November 7, 2023 4:38 am
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs have hired manager Craig Counsell away from Milwaukee, landing the former big leaguer with a record-breaking contract and firing David Ross in a tandem of surprising moves. The 53-year-old Counsell became the majors’ highest paid manager with a five-year contract worth more than $40 million. That’s according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms weren’t announced. Ross went 262-284 in four seasons with Chicago, winning the NL Central in 2020 in his first year in charge. Counsell led the budget-conscious Brewers to five playoff appearances in the last six years.
November 6, 2023 4:46 am
Ke’Bryan Hayes is the National League’s Gold Glove recipient at third base. The 26 year old led all MLB third basemen with 21 defensive runs saved. He also ranked fourth in defensive runs saved regardless of position. Hayes is the first Pirates third baseman to win the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. A total of 20 different Pirates have now taken home a Gold Glove since the award was first presented in 1958. Prior to Hayes, the last Pirates to win a Gold Glove was catcher Jacob Stallings in 2021.
November 6, 2023 4:41 am
CINCINNATI (AP) — Joe Burrow threw for a season-high 348 yards and had two touchdown passes as the Cincinnati Bengals won their fourth straight, beating the Buffalo Bills 24-18 in a key AFC matchup. Burrow was 31 for 44, completing passes to eight different receivers, with tight ends Irv Smith Jr. and Drew Sample making the touchdown grabs. Tee Higgins had eight receptions for a season-high 110 yards. Cincinnati’s defense kept Josh Allen and the Bills playing from behind.
November 5, 2023 2:37 am
PIAA has released the Girls Volleyball and Girls/Boys Soccer playoff brackets. The four-round, two-week tournaments open Tuesday and end the weekend of Nov. 17-18 on the Cumberland Valley School campus in Mechanicsburg. Click for PIAA Girls Volleyball brackets Click for PIAA Soccer brackets
WPIAL Football playoffs continue this weekend with 1A-4A quarterfinals, 5A-6A semifinals. The two largest classes will play their championship games at Norwin High School on Saturday, Nov. 18. The other four championship games will be played on Black Friday, Nov. 24, at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. Click for WPIAL Football brackets
Tuesday, Nov. 7
PIAA 4A Girls Volleyball First Round
5:30 pm 7-2 Canon-McMillan (15-4) at 6-1 State College (7-8)
PIAA 1A Boys Soccer First Round
6:00 pm 7-1 Bentworth (18-2) vs. 10-1 Seneca (13-7) at Peters Township High School Stadium
6:00 pm 7-2 Charleroi (19-1) vs. 6-1 Richland (13-4-1) at Richland High School
Friday, Nov. 10 (all 7 pm except as noted)
6A Semifinals
#3 Canon-McMillan at #2 North Allegheny
#1 Central Catholic vs. #4 Mt. Lebanon at Fox Chapel
5A Semifinals
#1 Peters Township vs. #5 Moon Area at South Fayette
#2 Penn Hills vs. #3 Pine-Richland at North Hills
4A Quarterfinals
#10 Trinity at #2 McKeesport, 6:30 pm on WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
#9 Latrobe at #1 Aliquippa
#4 Mars Area vs. #5 Central Valley at Ambridge
#6 Thomas Jefferson at #3 Montour
3A Quarterfinals
#8 Deer Lakes at #1 Belle Vernon
#12 South Park at #4 East Allegheny
#7 Beaver Area at #2 Avonworth
#6 West Mifflin at #3 Elizabeth-Forward
2A Quarterfinals
#3 Wash High vs. #6 McGuffey at Canon-McMillan, 6:30 pm on WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
#10 Beaver Falls at #2 Neshannock
#9 Western Beaver at #1 Steel Valley
#4 Imani Christian vs. #5 Mohawk at Moon Area
1A Quarterfinals
#2 Fort Cherry vs. #10 Rochester at West Allegheny
#6 California vs. #3 Bishop Canevin at Norwin
#1 South Side Area vs. #8 Greensburg Central Catholic at Peters Township
#4 Clairton vs. #5 Union at Armstrong
November 5, 2023 7:14 am
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Reilly Smith and Jake Guentzel each had two goals and two assists, Evgeni Malkin also scored twice, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat San Jose 10-2, handing the Sharks their NHL record-tying 11th straight loss to start the season and second straight while allowing 10 goals. Bryan Rust had a goal and four assists, and Vinnie Hinostroza, Kris Letang and Matt Nieto also scored for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry had 24 saves. Anthony Duclair and Jacob MacDonald scored power-play goals for San Jose. The Sharks fell to 0-10-1 to matched the 11-game winless starts by the New York Rangers in 1943 and the Arizona Coyotes in 2017 and 2021. The last time a team allowed 10 or more goals in consecutive games was the Boston Bruins in 1965.
November 5, 2023 12:01 am
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Jake Pugh tossed three touchdowns, John Peduzzi made a pair of touchdown catches and Bruno Fabrycki returned an interception for a touchdown as the Washington & Jefferson football team rolled to a 45-7 road win over Geneva College Saturday afternoon at Reeves Field in Beaver County. The win improves the Presidents to 7-2 overall and in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. The loss drops the GT’s to 4-5 in 2023. W&J extended its winning streak to 18 games in the head-to-head series with Geneva. The GT’s last win over the Presidents came during the 1983 season. The Presidents ran for 217 yards in the game, led by Owen Petrisek’s 67 yards on just five carries. Pugh completed 14-of-19 passes for 210 yards and pushed his season TD total to 28. Fabrycki’s Pick Six was his first coming on his fourth interception of the year, part of W&J defense that limited Geneva to 30 passing yards and only 204 total.
November 4, 2023 7:00 am
One and done. Apparently, the WPIAL has decided that’s the rule regarding higher seeds hosting football playoff games. In a departure from protocols in place the past several seasons, home sites will not be used for second round playoff games except for teams that had byes in the first round. That means 4A #10 Trinity will play AT #2 McKeesport but 1A #2 Fort Cherry will play #10 Rochester at West Allegheny, not Jim Garry Stadium. 6A & 5A brackets are at the semifinal level this week, the other four classes are ready for quarterfinal games.
Washington County has seven teams still alive. 6A Canon-McMillan (#3), 5A Peters Township (#1), 4A Trinity (#10), 2A McGuffey (#6) & Wash High (#3), 1A California (#6) and Fort Cherry (#2) Second round game are all scheduled for 7 pm kickoffs Friday night. 5A & 6A finals will be played at Norwin, Saturday, Nov. 18. 1A-4A semifinals will be played next Friday with finals at Acrisure Stadium on Friday, Nov. 24. Click Here for WPIAL Football Brackets
Friday, November 10 (all 7 pm)
6A Semifinals
#3 Canon-McMillan at #2 North Allegheny
#1 Central Catholic vs. #4 Mt. Lebanon at Fox Chapel
5A Semifinals
#1 Peters Township vs. #5 Moon Area at South Fayette
#2 Penn Hills vs. #3 Pine-Richland at North Hills
4A Quarterfinals
#10 Trinity at #2 McKeesport, 6:30 pm on WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
#9 Latrobe at #1 Aliquippa
#4 Mars Area vs. #5 Central Valley at Ambridge
#6 Thomas Jefferson at #3 Montour
3A Quarterfinals
#8 Deer Lakes at #1 Belle Vernon
#12 South Park at #4 East Allegheny
#7 Beaver Area at #2 Avonworth
#6 West Mifflin at #3 Elizabeth-Forward
2A Quarterfinals
#3 Wash High vs. #6 McGuffey at Canon-McMillan, 6:30 pm on WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
#10 Beaver Falls at #2 Neshannock
#9 Western Beaver at #1 Steel Valley
#4 Imani Christian vs. #5 Mohawk at Moon Area
1A Quarterfinals
#2 Fort Cherry vs. #10 Rochester at West Allegheny
#6 California vs. #3 Bishop Canevin at Norwin
#1 South Side Area vs. #8 Greensburg Central Catholic at Peters Township
#4 Clairton vs. #5 Union at Armstrong
November 4, 2023 7:00 am
#7 Bentworth rallied from a two-goal deficit in the second half to knock off #1 Charleroi in overtime, the Bearcats winning their first-ever WPIAL soccer title. Arlo McIntyre scored on a penalty kick in the 11th minute and Dylan Klinger found the net late in the half for the Cougars. Ryan Moessner got Bentworth on the board just past the halfway mark of the second half. Andrew Vipperman tied the game with a header with less than five minutes to play in regulation, set up by Ryan Colbert. Colbert then scored the unassisted golden goal in the 92nd minute from about 8 feet out when Charleroi goalkeeper Nate Mazon didn’t control a save. Diontae Hays made six saves for the Bearcats. Both teams had already clinched spots in the PIAA playoffs that begin Tuesday night. (photo courtesy of WPIAL)
Canon-McMillan girls volleyball split the first two sets with top-seeded North Allegheny but the Tigers won the next two and claimed the 4A WPIAL championship. The Big Macs were making a second championship match appearance in five years. Both teams will advance to the state tournament next week. Click for WPIAL Girls Volleyball brackets Click for WPIAL Soccer brackets
Friday
Soccer Championship at Highmark Stadium, Station Square
1A Boys #7 Bentworth 3, #1 Charleroi 2 OT
Saturday
Volleyball Championship at Peters Township
#1 North Allegheny 3, 4A #3 Canon-McMillan 1 (25-21, 13-25, 25-13, 25-23)
November 4, 2023 7:00 am
Trinity snagged four takeaways, returning two for touchdowns and added a punt return score, rolling past 4A #7 North Catholic, Trinity’s first playoff win since beating Mt. Pleasant in the 2007 first round. Andrew Durig returned a punt 88 yards to open the scoring and later added a rushing touchdown. Luke Lacock scored twice including a 45-yard Pick Six. Caden Vogel scooped a fumble and ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown as the #10 Hillers put up two defensive touchdowns in a 17-second span of the third quarter.
Ruben Gordon caught a pair of early TD passes and later ran 86 yards to the house, leading 2A #3 Wash High over Ellwood City. Eddie Lewis scored twice, part of his 103 yard night on a dozen carries, going over the 1,000 yard mark late in the first quarter. Zxavian Willis ran for one touchdown and threw for another for the Little Prexies who will face #6 McGuffey in the quarterfinals. The Highlanders built a 25-0 lead on #11 Derry, then held off the Trojans to advance. Connor Crowe threw touchdown passes to Ryan Keith and Rian Johnson. Dylan Droboj added a short TD run and Dylan Stewart booted a 25-yard field goal.
5A #1 Peters Township put up its 5th shutout of the season, blanking Franklin Regional and advancing to the semifinals. Nolan DiLucia had a hand in all five Peters touchdowns, passing for three scores and running for the other two. DiLucia has thrown for more than 2,000 yards on the season. Preston Blair, Carter Shanafelt and Ethan Wertman were on the receiving end of the scoring throws. The Indians face #5 Moon, a team Peters Township handled, 40-7 a month ago.
Ethan Faletto and Nate Heirendt each ran for a pair of touchdowns, Matt Sieg threw for two and rushed for another as 1A #2 Fort Cherry rolled past #15 Jeff-Morgan. Braydon Cook and Nik Massey caught the scoring passes as the Rangers picked up win #370 all-time, moving Fort Cherry into a tie for 8th-most in Washington County with Beth-Center.
#6 California jumped on visiting Jeannette early and never looked back, rolling past the Jayhawks and into the quarterfinals. Spencer Petrucci scored four touchdowns and rushed for nearly 200 yards. The Trojans, winners of eight straight, will face #3 Bishop Canevin.
#12 Burgettstown took a 30-15 lead but couldn’t protect it, falling to #5 Union, the defending WPIAL 1A champion. Brodie Kuzior led the Blue Devils with three rushing touchdowns and a TD pass to Zach Schrockman who later added a long kickoff return.
Waynesburg was within reach of 2A #4 Imani Christian at the half but allowed 30 points in the period as the Raiders season ended. West Greene fell to Greensburg Central Catholic in the 8-9 match-up. The Centurions beat the Pioneers in the regular season as well. Click Here for WPIAL Football Brackets
Quarterfinals
5A #1 Peters Township 35, #8 Franklin Regional 0
First Round
4A #10 Trinity 49, #7 North Catholic 0
2A #3 Wash High 48, #14 Ellwood City 6
2A #6 McGuffey 25, #11 Derry Area 13
2A #4 Imani Christian 52, #13 Waynesburg 14
1A #2 Fort Cherry 50, #15 Jeff-Morgan 16
1A #6 California 44, #11 Jeannette 6
1A #8 Greensburg Central Catholic 41, #9 West Greene 22
1A #5 Union 51, #12 Burgettstown 37
November 4, 2023 4:37 am
A stacked lineup of games Sunday could determine plenty come January. The action kicks off at 9:30 a.m. ET with a marquee matchup between the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Dolphins in the NFL’s first game in Frankfurt, Germany. It’s a potential preview of the AFC championship game. The conference is wide open as the Chiefs, Dolphins, Ravens and Jaguars each have the same record at the season’s midpoint. The Bills and Bengals are also in the mix. They meet Sunday night in Cincinnati so the stakes are high in that playoff rematch. The road to the Super Bowl has gone through Kansas City the last five years.
