June 4, 2023 5:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ke’Bryan Hayes homered for the second straight game, Connor Joe hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3. Hayes, whose three-run homer in the previous game helped the Pirates rally from a five-run deficit, tied it in fifth when he took Jordan Montgomery (2-7) into the left-field bleachers. Joe put Pittsburgh in front with a lined shot to the wall in left an inning later as the Pirates pushed their winning streak to four games. Nolan Gorman and Willson Contreras homered for St. Louis. The Cardinals have dropped four of five.
June 4, 2023 6:17 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Zach Whitecloud scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Adin Hill made a remarkable stick save among his 33 stops in net. Original Knights players Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore and captain Mark Stone also scored on Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky. Stone’s insurance goal late in the third was reviewed for a high stick and upheld. The Panthers lost the series opener for the first time since the first round against Boston.
June 4, 2023 5:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz remains confident he will return sometime this season. Cruz hasn’t played since fracturing his left ankle during an awkward slide home against the Chicago White Sox in early April. The 6-foot-7 Cruz is still using crutches and a walking boot to get around but says he is focusing on coming back better than he was before the injury. Pittsburgh has remained in contention in the NL Central even without Cruz. The Pirates are hovering around the .500 mark thanks in part to the play of reserves Rodolfo Castro and Tucupita Marcano, who are filling in at shortstop while Cruz works his way back.
June 3, 2023 3:42 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5. Hayes finished off a three-hit night by sending the first pitch he saw from Giovanny Gallegos into the left-field bleachers to give the Pirates the lead. Josh Palacios followed two pitches later with his first career home run as Pittsburgh won its third straight. Carlos Santana had three hits for the Pirates, including a two-run double during a six-run seventh. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt had three hits each for St. Louis.
June 3, 2023 3:40 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired infielder Alika Williams from the Tampa Bay Rays. In exchange for Williams the Pirates traded right handed pitcher Robert Stephenson. Williams will begin his Pirates career at Triple-A Indianapolis. Williams is 24 years old and was batting .237 with five home runs, 11 doubles and a triple in 42 games with Double-A Montgomery. To fill Robert Stephenson’s spot on the 26 man roster, INF/OF Mark Mathias has been recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
June 1, 2023 11:20 pm
Ryleigh Hoy stroked a pair of home runs and drove in five as Trinity built a 9-0 lead and rolled to its first-ever WPIAL softball championship, knocking off defending titlist Armstrong. Hoy’s blasts in the first and fourth innings were sandwiched around back-to-back two-run singles from Addy Agnew and Hanna Suhoski in the second. The River Hawks also got a pair of home runs, Jenna Clontz with a two-run shot in the fourth, Jesse Pugh with a three-run blast in the fifth, trimming the Trinity lead to 9-6. Finley Hohn gave the Trinity fans a breather with her two-run single in the sixth, putting the Hillers in the driver’s seat for the championship. Every starter had at least one base hit for Trinity. Taylor Dunn (17-2) got the win. Cameron Sprankle (15-2) took the loss. The Armstrong starter didn’t get out of the second inning as Trinity snapped the River Hawks’ 19-game win streak.
Washington County is sending four teams to the state playoffs that begin Monday: Burgettstown & California baseball, Chartiers-Houston and Trinity softball. Carmichaels and Waynesburg softball will represent Greene County in the PIAA tournaments. Only Trinity will play within the WPIAL, likely at North Allegheny. Sites/times for those games are expected to be released Friday morning. Click for WPIAL Softball WPIAL Baseball State Softball State Baseball
WPIAL Softball Championships at PennWest-California’s Lilley Field
Thursday, June 1
5A Softball #3 Trinity 11, #1 Armstrong 7
June 2, 2023 2:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kyle Dubas didn’t stay out of work for long. The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired Dubas as the club’s president of hockey operations. The move comes less than two weeks after Dubas was fired as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dubas replaces Brian Burke, who was fired along with general manager Ron Hextall in April after the Penguins failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
June 2, 2023 4:42 am
DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic got a triple-double in his NBA Finals debut, Jamal Murray scored 26 points and the Denver Nuggets had little trouble with the cold-shooting Miami Heat on the way to a 104-93 win in Game 1 of the title series on Thursday night. Jokic finished with 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who waited 47 years to make the finals and didn’t disappoint. Aaron Gordon scored 16 and Michael Porter Jr. added 14 for Denver, which trailed for all of 34 seconds and eventually led by as many as 24. Bam Adebayo finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which shot 41 percent.
May 31, 2023 11:49 pm
Trinity softball is the last team from the two-county area with a shot at a WPIAL title following Wednesday’s losses by California baseball and Carmichaels softball. Trinity is set to face defending champion Armstrong Thursday afternoon at PennWest-California’s Lilley Field. We’ll have the game on WJPA-AM (1450) and online, starting with our pregame at 2:20 pm.
California committed five errors in the first four innings, rallied late but fell short in the 1A baseball championship game. The Canevin first and fourth innings should have ended in three batters but two errors in the first allowed a pair of runs, three more miscues plated two more in the fourth. Bishop Canevin then banged out five singles in the fifth and added a final run in the sixth. Kris Weston delivered a sac fly in the Cal first, Caden Powell doubled home a run in the fifth and Dom Martini hit into a force play to pull California with 8-3 going to the final innings. The Trojans used a hit batter, a walk and a two run double to score two but the rally died on a ground out to end the game. California will travel into District 5 to play champion Southern Fulton in the state playoffs.
Carmichaels softball built 5-1 and 8-5 leads only to see defending champion Union score five times in the fifth, forcing the Mikes to take home silver medals in the 1A softball bracket. Carmichaels will enter the state tournament in the upper half of the bracket, meaning longer road trips as the Mikes advance.
Washington County is sending four teams to the state playoffs that begin Monday: Burgettstown & California baseball, Chartiers-Houston and Trinity softball. Carmichaels and Waynesburg softball will represent Greene County in the PIAA tournaments. Sites/times for those games are expected to be released Friday morning. Click for WPIAL Softball WPIAL Baseball State Softball State Baseball
WPIAL Championships
Wednesday, May 31
1A Baseball #6 Bishop Canevin 8 #4 California 5
1A Softball #1 Union 10, #2 Carmichaels 8
Thursday, June 1
5A Softball #3 Trinity vs. #1 Armstrong, 2:20 pm at PennWest-California’s Lilley Field WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here!
–winner hosts D-3 4th place (Solanco/Greencastle-Antrim), loser at D-3 runner-up (Northern York/Mechanicsburg)
PIAA Playoffs
Monday, June 5 (sites/times to be announced)
1A Baseball California to play D-5 champion Southern Fulton
2A Baseball Burgettstown to play D-9 champion Redbank Valley
1A Softball Chartiers-Houston to play D-10 champion Cambridge Springs
1A Softball Carmichaels to play D-9 champion DuBois Central Catholic
3A Softball Waynesburg to play D-10 champion Jamestown
June 1, 2023 4:41 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bryan Reynolds drove in three runs and made a leaping catch against the wall, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4 to climb back above .500. Former Giants Andrew McCutchen and Connor Joe each went 3 for 4 with an RBI as the Pirates (28-27) won consecutive games after dropping below .500 for the first time since they were 1-2. Pittsburgh is 8-19 following a 20-8 start. Mitch Keller (7-1) improved to 4-0 in his last five starts, allowing four runs and 10 hits in six innings with eight strikeouts.