– Two teams looking to snap losing streaks meet Friday night in the CFL as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers host the Montreal Alouettes. The Als have lost five in a row and sit last in the East Division with a 1-and-6 record while the Bombers have lost two straight after winning five of their first six games. Slotback Nick Moore returns to the Bombers’ lineup Friday after missing three weeks while Winnipeg makes a pair of changes on defence. Defensive end Jason Vega and linebacker Ejiro Kuale are both out this week, with Abe Kromah and Kashawn Fraser moving into the lineup.
– The Brandon Knights opened the Western Canada Midget AAA Baseball Championship with a 1-0 victory over the Saskatoon Diamondbacks Thursday night. Brandon won despite not registering a hit in the contest, with Bradley Schoonbaert scoring the game’s only run in the bottom of the sixth inning after reaching in a dropped third strike, advancing to third base on two fielders’ choices and scoring on an error. Mitch Lyall, Aaron Pugh and Brad McLeod combined on a four-hit shutout for the Knights. Brandon plays a pair of games Friday.
– A four-run second inning propelled the Sydney Sooners to a 7-1 victory over the Reston Rockets Thursday to open the Baseball Canada Senior Men’s Championship. Anthony Friesen allowed six runs on seven hits in five innings and took the loss for Reston while Mitch Olson scored the Rockets’ only run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Reston will play two games today, battling Corner Brook and Langley.
– Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays hope some home cooking will help save their season. Stroman starts Friday night as Toronto hosts the Tampa Bay Rays. The Blue Jays are returning from a road trip where they dropped six of eight games. Toronto enters the weekend four games behind Detroit for the second wild-card spot in the American League.
– A new men’s champion will be crowned this year at the 81st Annual Tamarack Golf Tournament. Defending champ Jarod Crane dropped a 1-up decision to Jared Jacobson in the quarter-finals of the Men’s Championship Flight Thursday. Jacobson will face Jay Thiesen in one of today’s semifinals while Dale Coulter and Kevin Pratt will play in the other. The Junior Men’s Final was also set Thursday, and it’ll be a rematch of 2013. Three-time champion Steve Young of La Salle and Brandon’s Colton Wilms moved into the final with semifinal wins Thursday.
– The Shilo Country Club team of Susan Ash, Dawn Choy, Connie Chudley and Judy Prange claimed the low gross title at the Golf Manitoba Women’s Interclub B Championship Thursday. The team combined to shoot a score of 319 at the Glendale Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg, with Prange’s round of 100 tied for the fourth-best individual score in the championship. The event is open to golfers with a handicap between 24.1 and 39.4.
– Round 2 of the LPGA’s Canadian Pacific Women’s Open goes today in London, Ontario. So Yeon Ryu set a course record with a 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead Thursday. Ryu finished with nine birdies for a one-stroke lead over fellow South Korean Na Yeon Choi. Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ontario, had the best score of the 15 Canadians in the field at 5-under.
– The Brandon Bobcats’ men’s basketball team have announced a late recruit in 6-foot-5 guard/forward Earl Thompson Jr. The 6-foot-5 Thompson averaged 21.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game last season with Shoreline Community College in Washington State. Bobcats’ coach Gil Chueng says Thompson is a versatile forward that will fill a need for the team, which lost three veteran forwards from last year’s squad. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more here.
– A split for Hockey Canada’s women’s teams against their American opponents Thursday in Calgary. Hartney’s Melissa Hunt and the Under-18 team defeated the United States 3-2 to open a three-game exhibition series, with Hunt being held pointless in the contest. Later, the National Women’s Development team fell 2-1 to the U.S. Brandon’s Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Neepawa’s Halli Brzyzaniak are both playing for the Under-22 squad. The Canadian and American teamsw will continue their exhibition series Friday in Calgary.
