WJPA Sports

Five Washington & Greene County teams survived the WPIAL playoff grind, qualifying for the PIAA playoffs. Monday, the four game sprint to the state championships begin for the Fort Cherry baseball team along with softball squads from Bentworth, Chartiers-Houston, Carmichaels and Jeff-Morgan. Fort Cherry is back in the state playoffs for the first time in 40 years. Jeff-Morgan is making just its third appearance ever, the first in more than a decade. Bentworth is making a third-straight trip to the PIAA tournament, their 4th overall. Carmichaels is in the state playoffs for a fourth straight year and is making its 12th all-time appearance.  Finally, Chartiers-Houston is also making a 4th straight appearance, and their 25th all-time. The Bucs softball team has been to the state semifinals each of the past two seasons and have won 37 state playoff games dating to their 1985 first-round win over Blacklick Valley. Only the winners move on to Thursday’s quarterfinals. We’ll have all three Washington County teams on-air and/or online today and we’re producing the NFHS video for all three. Watch/Listen Here

Monday, June 1
PIAA Baseball First Round Baseball Brackets
1:45 pm 2A Fort Cherry at Everett, WJPA-AM (1450) Watch/Listen Here

PIAA Softball First Round Softball Brackets
3:45 pm 2A Chartiers-Houston vs. Bellwood-Antis at Mt. Aloysius College, WJPA-AM (1450) Watch/Listen Here
3:45 pm 2A Bentworth vs. Wilmington at Pleasant Valley Elementary, WJPA.com Watch/Listen Here
3:45 pm 1A Jeff-Morgan vs. Cambridge Springs at Allegheny College
4:15 pm 1A Carmichaels at Berlin Brothersvalley

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Braxton Ashcraft struck out 11 in six innings, Ryan O’Hearn and Nick Gonzales homered, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the skidding Minnesota Twins 9-3 to complete a three-game sweep. Ashcraft allowed two runs and five hits with no walks, sending the Twins to their fifth straight defeat. Brooks Lee had a two-run homer in the sixth and a solo shot in the ninth for Minnesota. O’Hearn returned from the injured list and hit a leadoff homer in the second his first time up. Jared Triolo singled in Oneil Cruz to make it 2-0. Gonzales’ two-run homer in the third extended the margin to 4-0, and Henry Davis had a two-run single in a five-run fifth.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pirates put right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski on the restricted list and infielder Konnor Griffin on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow strain. Mlodzinski was moved to the bullpen earlier this week after Jared Jones returned to the rotation from elbow surgery. Mlodzinski hasn’t pitched since his start against the Chicago Cubs on Monday, and general manager Ben Cherington told reporters he wasn’t ready to pitch Sunday against Minnesota. Cherington said he’s confident Mlodzinski will pitch again for the team soon.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Russell Henley birdied the final three holes to force a playoff with Eric Cole, then made it four it a row with a 5-footer on the first extra hole Sunday at Colonial to win the Charles Schwab Classic. Henley’s late surge denied fellow 37-year-old Cole his first PGA Tour win. Henley earned $1.78 million for his sixth PGA Tour title. Playing in the group ahead of Cole, Henley closed with a 3-under 67. After making 15-foot putts on 16 and 17, he got to 12 under with a 17-footer on 18. Cole parred the final seven holes — eight counting the playoff — in a 70.

LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Denny Hamlin outraced Christopher Bell over the final four laps after a final restart Sunday night to win the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Hamlin won for the second time this year and 62nd of his career on a night where he jumped the start off the pole. That penalty put him at the back of the field. The 45-year-old Hamlin raced his way to the front for the thrilling win that had his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Bell and Chase Briscoe making it three-wide before Hamlin took the lead down the backstretch to win by 0.115 seconds. The race started 80 minutes late after rain delayed NASCAR’s Cup Series for a second straight week.