New London — Coast Guard Academy head strength and conditioning coach Shaakira Hassell has been selected for the Bill Walsh Minority and Diversity Coaching Fellowship with the Carolina Panthers.

The fellowship, now in its 30th year, uses NFL training camps and minicamps to help qualified candidates gain exposure through observation, participation with the ultimate goal of gaining a full-time NFL position.

Hassell has been at Coast Guard for three years. She has a degree in self-designed sports science from Beloit College (Wisc.) and master's degrees in healthy and physical education from Valdosta State and sports and fitness management from Troy University.

"Being awarded the NFL's Bill Walsh Minority and Diversity Fellowship means a great deal to me," Hassell said in a release. "I've been in the field of strength and conditioning for over 14 years and have put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where I am today.

"There are very few women, more specifically, women of color in this field at any level that hold a head strength and conditioning coach position and directly oversee football as well."

She will report to Carolina on July 24 and the Panthers open the preseason at Buffalo on Aug. 9

"I look forward to experiencing this blessed opportunity to work with the Carolina Panthers during their 2018 training camp so that I can bring back invaluable knowledge and expertise to the Coast Guard Academy that can possibly better our cadet-athlete's performance potential as well," she said.

Wolves sign Crawford

• The New England Black Wolves signed veteran forward Callum Crawford to a two-year deal, pending National Lacrosse League approval. Crawford had 35 points on 15 goals and 20 assists in nine games for the Black Wolves last season after being acquired from Buffalo via trade in February. The 6-foot-3 forward is a two-time NLL All-Pro and has 864 points (309 goals, 555 assists) in 189 career games. His 555 assists ranks ninth all-time in NLL history.

"We are very excited to have Callum back with the Pack," Black Wolves general manager Rich Lisk said. "He is one of the elite players in the NLL, and as an unrestricted free agent he had the opportunity to go to any team. He chose to stay in New England. Callum believes in what we are doing and I look forward to bringing a championship to New England with him."

Tigers lose

• The Hudson Valley Renegades beat the Connecticut Tigers 6-0 in a New York-Penn League game which ended in the eighth inning due to rain. Hudson Valley (19-11) scored four runs in the bottom of the third, three coming on a home run by Chris Betts. Eric De La Rosa was 2-for-3 and Sam McMillan doubled for the Tigers (15-16).

Little League baseball (11-12)

• Mystic's opening game in the Connecticut Section 3 tournament was postponed by rain. The District 10 champions will play District 7 winner Newington on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Rocky Hill in the double-elimination tournament.

Little League baseball (8-10)

• East Lyme advanced to the state championship with a 7-4 win over Madison in the Section 3 final on Monday night. East Lyme plays in the four-team, double-elimination tournament in Willimantic, opening against Section 4 champion Jewett City on Sunday at 5 p.m. Nick Cambi drove in two runs, Aiden Cochrane had two hits and Ryan Wargo doubled and drove in a run for East Lyme. Starting pitcher Andrew Sevigney struck out three in 3.1 innings and Cochrane struck out four over the final 2.2 innings.