January 17, 2026 4:27 am
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that catcher J.T. Realmuto has agreed to a $45 million, three-year contract to stay with the Philadelphia Phillies. Realmuto can earn an additional $5 million annually in bonuses. The move comes a month after designated hitter Kyle Schwarber also chose to remain with the Phillies. Realmuto, a three-time All-Star, hit .257 with 12 homers last year. He was in the final season of a $115.5 million, five-year contract. Philadelphia has also reached deals with right-hander Brad Keller and outfielder Adolis García this offseason.
January 17, 2026 4:25 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Bichette and the New York Mets have agreed to a $126 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced. Bichette, a two-time All-Star at shortstop with the Toronto Blue Jays, will move to third base with the Mets, who have Francisco Lindor at shortstop. Bichette has never played a professional game at the hot corner. Bichette can opt out of the deal after the first or second season to become a free agent again. He would receive $47 million for one year and $89 million for two years, the person said.
January 15, 2026 2:32 am
Basketball moves into the second half if its regular season, though teams in sections with fewer than seven teams won’t return to conference play until next week. While Thursday is traditionally a girls night, a couple boys section games were also on the schedule. And, by the same token, while Friday is usually boys night, at least one girls game is on the docket as part of a girls/boys doubleheader. Here’s the Thursday section scores for Washington/Greene County teams.
Boys
6A Imani Christian 55, Canon-McMillan 53
1A Avella 62, Summit Academy 58
Girls
5A Thomas Jefferson 61, Peters Township 49
4A Belle Vernon 61, Ringgold 19
3A Wash High 56, Charleroi 28
3A Waynesburg 66, Brownsville 21
1A Mapletown 48, Avella 39
1A Geibel Catholic 55, West Greene 24
January 16, 2026 4:27 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored one of Pittsburgh’s three power-play goals and the Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3. Crosby also had an assist to become the eighth player in NHL history with at least 19 50-point seasons. Justin Brazeau and Bryan Rust also scored power-play goals for Pittsburgh. Egor Chinakhov, Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar scored for the Penguins, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Stuart Skinner stopped 30 shots for his fourth win in five starts. Rodrigo Abols, Nick Seeler and Matvei Michkov scored for the Flyers, who lost their fifth straight.
January 16, 2026 2:58 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal prosecutors are charging 20 people, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they call a scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games. Of the defendants named in Thursday’s indictment, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-25 season. The other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers. The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud. In the 70-page indictment, authorities say the fixers recruited the college basketball players with “bribe payments” usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game. Among those named in the indictment was Shane Hennen, a former Washington High School basketball player and graduate. He was previously named in connection with rigging bets on NBA games. The indictment follows NCAA investigations that led to at least 10 players receiving lifetime bans.
January 16, 2026 4:31 am
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has a left oblique injury. Darnold got hurt during Thursday’s practice and was listed as questionable for Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, but he said he’s confident he’ll play. Darnold said he felt something in his oblique while throwing passes to receivers with no defenders. The eighth-year quarterback said this is the first time he has dealt with an oblique issue and that he’ll be getting treatment leading up to the game. When asked about his chances of sitting out, Darnold said, “Very low percentage. Probably closer to zero.”
January 16, 2026 4:30 am
Kyle Tucker has agreed to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, bolstering their chance for a third consecutive World Series championship. A person familiar with the deal confirmed the move to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical. When healthy, Tucker is among the best all-around players in the majors. But he has played in just 214 regular-season games over the past two years. He batted .266 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs for the Chicago Cubs last season. He was acquired in a blockbuster trade with Houston in December 2024 that moved slugging prospect Cam Smith to the Astros.
January 14, 2026 2:34 am
Wrestling squads are nearing the end of their dual meet campaigns, at least as far as matches that count toward WPIAL/PIAA Team Tournament qualifying. The top two teams in each section will qualify for the WPIAL Team Tournaments along with two wild cards in each classification. Those tournament brackets will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 22, the day after the final matches. Here’s a look at Wednesday’s results involving Washington/Greene County teams (section records).
Wednesday, Jan. 14
3A Trinity 51, Waynesburg 12
3A Ringgold 45, West Mifflin 24
2A McGuffey 51, West Greene 15
2A Chartiers-Houston 48, Wash High 27
2A Jeff-Morgan 42, Beth-Center 31
2A Bentworth 47, Brownsville 24
3A Section 2 Trinity (3-0) clinched a tournament berth with the win at Waynesburg (1-2). Canon-McMillan (3-0) also clinched with Trinity’s win. The Hillers host the Big Macs next Wednesday for the section title and, likely, hosting rights for the first round/quarterfinals. We’ll have that match live on WJPA-AM (1450) and online.
3A Section 3 Peters Township (2-1) is off this week, then visits Mt. Lebanon (2-0) to close the dual meet season. The winner of that matches clinches a berth. If Mt. Lebanon wins, the Blue Devils are section champs. If Peters Township wins, the Indians are second behind Baldwin.
3A Section 7 Ringgold (2-1) will host Belle Vernon (2-1) next week with the winner taking the second berth behind Thomas Jefferson.
2A Section 1 Chartiers-Houston (2-0) and McGuffey (2-0) clinched with wins. The two meet in Meadowlands next Wednesday for the section title.
2A Section 2 Burgettstown (2-0) and Avella (1-1) are both off this week. The Blue Devils clinch with a win against Hopewell, with a loss to the Vikings while winning at least 5 bouts, or with an Avella loss to South Side. Avella clinches with a win next week at South Side if Burgettstown wins or loses to Hopewell while winning at least 5 bouts.
2A Section 3 Jeff-Morgan (3-0) clinched a berth and at least a share of the section title with the win over Beth-Center (2-1). Bentworth (2-1) beat Brownsville (1-3). Bentworth hosts Beth-Center next Wednesday with the winner clinching an automatic berth.
January 14, 2026 2:10 am
Congratulations to the following new members of the
WPIAL Hall of Fame, each with ties to Washington/Greene County and our work at the WJPA Sports Network:
Tricia Alderson (Chartiers-Houston), Kurt Angle (Mt. Lebanon & WJPA Wrestling analyst), Jim Conklin (Waynesburg), Phil Mary (Chartiers-Houston), Charles Hunnell (official), Tim McConnell (coach), Joe Salvino (coach). These seven, along with six other individuals, two Courage awardees and two championship teams will be honored at the annual WPIAL Hall of Fame Induction Banquet, Friday, June 5 at the DoubleTree Hotel, Greentree.
January 15, 2026 4:25 am
ATLANTA (AP) — Brandin Cummings scored 23 points and Barry Dunning Jr. added 17 for Pittsburgh in an 89-66 win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night, snapping a three-game losing streak. Nojus Indrusaitis put up 16 points off the bench for the Panthers (8-9, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), tying a career and season high on 5-of-9 shooting (4 of 6 from 3-point range). Cameron Corhen added 15 points and Roman Siulepa scored 11 and added eight rebounds in the Panthers’ first conference win of the season. Pitt shot 53% from the field (34 of 64) compared to Georgia Tech’s 40% (24 of 60). The Panthers sank 11 shots from 3-point range.
