BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — The Cubs looked to get back to their winning ways with the Kansas City Royals in town to open a three-game set.

The offense got off to an early start, but the struggles of Ben Brown – recalled before the game from Triple-A Iowa – undid that fast outburst as the Cubs fell to the Royals 12-4 on Monday night.

The loss at least briefly dropped the Cubs (59-41) to second place in the National League Central, half a game behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who opened a series on the West Coast against the Seattle Mariners.

The Cubs had been in first place for 90 straight days entering Monday.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

Brown’s bugaboos

Brown was optioned to the minor leagues last month as his struggles in the majors compounded and the urgency within the first-place Cubs meant they needed to send him down to get him right as they chased wins.

Yet another injury to their already depleted rotation (Jameson Taillon) meant Brown was needed for the start of the three-game set with Kansas City. But Brown had made just two starts in Iowa – allowing one earned run across nine innings – as the Cubs worked to limit his innings.

Craig Counsell and the Cubs tried to give Brown a soft landing – they used right-hander Ryan Brasier as the opener. It was a strategy that had worked in the past; he pitched six scoreless innings with one hit and nine strikeouts on May 31 against the Reds.

But Brown’s struggles remerged – he surrendered six earned runs on seven hits and allowed a pair of home runs in four innings of work. The night spiked his ERA to 6.48 and highlights the Cubs’ need for more pitching before the trade deadline at the end of the month.

There’s probably not going to be a trade completed in the coming days – Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and history have told us moves don’t happen until right against the deadline. That means this spot in the rotation will come up one more time before then.

As they suddenly find themselves in a dogfight in the division, the Cubs need to correct that spot.

Second-place Cubs

As a caveat, you might be reading this after the Brewers game and it might be a different situation, but for at least a few hours, the Cubs dropped to second place in the division for the first time since April 2.

A large part of that is the absolute tear that the Brewers have been on. Since May 25, the Brewers are 34-12, a .739 winning percentage or a 120-win pace. That’s an insane run and whether that’s sustainable is hard to believe.

But there’s no denying it: The Brewers are good, and it should make for an interesting dogfight down the stretch for the division crown. The Cubs have made an emphasis that they won’t worry about Milwaukee unless they’re playing them – which happens in a week at American Family Field – and that’s the right approach to take.

One interesting component about the two teams, though, is the vast difference in their remaining contests. The Brewers have the seventh-hardest remaining strength of schedule (.510 winning percentage for their opponents, per Tankathon), while the Cubs are tied for the easiest (.480).

Another Shaw blast

Hoyer and the Cubs front office will explore options at the hot corner before the end of the month – ranking last in many offensive categories from that position will do that.

But in the meantime, former top prospect Matt Shaw will continue to get the bulk of the playing time and – just maybe – make a case that he’s still the top option this season at the position. Shaw had a three-run home run in the fourth inning that gave the Cubs an early 4-1 lead.

He finished 2-for-4 on the day and is now 6-for-11 with two home runs and four RBI after the All-Star break. That’s an extremely small sample size, but an encouraging development, nonetheless, if he can keep it up moving forward, regardless of the Cubs’ potential moves before the trade deadline.

The Cubs still believe in the 23-year-old and as has been the case with players like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya, development at the major-league level happens all the time and no one can predict when it’ll click for a player.

Hoyer and his brass might still pull the trigger on a third baseman if the right deal makes sense, regardless of Shaw’s next eight games or so, but having him continue to find success at the plate is a good thing for the Cubs.

INGRAM, Texas – – Perry McAshan-McCall walks through her family’s Hill Country property that they’ve owned since 1944. Her grandmother, Edith McAshan, was a painter, and this plot of land had the peaceful, scenic views that inspired her art.

Now, Perry’s voice paints the scene of what happened just two weeks ago.

First up, Edith’s art studio.

“It was a studio with a northern light, and that’s evidently really good light,” Perry said. “And of course, as you see, the whole wall came out. It had two windows over here, and of course a wall. This is the most destroyed of all of our buildings.”

Across the yard was a cottage Perry’s parents built so they could live separately from mom and dad while her father recuperated from crash landing his Grumman Avengers airplane in World War II.

“Over the years, it’s grown. My mother added a bedroom loft, and she had a huge piece of furniture over here,” she said, pointing instead to ripped up floorboards. “It was really nice!”

Over 76 summers, this house became a part of her family, one of the last physical things she shared with her grandparents and parents who passed away. She and her husband, Michael, live in Houston, but they rented this place in order to pay the insurance, the yard man and the pool guy. To justify keeping it.

Then, in just 45 minutes on the morning of July 4, the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet and washed all that history away.

Perry’s home is in the Bumble Bee subdivision of Ingram, the hardest hit neighborhood in the second deadliest flood in Texas history, officially with 135 lives lost. The creek bed that runs behind the neighborhood, Bumble Bee Creek, hadn’t seen a drop of water in six years due to drought. But when the Guadalupe surged, it ran up against the rock bluffs that give the Hill Country its beauty, flowed into Bee Creek, and put their subdivision in the middle of a perfect, horrible storm. Every house was totaled.

“It’s just so sad to see it all gone,” Perry says.

At this moment, the man beside her perks up. Tate DeMasco, the head football coach at Ingram Tom Moore High School, has been mostly silent as he’s followed along for the tour, listening intently and laughing along at Perry’s jokes. The woman is in remarkably good spirits. But at the first hint of how despondent this flood has left her, he throws a life raft.

“Did I hear you say it’s so sad?” DeMasco asks. “We’re over sad. We’re going to get this built back better.”

The question is how. Perry, like every member of Bumble Bee, doesn’t have flood insurance. The Guadalupe is 500 yards away, too far to think about paying for insurance in a neighborhood where there’s not much extra cash on hand. Before the fourth, Perry was a retired high school teacher from Houston Memorial. Now, her full-time job is restoring her family’s memories.

DeMasco knows how dire this situation is as he drives around in an Ingram ISD pickup truck loaded with hot meals for those in need. He admits how concerned he is for the small businesses and houses this flood wrecked. But the second that door opens to the world, the smile is back on his face and a quick joke is on the tip of his tongue. Because that’s what these people need even more than the meal he’s providing.

Before you leave, Perry needs you to sign the board. This slab of plywood is her most prized possession after the flood took the rest away. It’s covered in Black sharpie, hundreds of signatures from people who traveled from Helotes, Buda, Dripping Springs and San Antonio, all to visit the house and help clean debris. Her husband points to certain names and speaks in awe of how this person led the cleanup crews and how that person prayed with them.

Two weeks ago, Perry and Michael drove in fear from Houston to Ingram. Of course, they were scared of the damage they’d find. But the idea of rebuilding their lives alone brought panic.

Despite everything they lost, this board is proof of the community they’ve gained.

“We have lots to praise God about,” Perry said.  

…

Since July 5, Tate DeMasco’s work day has started at 5:00 a.m. at CityWest Church. This is the command center for Ingram’s recovery effort. Mercy Chefs, in a partnership with the non-profit Blind Faith Foundation, cooks 4-5,000 hot meals per day in the parking lot. It’s up to DeMasco, his coaching staff, and anyone who’ll help to get those meals to the victims and first responders around town.

After checking in at the church, DeMasco runs Ingram Tom Moore High School’s summer strength and conditioning camp from 7-9:00 a.m. Then, he heads to his office to work on athletic director duties that are piling up. The school district’s superintendent retired a week before the flood, and the baseball coach quit days before. Oh, and fall camp starts in two weeks. But most of the time he’s on the phone coordinating which parts of town need what supplies to aid the recovery. Everything else is on the backburner.

By 10:00 a.m., DeMasco is back at the church with his entire staff, including the female coaches. They all huddle around a white board that gives assignments for how many meals go to each part of town. It’s like a pregame meeting, except every day is game day. The lunch and dinner runs take about four hours because every person they meet along the path wants to talk. Conversation provides a short break from the 12-hour days of hard labor, and a chance to cope. DeMasco normally doesn’t return home until after 10:00 p.m.

This tragedy has provided Ingram Tom Moore with an opportunity to show the community the core values like selflessness and servant leadership that they always talk about.

“If we’re going to expect our kids in adverse situations to perform and overcome, then we have to be out in the front leading,” DeMasco said. “We have to lead by example and pull them along with us so that they can see that this is what’s supposed to be done in a time of need.”

But it’s not only the high school kids working four-hour shifts loading up meals and cleaning yards who’ll learn from this experience. The actual coaches kids in elementary and middle school run around the church together every day and go on meal runs with their parents. DeMasco looks out at his 11-year-old son, Ty, roughhousing with his friends near the church stage. One day, his son will have to lead through tragedy, whether that be a flood, fire or a disease. DeMasco hopes he remembers the time when he was a boy and the Guadalupe surged, and what his community did next.

DeMasco leading his staff in the church provides a glimpse into how he’s revitalized the Ingram athletic program in his four years. This past academic year was the first time in school history every sport made the playoffs, including football’s first playoff berth since 2018. He and his staff trade off-color jabs and a few well-timed cuss words, because God has a sense of humor. But when he leads, they follow.

“He’s turned from a respected person to a hero,” said Danny Burch, a retired West Texas Special Investigation officer whose sons are in Ingram’s athletic program. “He wears the cape right now.”

That cape weighs heavy on his shoulders, but DeMasco will never admit it. This is not some heroic effort on his part. In his mind, these duties are in his job description even if they weren’t mentioned in the interview. And the toll this storm has taken on him pales in comparison to the one it took on the people he comes face-to-face with every day.

DeMasco and his coaches’ faces are sunburned from the nose down from days on end in the Texas sun with a hat and sunglasses. He’s barely slept since the flood, partially because he doesn’t have much time and partially because the worry keeps him awake. Family time with his wife and two kids is spent in the car handing out meals, where they fill him in on the youth practices he’s missing. He and most of the staff have not taken a day off.

“These people that have lost their places and lost family members and are having to clean up, they don’t get days off,” assistant coach Joel Hinton said. “If they take a day off, they’re in the same exact situation with the disaster.”

That’s why DeMasco doesn’t have time for most media inquiries. Reporters from CNN and Fox News have texted him multiple times to no response. He doesn’t want his words bent toward politics, because those debates don’t rebuild houses. When shown an admiring parent’s email about him to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, he half-jokes he’s going to get on them. He is not the story, and he’s only telling his side of it because it could bring help to the story that matters.

Ingram is a town that exists in the in-between. There is no delineating mark of a town center. It doesn’t have its own trash service or curbed streets. Because of this, its encroached upon by Kerrville, the larger town six miles east. It’s difficult to distinguish where Kerrville ends and Ingram begins, which is why this area largely goes unmentioned in national coverage. But that doesn’t make the devastation any less real.

The high school consists of kids from Ingram and the even smaller town of Hunt, which only has a kindergarten through 8th grade campus. Hunt is where Camp Mystic is located, the all-girls private Christian summer camp where 27 campers and counselors perished.

There is one two-lane road that runs from Ingram to Mystic along the Guadalupe, and the rest are dirt, which makes the logistics of transporting forklifts and firetrucks for recovery a nightmare. Along that road are piles of debris that reach 15-20 feet high. They can’t be removed until the state ceases the search for the 100 people still missing, because there could be bodies buried within.

“The Friday after the flood was the first time I had made it past Ingram and into Kerrville,” said Bridget Symm, DeMasco’s volunteer athletic administration assistant. “It was like, ‘Life is normal here.’ There were people going to the grocery store and at the car wash. And it was just so dystopian 12 miles the other direction. It was a war zone.”

The search itself has no end in sight, because every time rain comes, the human divers and cadaver dogs must clear the lakes in Ingram over again in case a body was dislodged from under a log or hung up on bushes. Once the weather forecast clears, the town will drain these lakes and begin digging through the ten feet of sediment that’s formed below the water’s surface. The best-case scenario is that the digging only uncovers cars and cows.

Most townsfolk admit Ingram’s physical restoration will take years. The emotional restoration will be even longer. 

The surrounding towns have rushed in to speed up the process. DeMasco highlights coaches like Bandera’s Joel Fontenot-Amedee, Kerrville Tivy’s Curtis Neill and Edna’s Jamie Dixon who’ve been instrumental to the effort. Dripping Springs head coach Galen Zimmerman brought 55 of his athletes and seven coaches to help clean the Bumble Bee neighborhood.  For those who’ve come to help, the hardest part isn’t lugging around heavy equipment. It’s getting back in the car after a hard day’s work and seeing how much more there is to do.

“We were there with all these guys. We worked for hours and got a lot done,” Zimmerman said. “And then you’re driving out and it still looks the same.”

But the progress is found when you step out of the car and see the new bonds that have formed.

Miles Murayama is Ingram Tom Moore’s High School’s biggest fan. Every day when DeMasco honks his horn at the bottom of his street in the Bumble Bee neighborhood, Murayama sprints out of his house in his Warriors hat. He begs DeMasco to let him become a bus driver for the team. Murayama is recently retired from his job as a UPS driver, but he still has the CDL bus license. His wife, Martha, jokes that it stands for “Can’t Do Labor.” When it’s time to move heavy boxes, Miles sneaks down the road, leaving his phone so Martha has to shout down the street.

Miles’ talks with DeMasco have turned into his favorite part of the day. He’s a firm believer in born leaders, and he sees those traits in DeMasco.

“I’ve been in the army for 33 years. I see his character, and his drive,” Murayama said. “He’s the type of person that knows how to motivate somebody.”

Miles and DeMasco interact like old friends, but they first met each less than two weeks ago. He lives five minutes from Ingram Tom Moore’s stadium, and DeMasco would’ve never known who he was if not for the flood. This fall, Murayama will be in the stands every Friday night.

“It’s kind of sad something like this had to happen for us to get closer,” Murayama said.

While this flood broke Ingram into a million pieces, it will heal stronger with a newfound sense of community.

“The people there are lifting each other and giving each other hope,” Fontenot-Amedee said. “That hope is like a miracle when you see it.”

Volunteers who’ve walked through Ingram say it’s difficult to describe the emotions the devastated land brings. There are victims who’ve lost every earthly possession on each street, yet there are far more smiles and laughs than tears. One man has only his back porch left because his house is completely gutted, and he offered it up to assistant coaches if they needed to take a breather. Everyone is focused on how lucky they are to have what they still do.

“Your heart breaks on one end, and then it’s renewed on the other side,” Zimmerman said.

Before she was a volunteer assistant with the Ingram athletic program, Bridget Symm owned a restaurant and vineyard on 13 acres of land. The barn was a catering and storage area, but the most valuable cargo was a box of books inside. Bridget had received a Bible on her wedding day with her name and all of her family’s names engraved in it. That book was one of the first things she thought of when barn flooded.

A couple of days later while Symm was working at the fire station, a friend who’d been cleaning out on her property plopped a book down in front of her. She’d found the family Bible in the middle of a field, completely dry and without dirt.

There is no sugar coating that Ingram is a demolished town. But people who look among the wreckage long enough find signs of God. A month before the flood, Perry McAshan-McCall couldn’t renew the contract for a family of five with a small baby renting her cabin in Bumble Bee. She now considers the overused septic tank that caused it a miracle.

“There’s been so many God things in all of this,” Symm said. “I know there were many bad things. But God most definitely touched so much of this.”

Below is a link to the McCall-McAshan family’s Go Fund Me to restore their property.

___

A before-and-after look of Perry’s house (before photos courtesy of bumblebeelodge.com) 

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever thought Caitlin Clark’s return might solve their wild first-half ride. They were getting healthy, beating good teams and starting to meet expectations.

Then the two-time All-Star got hurt again in the final minute of last Tuesday’s game at Connecticut. Indiana lost by double digits the next night to defending champion New York.

Clark missed last weekend’s All-Star festivities in Indianapolis and is likely to sit out Tuesday night when the Fever again play the Liberty. It’s all creating uncertainty about Clark and Indiana’s championship aspirations.

“These soft tissue injuries sometimes nag until you can actually have time to really allow them to heal in the offseason,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said after Sunday’s practice. “So we’ll just take it one day at a time and we’ll continue, as a group, to progress together.”

Neither White nor Clark have provided a timetable for Clark’s return.

As a rookie, Clark helped the Fever snap a six-year playoff drought and during the three-game winning streak before her latest injury, she had 40 points, 29 assists, six steals and 10 turnovers in 79 minutes.

Her name and that of the league’s other superstars have packed arenas and been the focal point of broadcast deals.

Amid a rash of injuries, the WNBA needs its top players on the court more than ever. According to The Next, which tracks injuries in the league, there have been more than 140 injuries so far this season.

Those numbers fed into last weekend’s debate over whether league officials should consider extending the season next year now that teams are playing 44 games instead of 40.

“I feel there’s been quite a few injuries over the course of the beginning of this season for quite a few people,” Clark said Saturday, noting some injuries created minutes restrictions for other All-Star selections. “A lot of people have been in the same boat as myself.”

Simply extending the season creates yet another problem — competing against the NFL and college football telecasts deeper into September. That’s something that could be resolved in a new collective bargaining agreement.

Until then, though, Indiana must learn to deal with Clark’s third absence this season, so far resulting in 10 missed games. Clark did not miss a single game in college or her rookie season with the Fever.

Indiana has maintained a winning record (12-11) and playoff positioning despite the injuries. The Fever were also able to win the Commissioner’s Cup over Minnesota with a 74-59 win without Clark.

The team also overcame the departure of DeWanna Bonner, who lost her starting job after three games and played in only nine before being waived and returning to Phoenix.

And, of course, it took time for everyone to get on the same page following a massive offseason overhaul that included the hiring of a new general manager, Amber Cox; the return of White — Indiana’s original No. 22; and the addition of other players with title-winning experience.

“I think it’s been a rollercoaster ride with peaks and valleys, injuries, switching lineups,” three-time All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell said. “I think that’s part of being a professional athlete. But I think you need to go through things like this to be one of the teams they talk about at the end of the season.”

The Fever believes it still can be one of those teams.

With Mitchell leading Indiana in scoring at 19.1 points per game and All-Star center Aliyah Boston showcasing a niftier passing game to go along with averages of 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds, Indiana still has two of its foundational pillars on the court.

Indiana also has more options such as forward Natasha Howard and backup guard Sophie Cunningham to help fill in the gaps until Clark returns.

“Consistency, attention to detail, making sure defensively we’re a beast unit,” Cunningham said as she identified other needed fixes. “I think it all starts on the defensive end with our intensity and our aggressiveness. When we do that, we tend to win those ballgames. You’re going to have a little bit of slippage every now and then, but you can’t have landslides.”

Ultimately, though, the lingering question is whether Clark can stay healthy long enough to push Indiana into championship position.

“Working your way back into it is really difficult,” White said. “She has to give herself some grace. She’s coming back from an injury.”

SAN MARCOS, TX / ACCESS Newswire / July 21, 2025 / The Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) is proud to announce a new partnership with the premier sports streaming service, Victory+ (owned by A Parent Media Co. Inc.).This exciting collaboration aims to elevate the visibility of high school football across the Lone Star State and beyond and will kick off with the launch of a new initiative: “THSCA Game of the Week.”

“I am very excited to partner with Victory+ as we celebrate community and education-based athletics,” said THSCA Executive Director Joe Martin. “Having Victory+ serve as the home of the THSCA and the THSCA Game of the Week is an important step forward for us. Partnering with a media group has been part of our long-range strategic plan, and this collaboration is a tremendous way to promote Texas high school football at another level while shining a spotlight on our outstanding Texas high school football coaches. We do it better here in Texas than anyone else in the nation, and this partnership will allow us to share just how special football in the state of Texas truly is.”

“We’re incredibly proud to work with the THSCA to bring the Game of the Week to fans across the world. Texas high school football is more than just a sport, it’s part of the culture and community,” said Neil Gruninger, President & CEO of APMC. “By streaming these games, we’re not only showcasing incredible talent but also giving families, alumni, and hometown supporters a front-row seat to the action.”

Beginning this fall, the THSCA Game of the Week will bring fans a front-row seat to one Texas high school football matchup every Friday night, live-streamed exclusively on Victory+. From powerhouse rivalries to rising underdog stories, the series will highlight the passion, talent, and tradition that make Texas high school football truly special.

Each featured game will include professional commentary, pre- and post-game coverage, and exclusive interviews with coaches and players. Viewers across the world can stream the action live, and for free, on Victory+ through their mobile devices, connected TV or on the Victory+ website, with replays available on demand.

The Game of the Week schedule and first featured matchup will be announced in the coming weeks. For updates, follow @THSCAcoaches and @VictoryPlusTV on social media or visit www.victoryplus.com.

About the Texas High School Coaches Association

The Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) is Texas high school coaches’ principal advocate and leadership organization. The THSCA provides the highest quality representation, education, and services to Texas high school coaches and affiliate members by enhancing the professionalism of coaches and the schools they represent. The mission statement is simply this: To help and serve Texas high school coaches as they work to help and serve student-athletes. “HELPING COACHES HELP KIDS.” For more information on THSCA, visit www.thsca.com

About Texas High School Coaches Education Foundation

The mission of the Texas High School Coaches Education Foundation is to develop funds from a broad range of donors to provide professional education programs that will strengthen, reinforce, and enhance professionalism in high school coaches throughout the state of Texas. These programs provide instructional material and training in character development to coaches in Texas at both the high school and middle school levels and can directly impact the lives of over 1.5 million student-athletes each year. The two established events are the Texas Coaches Leadership Summit and the R.O.C.K. Mentoring Workshop.

ABOUT APMC and Victory+

A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC) is a media and technology company focused on providing innovative solutions to consumers and brands. APMC is a leader in Safe Streaming™ delivering an end-to-end solution to brands and platforms with an emphasis on unlocking incremental revenue. Utilizing proprietary streaming and monetization technologies, APMC reaches millions of homes globally through its products including Kidoodle.TV®, Dude Perfect Streaming Service, Glitch+™, Victory+™ and Safe Exchange™. Victory+ a groundbreaking FREE end-to-end, direct to consumer, sports streaming service made for fans, by fans. Featuring free regional broadcasts of various sports teams including the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks, Victory+ is also the home to a library of on-demand, premium sports-based, outdoors, and extreme sports content. Visit www.aparentmedia.com and www.victoryplus.com to learn more.

THSCA Contact Information
Anna Buckalew
Director of Media, THSCA
annabuckalew@thsca.com

SOURCE: A Parent Media Co. Inc.

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On a famously hot Sunday afternoon at the Spring Valley Country Club, Thomas Bradshaw came through to win his first city golf championship.