Thunderbirds win semifinal, will play for Memorial Cup on Sunday

The Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Petersborough Petes 4-1 Friday night in a semifinal at the Memorial Cup in Kamloops, British Columbia.

The win puts the T-birds into Sunday’s 4 p.m. championship game against the Quebec Remparts.

Kyle Crnkovic had a goal and an assist for the T-birds, who spread the scoring around.

It’s the first time in club history they’ve played for the CHL title.

Hawks release NT

The Seahawks are releasing nose tackle Forrest Merrill, who signed with the team on May 15, according to a report Friday from NFL Media.

Merrill, who played in four games for the Chargers in 2021, was signed as the Seahawks continue to search for depth at nose tackle following the release of veteran Al Woods and with Bryan Mone still recovering from a knee injury.

Merrill’s expected release will leave the Seahawks with four players listed as nose or defensive tackles.

UW men’s rowing advances 4 boats

The Washington men’s rowing team sent three of its crews to semifinals on the first day of the IRA Championship Regatta in West Windsor, N.J.

Washington won its varsity eight and second varsity eight heats and finished second in the third varsity.

Lightning caused a condensed schedule Saturday with no varsity four semifinals held, which places UW in the petite final.

Minors

• Starter Juan Ten gave up five runs on five hits in 11/3 innings as the Tacoma Rainiers lost to the visiting Sacramento RiverCats 10-6.

• For the second consecutive night, the Everett AquaSox’s bullpen gave up a lead, this time it was three runs in the ninth of a 4-3 loss to visiting Hillsboro.

High schools

• Bjorn Johnson of Class 3A state champ Lincoln of Seattle is the Gatorade Washington Baseball Player of the Year. Johnson had an 8-1 record with a 0.83 earned-run average. He batted .348.

Soccer

• OL Reign announced it extended the contract of forward Elyse Bennett through the 2024 season with an option for 2025.