October 14, 2025 4:26 am
NLCS: Dodgers Hold On To Beat Brewers
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Blake Snell allowed one baserunner in eight shutout innings before Los Angeles’ bullpen barely held on as the Dodgers opened the National League Championship Series with a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Blake Treinen struck out Brice Turang with the bases loaded to end the game. Freddie Freeman homered for the Dodgers in the sixth to break a scoreless tie.
ALCS: Mariners Head Home With 2-0 Series Lead
TORONTO (AP) — Julio Rodríguez and Jorge Polanco hit three-run homers, Josh Naylor added a two-run drive and the Seattle Mariners took a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series by routing the Toronto Blue Jays 10-3. Seattle, the only big league team never to host a World Series game, headed home for Wednesday’s Game 3 needing two more wins to end that drought. Toronto had just six hits, only one after the second inning, and had eight hits in the first two games. Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 0 for 3 with a walk and is hitless in the series.
October 14, 2025 4:30 am
Purdue is No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time. The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes to top Monday’s AP Top 25 poll to begin the 2025-26 season. That put Matt Painter’s squad ahead of the two teams that played in last year’s NCAA title game. Runner-up Houston was No. 2 while reigning champion Florida was No. 3. UConn was fourth, followed by St. John’s. Duke, Michigan, BYU, Kentucky and Texas Tech rounded out the top 10. The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams.
October 14, 2025 12:01 am
The WPIAL football regular season ends Saturday, Oct. 25th with the conclusion of the Burgettstown/Bishop Canevin game at Dormont Stadium. All told, 65 teams will enter the WPIAL playoffs, most by claiming one of the conference automatic berths, 16 others by invitation of the WPIAL Football Steering Committee as Wild Cards. The League is expected to release the brackets the afternoon of the final day of the season. Following is a two-weeks-to-play look at the playoff pictures for the 19 teams in Washington & Greene Counties. (Conference records).
The Class 1A playoff field will include 16 teams, the top three finishers in each of the four conferences, then four wild card selections. The Black Hills Conference will almost certainly get one wild card slot and possibly two. The Tri-County South did not fare well a year ago in the at-large selection process, though a 7-win fourth-place team should be in good shape for an at-large selection this season.
Black Hills Conference: Fort Cherry (5-0) has clinched their third straight conference title. The two-time defending WPIAL champion has a non-conference game this week before hosting Serra Catholic (0-4) to close the season. Chartiers-Houston (3-2) is in a virtual tie with Cornell (2-2) and Monessen (2-2) heading into this weekend’s action. The Bucs go to Cornell Friday to close their conference slate. Bugettstown (0-4) cannot win an automatic bid and is not in wild card consideration.
Tri-County South: California (5-0) has clinched one of the three automatic bids. The Trojans host Beth-Center this week before finishing at Jeff-Morgan. Bentworth (4-1) stayed within one game of the lead with last week’s win over Jeff-Morgan. The Bearcats go to Mapletown before hosting Avella. Bentworth clinches a playoff spot with a win. Jeff-Morgan (4-1) lost at Bentworth, now hosts Avella and California to close. The Rockets have to win at least once to qualify. Avella (3-2) goes to Jeff-Morgan, then Bentworth. The Eagles have to win at least once down the stretch to get in. Beth-Center (2-3), Carmichaels (1-4) , West Greene (1-4) and Mapletown (0-5) are relegated to spoiler role, which the Mikes may well have done with last week’s win at Avella.
2A Wash High, Waynesburg, Charleroi: The Little Prexies (4-0) locked up their playoff spot in the 13-team bracket, comprised of the top three finishers in each conference plus four wild card teams. Wash High has games with Carlynton (0-4) and co-leader Seton-La Salle (4-0). Waynesburg (1-3) cannot claim an automatic berth after its loss to Keystone Oaks (4-1). The Raiders close with Charleroi (1-3) and Sto-Rox (1-4), needing to win both to get to .500 and into the at-large discussion. Charleroi, at 1-7 overall, cannot qualify.
3A McGuffey: The Highlanders (0-5) cannot qualify for the 12-team bracket made up of the top three conference finishers and three wild card choices.
4A Trinity, Ringgold: The Hillers (3-0) have sole possession of first place in the Big Six Conference, one game up on Chartiers Valley (2-1) and Thomas Jefferson (2-1). The top two teams in each conference qualify for the 8-team bracket, supplemented by two wild cards teams. Trinity clinches a playoff spot with any win (at Laurel Highlands, at Belle Vernon), and the conference title with two wins, or a win and a Belle Vernon loss. The Hillers have already beaten Chartiers Valley (2-1) and Thomas Jefferson (2-1). Those two meet Friday in Bridgeville. Ringgold (1-2) goes to Belle Vernon (1-2) this week, then to Chartiers Valley to end the regular season, the Rams likely in need of two wins to get into wild card discussions, or losses ahead of them to get back in the AQ position.
5A Peters Township: The Indians (3-0) remain the #2 ranked team in the classification behind Pine-Richland. Peters Township clinches a playoff spot with any win, playing Friday at Baldwin (0-3), then closing the schedule at Bethel Park (1-2). The top three teams in each conference qualify along with three wild card selections, making up a 12-team bracket.
6A Canon-McMillan: The Big Macs (2-2) got some help last week when Seneca Valley (1-3) knocked off Hempfield (1-4). But the Big Macs could use one more win, either this week at Norwin (2-2) or home next Friday vs. Central Catholic (4-0). Shy of that, the Big Macs could use some help from Mt. Lebanon (1-3) this week at home against Hempfield. C-M clinches with a win this week, but can get in without it. The top four teams qualify for the bracket with Central Catholic and North Allegheny (4-1) already clinching spots.
October 13, 2025 4:38 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers passed for 235 yards and two touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers had little trouble with the Cleveland Browns in a 23-9 victory. The Steelers strengthened their early grip on the AFC North by continuing their home mastery of the Browns. Cleveland’s regular-season losing streak at Acrisure Stadium hit 22 games after another lifeless performance by its offense. Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel passed for 221 yards but couldn’t lead the league’s second-lowest scoring offense to the end zone as Cleveland failed to crack the 17-point barrier for the 11th consecutive game. Rodgers threw TD passes to Connor Heyward and DK Metcalf.
October 13, 2025 4:40 am
TORONTO (AP) — Cal Raleigh homered, Jorge Polanco drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning single and the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 as they returned to the AL Championship Series for the first time in 24 years. George Springer homered on the first pitch from Bryce Miller, who then escaped a two-on jam in a 27-pitch first inning. Anthony Santander singled in the second for Toronto’s only other hit, and Seattle pitchers retired 23 of the Blue Jays’ final 24 batters as Miller, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andrés Muñoz combined to throw just 100 pitches.
October 13, 2025 1:34 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — James Franklin is out at Penn State. The school fired the longtime head coach on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a 22-21 home loss to Northwestern all but ended whatever remote chance the preseason No. 2 team had of reaching the College Football Playoff. Terry Smith will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the season for the Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten), who began the year with hopes of winning the national title only to have those hopes evaporate by early October amid a string of losses, each one more stinging than the last. Penn State, which reached the CFP semifinals 10 months ago, fell at home to Oregon in overtime in late September. A road loss at previously winless UCLA followed. The final straw came on Saturday at Beaver Stadium, where the Nittany Lions let Northwestern escape with a victory and lost quarterback Drew Allar to injury for the rest of the season. Franklin went 104-45 during his 11-plus seasons at Penn State. Yet the Nittany Lions often stumbled against top-tier opponents, going 4-21 against teams ranked in the top 10 during his tenure.
October 13, 2025 4:41 am
Indiana has climbed to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll, marking its highest ranking ever. This comes after a 10-point win at Oregon. Ohio State and Miami remain the top two teams. Texas A&M and Mississippi have swapped places. Oklahoma dropped to No. 14 following a loss to Texas. The No. 21 Longhorns are back in the Top 25 after a one-week absence. Five teams dropped out of the ratings in the biggest turnover since seven fell out in an October poll in 2022.
October 12, 2025 7:17 am
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Mason Heintschel threw for 310 yards and connected with Desmond Reid on a pair of touchdown passes as Pittsburgh defeated No. 25 Florida State 34-31. A true freshman, Heintschel completed 20 of 28 passes and tossed a pair of second-quarter interceptions. He has surpassed 300 passing yards in both of his starts, building off a rout of Boston College last week with a road upset of the Seminoles. Reid had eight catches for 155 yards and 10 carries for 38 yards for Pittsburgh (4-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Tommy Castellanos completed 16 of 23 passes for 245 yards for Florida State (3-3, 0-3). (Photo: AP)
October 12, 2025 7:16 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Caleb Komolafe ran for 72 yards and a touchdown and Northwestern held on to beat Penn State 22-21 on Saturday. Preston Stone threw for 163 yards with a touchdown to Griffin Wilde and Jack Olsen kicked three field goals for the Wildcats (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) who won their third straight. The Wildcats, who hadn’t won in Beaver Stadium since 2014, took the lead for good with 4:51 when Komolafe bulled his way through Penn State’s defense to cap a 75-yard drive late in the fourth quarter. Penn State QB Drew Allar returned for his senior season to make better on the season-ending interception he threw in last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame. Now, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound quarterback will spend the rest of the year watching after suffering what appeared to be a left ankle injury on Penn State’s final drive. Allar, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen ran for touchdowns for the Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3), who lost their third straight. It was the fifth time a Franklin coached Penn State team has lost at least three consecutive games in a season.
October 12, 2025 7:12 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — New York Rangers coach Mike Sullivan has returned to Pittsburgh, where he once led the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cup victories. On Saturday, the Penguins honored him with a tribute video during the Rangers’ 6-1 win. Sullivan, who parted ways with Pittsburgh in April, expressed gratitude for his time there. The tribute brought back many emotions for him. Sullivan, now with the Rangers, aims to bring structure and discipline to a team that missed the playoffs last season. (Photo: AP)
