WJPA Sports

Ringgold (4A), Waynesburg (3A), Carmichaels (1A) and Jeff-Morgan (1A) all clinched playoff spots with wins Monday afternoon. Peters Township (5A), Trinity (5A) & Chartiers-Houston (2A) remain on the playoff bubble with one game remaining. McGuffey (3A) and Wash High (3A) were both eliminated with losses. Tuesday afternoon, Trinity goes to Moon Area, needing to finish the two-game series and get help to qualify. Meanwhile, Chartiers-Houston heads to California, trying again to grab the last playoff berth. The Bucs need to win, or see Frazier lose at Beth-Center to qualify. Peters Township will know if they can still qualify before taking the field against South Fayette Tuesday night. We’ll have the Chartiers-Houston/California and Trinity/Moon games on the WJPA Sports Network Tuesday afternoon. Watch/Listen Here

The two-county area now has 10 baseball teams with playoff berths in hand heading into the final day of the regular season. Brackets are due to be releases Thursday by the League with playoff games set to start early next week. Here’s Tuesday’s baseball schedule and a breakdown of the playoff scenarios for each of the bubble teams along with the softball playoff status.

Baseball, Tuesday, May 5
5A South Fayette at Peters Township (7 pm)
5A Trinity at Moon Area, 3:45 pm WJPA.com Watch/Listen Here 
4A Ringgold at Laurel Highlands
3A Seton-LaSalle vs. McGuffey at EQT Park (7 pm)
3A Waynesburg at Charleroi
3A Wash High at Keystone Oaks (3 pm)
2A Chartiers-Houston at California 4:15 pm WJPA.com Watch/Listen Here 
2A Frazier at Beth-Center (7 pm)
2A Fort Cherry at Burgettstown
1A West Greene at Carmichaels
1A Jeff-Morgan at Jeannette
1A Mapletown at Greensburg Central Catholic

Baseball Playoff scenarios:
Section champions: Canon-McMillan, Fort Cherry
Clinched: Avella, Burgettstown, California, Carmichaels, Charleroi, Jeff-Morgan, Ringgold, Waynesburg
Eliminated: Bentworth (2A), Beth-Center (2A), Mapletown (1A), McGuffey (3A), Wash High (3A), West Greene (1A)
Alive (3 teams):
5A Peters Township-clinch with a win + an Upper St. Clair loss at Chartiers Valley
5A Trinity-clinch with a win + an Upper St. Clair loss at Chartiers Valley
2A Chartiers-Houston-clinch with a win at California or a Frazier loss at Beth-Center

Softball
Section champions: Bentworth, Carmichaels, Chartiers-Houston
Clinched: Beth-Center, Burgettstown, Canon-McMillan, Charleroi, Jeff-Morgan, McGuffey, Trinity, Wash High, West Greene
Eliminated: Avella (1A), California (2A), Fort Cherry (2A), Mapletown (1A), Peters Township 5A), Ringgold (4A), Waynesburg (2A)

DETROIT (AP) — Two-time American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal will have surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow after being scratched from Monday’s start against the Boston Red Sox. Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters that the left-hander felt pain in his elbow on Sunday, less than a week after an injury scare against the Atlanta Braves. The 29-year-old — set to become a free agent next offseason — underwent tests that showed the loose bodies. The surgery hadn’t yet been scheduled. There is no immediate timetable for his return.

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hopes John Sterling’s iconic call, “Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theee Yankees win!” becomes a new tradition at Yankee Stadium. Judge shared this after the Yankees defeated Baltimore 12-1, completing a four-game sweep on the day of Sterling’s death at age 87. Sterling, who called games from 1989 to 2024, was honored with a pregame tribute — and then his familiar call that punctuated Yankees wins was played over the ballpark’s public-address system following the final out. Judge hit his 14th homer in the first inning and added a two-run single in the eighth. Yankees manager Aaron Boone also supports the idea of Sterling’s call becoming part of the victory routine.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Taylor Hall slipped the puck past Dan Vladar at 18:54 of overtime to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Monday night, taking a 2-0 lead in their second-round series in the NHL playoffs. Seth Jarvis had the third-period goal that forced overtime for Carolina, while Nikolaj Ehlers also scored. Frederik Andersen finished with 34 saves to help the Hurricanes improve to 6-0 in the postseason. Jamie Drysdale and Sean Couturier scored in a 39-second span of the first period for the Flyers, but Philadelphia couldn’t beat Andersen again. Vladar had 40 saves. Game 3 is Thursday.