WJPA Sports

The WPIAL has finalized its Championship Week schedule, a framework that includes Fort Cherry baseball, Bentworth, Chartiers-Houston, Carmichaels, Jeff-Morgan & West Greene softball. Each will have their last WPIAL playoff games next week. Baseball championship games start Tuesday at EQT Park with third-place games next door at W&J’s Ross Memorial Park. Most softball third-place games are scheduled for Tuesday at various sites, though the Jeff-Morgan / West Greene game is listed for Wednesday.  The softball championships are Wednesday/Thursday at PennWest California’s Lilley Field. The teams from Bentworth, Chartiers-Houston, Carmichaels and Fort Cherry have all clinched berths in the PIAA tournaments scheduled to begin June 1. Only the Jeff-Morgan/West Greene winner qualifies for the state softball playoffs.

WPIAL Baseball Brackets 
Tuesday, May 26
1:00 pm 3A Final South Park vs. Ellwood City
1:00 pm 1A Third Place Western Beaver vs. Serra Catholic
4:00 pm 2A Final Fort Cherry vs. Neshannock, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
4:00 pm 2A Third Place Riverview vs. South Side Beaver (winner only qualifies)
7:00 pm 4A Final Indiana vs. Elizabeth-Forward
7:00 pm 4A Third Place Derry Area vs. Hopewell (winner only qualifies)

Wednesday, May 27
1:00 pm 1A Final Eden Christian vs. Greensburg Central Catholic
2:00 pm 5A Third Place Montour vs. Thomas Jefferson
4:00 pm 6A Final Butler vs. North Allegheny
5:00 pm 3A Third Place Avonworth vs. Riverside
7:00 pm 5A Final Upper St. Clair vs. South Fayette

WPIAL Softball Brackets
Tuesday, May 26
3:00 pm 3A Third Place Ellwood City vs. Keystone Oaks at North Allegheny (winner only qualifies)
4:00 pm 5A Third Place West Mifflin vs. Thomas Jefferson at West Mifflin
5:00 pm 2A Third Place Laurel vs. Chartiers-Houston at North Allegheny
7:00 pm 4A Third Place Hampton vs. North Catholic at North Allegheny (winner only qualifies)

Wednesday, May 27
11:45 am 2A Final Bentworth vs. Neshannock, WJPA-AM (1450) Watch/Listen Here
2:15 pm 5A Final Shaler vs. North Hills
4:00 pm 1A Third Place Jeff-Morgan vs. West Greene at Pleasant Valley (winner only qualifies)
4:30 pm 6A Final Hempfield vs. Seneca Valley

Thursday, May 28
12:00 n 1A Final Union vs. Carmichaels
2:15 pm 3A Final South Park vs. Mt. Pleasant
4:30 pm 4A Final Elizabeth-Forward vs. Blackhawk

TORONTO (AP) — George Springer hit his 65th leadoff home run and the Toronto Blue Jays sent Paul Skenes to losses in consecutive starts for the first time this season, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Saturday for their fourth straight win and seventh in 10 games.  Skenes (6-4), the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed four runs and a career-high nine hits and one walk in five-plus innings with two strikeouts, just his second time with fewer than five this season. His ERA rose to 3.00.  Skenes left after giving up four straight hits in the sixth. In his previous outing, against Philadelphia on May 17, Skenes tied his big league high by giving up five runs .  Tyler Heineman also homered for the defending AL champions, his first since last July 19.  Patrick Corbin (2-1) allowed one run and five hits in six innings with a season-high seven strikeouts. Jeff Hoffman struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save in eight chances.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Busch died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications, according to a statement released by his family. Dakota Hunter, vice president of Kyle Busch Companies, said the family received the medical evaluation on Saturday. Busch, a two-time NASCAR champion, died at 41 on Thursday, a day after passing out in a Chevrolet simulator. Sepsis is considered a life-threatening medical emergency that occurs when the body has an extreme, overactive response to an infection, causing the immune system to damage its own tissues and organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PARIS (AP) — The French Open has started amid a heat wave in Paris. Among the early matches on Day 1 of the clay-court Grand Slam were 13th-seeded Karen Khachanov against Arthur Gea on Court Suzanne-Lenglen and 15th-seeded Marta Kostyuk against Oksana Selekhmeteva on Court Simonne-Mathieu. The temperature was already 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) when play started and was due to soar to 31 Celsius (88 Fahrenheit). The night match features three-time champion Novak Djokovic against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Two days after his 39th birthday, Djokovic will play a men’s record 82nd Grand Slam tournament. That’s one more than Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez.