titans have won three WPIAL crowns — 2019, 2023 and 2025 — since Junker took over.
Before Junker’s tenure, the Titans last won the district in 1999.
“It’s a reflection of how we do things. We have high standards,” Junker said. “We work hard in the classroom, and we work hard in the weight room. We’re doing things right on and off the field. We stress that, and we play hard. We don’t think sometimes we’re as talented as some of these teams, but we’ll fight you till the end. They carry that attitude with them, and then, we just focus on our process — throwing strikes, having quality at-bats and sprinting on and off the field.
“That’s how we win games.”
Sorce took over Shaler’s softball program from Skip Palmer, who had won 199 games over 12 seasons in charge, in 2018. Since Sorce has been on the bench, the Titans have won the WPIAL title and played for a state championship.
Sorce feels the pressure to keep up with Stadelman and Junker.
“They’ve built those programs to be competitive every year,” Sorce said. “I wanted to make sure we’re a part of it. This doesn’t doesn’t happen so often and consistently. Those guys are legends.”
Dave Mackall contributed to this report.
Tags: Shaler
Sports
Photos: Day Four of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Aaliyah McCormick of Oregon celebrates after winning the women’s 100-meter hurdles final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Eugene, Ore. McCormick placed first with a time of 12.81 seconds. (Max Unkrich / Daily Emerald) Link 0

Aaliyah McCormick of Oregon celebrates after winning the women’s 100-meter hurdles final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Eugene, Ore. McCormick placed first with a time of 12.81 seconds. (Max Unkrich / Daily Emerald)
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