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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Meet Rhode Island's top high school athletes of the past 25 years
August is here, which means the 2025-26 high school sports season is just a few short weeks away. Football teams will be taking the field for practice beginning on Aug. 14, with soccer, field hockey, cross country and more to follow suit. This summer has been a busy one for The Providence Journal sports staff, as Bill Koch, Eric Rueb and Jacob Rousseau have been diving into our archives in search of the best high school athletes of the century, so far. That means looking at the top performers from fall, winter and spring sports since 2000. The spring and winter sports have nearly all been published, both online and in the pages of The Journal, and the plan is the publish every sport before the 2025-26 school year begins. If you missed any of these players so far, don't worry. We're rounding them all up for you in one spot — right here. So take a look back at who shined the brightest over the last quarter century. Here are the teams that have been published so far, and we'll keep adding as more teams are rolled out over the next several weeks: Baseball Boys Basketball Girls Basketball Boys Golf Girls Golf Gymnastics Boys Hockey Girls Hockey Boys Lacrosse Girls Lacrosse Softball Boys Swimming Girls Swimming Boys Tennis Girls Tennis Girls Track Boys Volleyball Girls Volleyball Boys Wrestling This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Meet Rhode Island's top high school athletes of the past 25 years
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
From Little League to Patriots preseason opener, here are the top sports stories of the week
Here's a look back at the top-performing sports stories on of the past week. ∎August is here, which means the 2025-26 high school sports season is just a few short weeks away. Football teams will be taking the field for practice beginning on Aug. 14, with soccer, field hockey, cross country and more to follow suit. This summer has been a busy one for The Providence Journal sports staff, as Bill Koch, Eric Rueb and Jacob Rousseau have been diving into our archives in search of the best high school athletes of the century, so far. That means looking at the top performers from fall, winter and spring sports since 2000. The spring and winter sports have nearly all been published, both online and in the pages of The Journal, and the plan is the publish every sport before the 2025-26 school year begins. ∎The Burrillville Little League baseball team's season was one to remember. Though it ended at the Metro Regional tournament in Bristol, Connecticut, last week, losing to New Jersey's Jackson Holbrook Little League squad, 15-0, on Sunday, Aug. 3, it was a special experience for the coaches, players, parents and fans. 'It was incredible,' Burrillville manager Steve Detonnancourt said on Monday, Aug. 4. 'Great for our Little League, great for our team. It was a tough weekend, obviously, but to be there and get these kids on ESPN and win the first state [title] in 53 years is no short of an accomplishment. We're just very proud and grateful that we had the opportunity to go do it.' ∎The WNBA's Connecticut Sun appear to be on the move. Reports surfaced last weekend that ex-Boston Celtics minority owner and Bain Capital executive Steve Pagliuca recently purchased the team for a record $325 million, with another $100 million earmarked to build a dedicated practice facility for the team in Boston. But the league pointed out that a move to Boston is not a done deal. "Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams," the league announced. On July 11, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee reportedly met at Amica Mutual Pavilion to discuss the possibility of relocating the Connecticut Sun to Providence, and in a statement on social media, Pagliuca seemed to keep the door open for Rhode Island to play a role in any potential move, writing, "An investor group led by PagsGroup, and supported by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy and Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, has offered to acquire the Connecticut Sun with the objective of keeping New England's WNBA team in New England. No transaction has been agreed yet." Just what that role would be is still up in the air. ∎Providence Journal Sports Writer Eric Rueb loves golf. He plays a lot and also caddies a lot in the summer. He spent July revisiting area golf courses that, for a variety of reasons, he had not played in a while, and he was pleasantly surprised. "Growing up working at a country club, I thought every course needed to have perfectly manicured fairways, greens that ran like glass and a layout designed by someone every golfer should know," he wrote. "I've since matured and learned to embrace courses for what they are, not what they aren't, and it's made me enjoy the sport that much more." Here's a look at five courses that are worth a visit this season. ∎After a summer full of training camps, practices and press conferences, the New England Patriots took the field at Gillette Stadium on Friday, Aug. 8, to open the preseason schedule with a matchup against the visiting Washington Commanders – New England's only home game of the preseason and a 48-18 rout of the Commanders. The Journal's Bill Koch was on hand and here's what he took away from our first glimpse of a Mike Vrabel-led Patriots team in game action. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Little League, Patriots, and other top Sports stories of the week
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Providence's Kris Honel, a Chicago White Sox first-round pick, pitches in for Beecher Muskies. ‘Until I'm 50.'
Former Providence right-hander Kris Honel and his father, Mike, have gone through a lot together and are close, but even Mike didn't know how long his son planned to stay on the mound. Honel — a pitcher who was drafted in the first round, 16th overall, by the Chicago White Sox in 2001 — had Tommy John surgery in 2005 and never made it to the major leagues. But after being away from the game for more than 10 years, he's giving baseball another shot with the Beecher Muskies. 'I plan on pitching until I'm 50,' the 42-year-old Honel said before a July 31 pool-play game in the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series. 'As long as my arm and my body hold up, I'm going to pitch.' Mike, who has seen the highs and lows of his son's career, was surprised to hear that. 'He wants to go to 50?' Mike said. 'He said that? If he can do it, God bless him. I think 50 is a stretch. But he still likes going out there and loves competing. 'I guess until they tear the uniform off you, you might as well do it.' The 6-foot-4 Honel is not ruling out a return to professional baseball, either. But he knows there's a long way to go if he could pull off such an improbable feat. 'My velocity is in the mid-to-upper 80s again,' Kris said. 'That's crazy. Every outing I pitch, I'm getting better and better. 'It's not my immediate plan. But if I start throwing in the low-to mid 90s again, maybe I'll start thinking about it. We're not quite there yet.' Honel, meanwhile, is having fun playing with the Muskies, an amateur team that won the NABF Major Division World Series on Aug. 3 in Naperville. In the Aug. 2 quarterfinals, Honel threw a seven-inning, complete-game victory in a 6-1 win over the Addison Braves. He gave up only one run on five hits. The Muskies beat the Berea Ohio Blue Sox 10-6 the next day to win their second NABF World Series title, the first coming in 2010. Bremen alum Marty Coyle and Bryce Shafer were named co-MVPs. Andrew graduate AJ Le had 12 hits and 12 RBIs for the Muskies in the World Series. Honel, who lives in the Kankakee area, threw in a handful of games for the Muskies in 2024 after contacting Hall of Fame coach Fred LeSage before the season began. Honel said he worked hard during the offseason as if he were heading to spring training. 'It's coming around for him,' LeSage said of Honel. 'His stuff is really good. His fastball is good, but his breaking ball is really good, and when his breaking stuff is on, he is unhittable.' Honel said he has been coaching young players as well as mentoring high school players. That helped pique his interest in returning to the mound competitively. After the 2001 draft, Honel played in affiliated ball from 2001 to 2008 but never rose above the Double-A level. He was 5-7 with a 6.56 ERA in Double-A Birmingham before he opted for surgery. He played in independent leagues from 2009 to 2011 before hanging it up the first time. He said he's proud of his career. 'I lived out my dreams,' he said. 'Did I get to that mountaintop where I wanted to be? No. But at the same time, I was pretty high up there. I was on the big-league roster when they won the World Series. 'I rubbed elbows with and got to play with some of the best players of this generation. I competed against them and did well against them. That's something I will always cherish and never take for granted.'
