March 2, 2025 5:55 am
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes got a chance to showcase his expanded repertoire to opposing hitters while pitching in a Grapefruit League game for the first time this year. Skenes has been working on adding a cutter and a running two-seam fastball to complement his electrifying four-seam fastball. The 22-year-old struck out four and allowed four hits, one walk and one run in three innings Saturday in the Pirates’ 5-2 victor over the Baltimore Orioles. Skenes is following up a sensational 2024 season in which he earned NL Rookie of the Year honors.
March 2, 2025 5:50 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Chucky Hepburn scored a career-high 37 points to lead No. 19 Louisville to a 79-68 victory over Pittsburgh. Terrence Edwards Jr. added 23 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals who shot 51.1% from the field (23 for 45) and went 11 for 21 (52.4%) from 3-point range. Jaland Lowe led Pittsburgh with 16 points and Zack Austin added 15. Hepburn, a senior transfer from Wisconsin, scored more than 30 for the second time this season.
March 2, 2025 1:23 am
Peters Township boys fell behind 9-0 in the first four minutes and couldn’t get closer than five the rest of the way, losing to Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL 5A championship game. The Indians hurt themselves, missing 15-of-22 foul shots that could have changed the complexion of the game. Chartiers Valley used a stifling defense to win its 7th WPIAL boys championship, not allowing consecutive scored by the Indians until early in the fourth quarter.
Friday, Bri Morreale buried a wide-open three-pointer with a minute to play as Peters Township rallied from 11 points down to knock off #1 South Fayette and win the WPIAL 5A girls championship. Two minutes earlier, Natalie Wetzel had given the Indians their first lead since the first quarter. South Fayette, trying to win its fourth straight WPIAL title, tied with game on a layup by Cierra Rexrode with 90 seconds left in regulation. Peters got the ball into the hands of Wetzel at the far side of the lane, drawing lots of attention. She found Morreale in the right corner for the game-winning bucket, clanking it home off the rim. South Fayette managed just three points in the final quarter after building a 28-17 lead early in the third. Wetzel led Peters Township with 13 points. Haylie Lamonde had game honors with 19, but just three after hitting a 55-foot buzzer beater to end the first half. Click for WPIAL Brackets
The PIAA playoffs will start Friday, March 7 with brackets due out Sunday afternoon. Peters Township and Chartiers-Houston will send both boys and girls to the state tournaments. They’ll be joined by the Canon-McMillan and Fort Cherry girls.
WPIAL Basketball Championships at Petersen Events Center, University of Pittsburgh
Friday, Feb. 28
Girls 5A #2 Peters Township 40, #1 South Fayette 36
Saturday, Mar. 1
Boys 5A #4 Chartiers Valley 73, #6 Peters Township 66
March 1, 2025 1:42 am
High school wrestlers move to PIAA Regional tournaments this weekend with the ultimate goal of advancing to the PIAA Championships next weekend in Hershey. We have live coverage of both the 2A Southwest Regional from Altoona and the 3A West Regional at Canon-McMillan Friday and Saturday. 32 Washington & Greene County wrestlers are in the 2A brackets at the Altoona Field House. The top seven place-winners in each weight earn a trip to Hershey. 18 wrestlers from the two-county area return to Canon-McMillan High School with the top five medalists advancing to states. Listen Here
PIAA 2A Southwest Regional at Altoona Fieldhouse–all coverage on WJPA-AM (1450) Listen Here
Friday, 4:20 pm Preliminaries, Quarterfinals
Saturday, 8:50 am Semifinals, Consolation Rounds 1-4
Saturday, 5:05 pm Championship & Consolation Finals (3rd, 5th, 7th place)
PIAA 3A West Regional at Canon-McMillan–all coverage on WJPA.com Listen Here
Friday 4:50 pm Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Consolation Round 1
Saturday, 8:50 am Semifinals, Consolation Rounds 2-4
Saturday, 2:50 pm Championship & Consolation Finals (3rd, 5th place)
March 1, 2025 4:37 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates continued their winning ways in grapefruit league action on Friday. The Pirates beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2. Bryan Reynolds went 2 for 3 and continued his current 3 game hitting streak. Mitch Keller threw 3 scoreless innings. The Pirates will take on the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota on Saturday at 1:05. Paul Skenes is expected to make the start.
February 27, 2025 2:58 am
Two teams in WPIAL championship games, two more teams with state playoff berths in hand, and two teams looking to grab a PIAA playoff invitation. ALL of that action happens Wednesday through Saturday this week. Chartiers-Houston girls jumped out to a 15-0 lead and never looked back, snapping a two-game losing streak and clinching a state playoff berth. The Bucs will play the WPIAL champion in the opening round of the PIAA tournament. Both Fort Cherry girls and Chartiers-Houston boys had already clinched state playoff spots. Both will open the state tournament at District 10 champions.
Even a 12-minute power outage in the Canonsburg area couldn’t stop the Canon-McMillan girls from qualifying for the PIAA playoffs. The Big Macs led by 3 points late in the third quarter when everything went dark. Once play resume, CM built the lead to 8 points but they had to hold off a late Mt. Lebanon rally. Canon-McMillan will play at the winner of Saturday’s Erie / Allderdice game when the PIAA tournament opens next weekend.
Peters Township will send both its girls and boys teams to the Petersen Events Center this weekend for the 5A WPIAL Championships. The girls are seeded #2 and will face #1 South Fayette, the three-time defending champion, Friday night. The boys are the 6-seed and will take on #4 Chartiers Valley Saturday night, the last of 12 WPIAL Finals atop Cardiac Hill in Oakland.
We’ll have live coverage of the state qualifier games and the WPIAL championships on the WJPA Sports Network. Wednesday & Thursday broadcasts will be on WJPA-AM (1450) with free-to-access audio online. We’re also producing the NFHS Video stream (subscription required under WPIAL agreements) for both of these games. The WPIAL Championships will be on WJPA-FM (95.3) and online. We are NOT able to provide the video feed for those games under WPIAL restrictions. Click for WPIAL Brackets
State Qualifier/Seeding Bracket
Wednesday, Feb. 26
Girls 2A 7th place game: Chartiers-Houston 60, Laurel 27. Bucs clinch PIAA playoff berth
Girls 2A 5th place game: Rochester 54, Fort Cherry 45. Both have clinched PIAA berths
Boys 2A 7th place game: Northgate 48, Chartiers-Houston 27. Both have clinched PIAA berths
Thursday, Feb. 27
Girls 6A 3rd place game: Canon-McMillan 36, Mt. Lebanon 34. Big Macs clinch PIAA playoff berth
WPIAL Basketball Championships at Petersen Events Center, University of Pittsburgh
Friday, Feb. 28
Girls 5A #2 Peters Township vs. #1 South Fayette, 6:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
Saturday, Mar. 1
Boys 5A #6 Peters Township vs. #4 Chartiers Valley, 6:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen Here
February 28, 2025 4:30 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin scored his second goal at 1:03 of overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4. Malkin scored the tying goal in the third period and added two assists, and Erik Karlsson added two goals and Philip Tomasino also scored for Pittsburgh. Matvei Michkov had two goals and an assist for Philadelphia. Owen Tippett scored his fourth goal in three games and Noah Cates also scored in consecutive games.
February 28, 2025 4:31 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce plans to play next season rather than retire. The 35-year-old Kelce had been mulling whether to return for a 13th season. But the four-time All-Pro made his feelings clear in a text to Pat McAfee that the host read during “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday. The four-time All-Pro wrote he’s “coming back for sure.” The Chiefs’ quest to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls ended with a 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9. Kelce professed his love for football several times leading up to the Super Bowl.
February 27, 2025 4:41 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NFL is considering changing overtime rules in the regular season to decrease the advantage for teams who win the coin toss. League executive Troy Vincent said the competition committee agrees overtime rules need to be addressed. Receiving the ball first has become more of an advantage than pre-2011, when overtime was sudden death. Both teams currently have an opportunity to possess the ball in overtime unless a touchdown is scored on the first possession. The rules are different in the playoffs. Also, the NFL plans to use its virtual measuring system to determine first downs in 2025, although officials will still spot the ball by hand.
February 27, 2025 4:40 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Miami Dolphins are the top-ranked team, followed by the Minnesota Vikings, for the second consecutive season in the NFL Players Association report card. The Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers round out the top five in the third annual NLPA report card released Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine. The Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals were the bottom five. JC Tretter, the NFLPA’s chief strategy officer, said 1,695 players responded to the survey, an average of 52 players per team and 77% of the union’s membership. The report cards were compiled between Aug. 26 and Nov. 20.
