May 6, 2024 12:01 am
WPIAL baseball and softball teams have reached the final week of the regular season, navigating significant weather challenges with some additional rains expected this week. All softball section games must be completed by the end of Wednesday, baseball the following day. WPIAL softball and baseball committees will meet late in the week to set the 12 tournament brackets with action expected to get underway early next week. Once brackets are released (Softball on Thursday, Baseball Friday), we’ll have them available on our Sports page with a daily schedule of Washington & Greene County teams posted as well. At the moment, Eight Washington County baseball teams along with seven more softball teams have clinched playoff spots. Three other teams are still alive (two baseball, one softball). Greene County will send three baseball and four softball teams to the post-season. Here’s a snapshot for each team in the Washington-Greene County area:
Baseball
Clinched: Avella (1A), Burgettstown (2A), Carmichaels (1A), Charleroi (2A), Chartiers-Houston (2A), Fort Cherry (1A), McGuffey 3A), Ringgold (4A), Trinity (5A), Waynesburg (3A) and West Greene (1A).
Alive: Beth-Center (2A), Wash High (2A). The Bulldogs and Little Prexies play their two-game series Monday & Tuesday, each needing one win to clinch a playoff spot. We’ll have both games for you on WJPA Sports Network with free video as well as radio coverage on WJPA-AM (1450) and online.
Eliminated: Bentworth (2A), California (1A), Canon-McMillan (6A), Jeff-Morgan (1A), Mapletown (1A) and Peters Township (5A).
Softball
Clinched: Bentworth (2A), Carmichaels (1A), Canon-McMillan (6A), Charleroi (2A), Chartiers-Houston (1A), Jeff-Morgan (1A), McGuffey (3A), Trinity (5A), Waynesburg (3A), West Greene (1A). Bentworth plays at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Monday in a game we’ll have for you on WJPA Sports Network with free video as well as radio coverage on WJPA-AM (1450) and online. The Bearcats blanked the Chargers, 7-0, in their first meeting and clinched the outright section championship with a win.
Alive: Beth-Center (2A), Burgettstown (2A). B-C (4-6) visits Burgettstown (5-6) today with with winner clinching a spot. Burgettstown beat Beth-Center in their first meeting and the Blue Devils have also received a forfeit win vs. Wash High. If B-C wins today, Burgettstown would also qualify if Bentworth beats Beth-Center tomorrow.
Eliminated: Avella (1A), California (1A), Fort Cherry (1A), Mapletown (1A), Peters Township (5A), Ringgold (4A), Wash High (2A).
May 6, 2024 1:08 am
Washington & Jefferson College will host the Presidents’ Athletic Conference baseball tournament as the League’s top seed. W&J posted a 16-4 regular season mark to claim a seventh-straight #1 ranking. The Presidents are seeking their fifth straight League title. W&J has won six of the last eight championships and 15 all-time. The Red & Black are 28-12 overall and will take on #6 Thiel (15-22, 10-10) in the tournament opener Wednesday (11 am). #2 Grove City (24-12, 15-5) will play #5 Westminster (18-20, 11-9). The opening round of the six-team tournament will conclude with #3 Waynesburg (23-16, 15-5) facing #4 Allegheny (26-12, 14-6). Action continues at W&J’s Ross Memorial Park through the championships on Saturday. WJPA Sports Network will have live coverage of all W&J games on WJPA-AM (1450) and online Click Here
Wednesday
11:00 am Game A #1 Wash & Jeff vs. #6 Thiel
2:30 pm Game B #2 Grove City vs. #5 Westminster
6:00 pm Game C #3 Waynesburg vs. #4 Allegheny
Thursday
11:00 am Game D Wash-Jeff / Thiel loser vs. Grove City / Westminster loser
2:30 pm Game E Wash-Jeff / Thiel winner vs. Waynesburg / Allegheny loser
6:00 pm Game F Grove City / Westminster winner vs. Waynesburg / Allegheny winner
May 6, 2024 4:42 am
DALLAS (AP) — Radek Faksa broke a tie in his return to the Dallas lineup, 20-year-old Wyatt Johnston scored in another Game 7 and the Stars beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Sunday night to wrap up the first-round series. After being out with an undisclosed injury since leaving the bench late in Game 2, Faksa scored 44 seconds into the third period with a backhander from the circle to the left of goalie Adin Hill. Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger made 21 saves. Brett Howden scored for Vegas. The Stars, the No. 1 seed in the West, move on to play well-rested Colorado in the second round. Game 1 is Tuesday night in Dallas.
May 6, 2024 4:43 am
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Taylor Pendrith took advantage of Ben Kohles’ final-hole meltdown to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title. Kohles overtook Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 for a one-shot lead, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot into greenside rough. After having to chip twice from the rough and already looking stunned, Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff. Pendrith two-putted for birdie on the 18th, holing a 3-footer for a 4-under 67 and 23-under 261 total at the TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old Canadian won in his 74th career PGA Tour start. Playing just north of his birthplace of Dallas, Kohles shot 66 to finish a stroke back. He’s winless on the tour.
May 5, 2024 6:22 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pinch-hitter Jack Suwinski singled home Connor Joe with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies. Joe led off the ninth with a single and came home when Suwinski singled up the middle against Nick Mears. Jared Jones, Colin Holderman and David Bednar (2-2) combined for a one-hitter as the Pirates won for just the fourth time in their last 18 games. The Rockies managed just one baserunner, a double by Elias Diaz leading off the fifth.
May 5, 2024 6:26 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a dramatic three-horse photo finish, edging out Sierra Leone and Forever Young for the upset victory. It was the 10th Derby to be decided by a nose, the closest margin in horse racing. Sent off at 18-1 odds, Mystik Dan and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. rode the rail down the stretch with a short lead. Sierra Leone and Forever Young from Japan gave chase and pressured the leader to the wire in front of 156,710 at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Hernandez and trainer Kenny McPeek had teamed to win the Kentucky Oaks for fillies a day earlier with Thorpedo Anna. Mystik Dan ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.34 and paid $39.22 to win.
May 5, 2024 6:29 am
BOSTON (AP) — David Pastrnak scored on a feed from Hampus Lindholm 1:54 into overtime and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 7 to clinch their first-round series and advance in the NHL playoffs. Jeremy Swayman finished with 30 saves and Lindholm had the tying goal in regulation to help the Bruins avoid losing their second straight first-round series after holding a 3-1 lead. They have now defeated the rival Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs three times in the last seven years. Boston will meet the Florida Panthers, who upset the Bruins in seven games in the first round last year.
May 4, 2024 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ryan McMahon homered into the Allegheny River, Cal Quantrill pitched into the eighth inning and the Colorado Rockies edged struggling Pittsburgh 3-2. Colorado led the entire way after trailing at some point in each of its first 31 games this season, a modern-era record. McMahon put the Rockies in front when he opened the sixth with a drive over the right-field stands against Martín Pérez for his fifth homer. Oneil Cruz hit a late two-run homer for the Pirates. Pittsburgh has dropped five straight and 14 of 17.
May 4, 2024 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Henry Davis will try to work out of his early season funk in the minors. The Pittsburgh Pirates have optioned the former first-overall pick to Triple-A Indianapolis. Davis, a catcher, is hitting just .162 with no home runs and four RBIs in 23 games for Pittsburgh. The 24-year-old, the top selection in the 2021 amateur draft, has struck out 29 times in 83 at-bats. Pittsburgh activated two-time All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal off the injured list to take Davis’ spot on the roster. Grandal missed most of spring training with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
May 4, 2024 1:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins have fired assistant coach Todd Reirden. General manager Kyle Dubas announced the decision Friday, which came just weeks after the Penguins failed to make the playoffs for a second straight season. Reirden was in charge of Pittsburgh’s power play. The Penguins struggled while on the man advantage all season despite having a star-studded unit that included Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson. Pittsburgh converted on just 15% of its power play opportunities, 30th in the 32-team NHL.
