April 15, 2024 12:02 am
High school baseball opening day was one month ago. Baseball seems to have come through the torrents of rain slightly better off than area softball teams, but there are several with only a handful of completed games. Monday’s slate of action opens the second month of the regular season with athletic directors and coaches keeping a sharp eye on the skies. Here’s a snapshot of records following the first month:
Baseball: 6A Canon-McMillan (3-3) sits in fourth place, two games ahead of Central Catholic and Baldwin, teams the Big Macs will face to close Section 2 play after taking on unbeaten leader Hempfield this week.
5A Trinity (2-2) is tied for third in Section 2, Peters Township (1-3) sits in fifth place, each with six games left. Both teams have home-and-home series with Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair. The Hillers also play South Fayette, the Indians have a set with Connellsville.
4A Ringgold (0-2) is tied for fourth in Section 2 with winless Uniontown and Laurel Highlands.
3A Waynesburg (4-0) leads Section 4 with McGuffey (2-1) tied for second with Mt. Pleasant. The tied teams make up their rained-out second game later this week. Waynesburg has make-ups with Greensburg Salem and Brownsville.
2A Section 1: Chartiers-Houston (2-0) is in first, Burgettstown (1-0) won its section opener March 25th and hasn’t played since. Wash High (3-1) is in third place but is on schedule, likely in position to take advantage of opponents’ pitching shortages. Charleroi (2-2) and Beth-Center (2-3) lead winless Bentworth (0-4) in the battle for the fourth playoff spot.
1A Section 1 is led by a trio of unbeaten teams, with a pair of home-and-home series on the schedule this week. Avella (4-0) opens its two-game set with Fort Cherry (2-0) at home Monday before visiting the Rangers on Tuesday. Carmichaels (2-0) plays California (2-2) early before the Mikes and Rangers make up their series Thursday & Friday. West Greene (2-2) is tied with California with Jeff-Morgan (0-4) and Mapletown (0-4) trailing the field.
April 15, 2024 12:01 am
Opening day was one month ago. Beth-Center has managed to play one high school softball game so far. ONE. And, while the Bulldogs’ situation may be the most-impacted by Mother Nature’s opening month wrath, it is by far not the only program hampered by the repeated rains and flooding in the two-county area. Monday’s slate of action opens the second month of the regular season with some area squads needing to make up lots of section gmaes.
Softball: 6A Canon-McMillan (3-1) is in a three-way tie for second with Hempfield and North Allegheny. The Big Macs play three times this week, five the following week.
5A Trinity (1-1) and Peters Township (1-1) are in a five-way tie in Section 4. Both have three games on this week’s schedule.
4A Ringgold (0-2) trails the field in Section 2.
3A McGuffey (1-1) and Waynesburg (0-1) have both lost to Section 4 leader South Park. The HIghlanders have three games this week, including a set with Seton-La Salle (1-1). The Raider play four times including two with Brownsville.
2A Bentworth (3-0) and Beth-Center (1-0) are tied with unbeaten OLSH atop Secion 3 entering the week. The Bearcats play three straight days finishing the week at home against OLSH. The Bulldogs have four games on this week’s docket starting against Wash High (1-3) on Monday. The Little Prexies’ win at Fort Cherry last week is just the second varsity win in nearly a decade. Fort Cherry is winless in four section starts but has four shots at ending that drought this week.
1A Section 2 starts the week with three unbeatens, a pair of one-loss teams and two others looking for their first wins. Chartiers-Houston (3-0), Carmichaels (2-0) and Mapletown (1-0). The Mikes and Maples each play for times this week with the Bucs on the field three times, including a Tuesday/Friday home-and-home with the Mikes. West Greene (1-1) faces the two winless teams, Avella (0-2) and California (0-4), then takes on Mapletown. Jeff-Morgan (1-1) has games with CHHS and Carmichaels, then plays the bottom two teams.
April 15, 2024 4:35 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hit his 300th home run, Jack Suwinski had a grand slam and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 9-2 to gain a split of the four-game series. Phillies star Bryce Harper was 0 for 4 and is in a 2-for-30 slide that has dropped his average to .190. The 37-year-old McCutchen, who played for the Phillies from 2019-21, drove a Ricardo Pinto slider into the left-field seats in the ninth inning. He became the 13th player with 2,000 hits, 400 doubles, 45 triples, 300 homers and 200 stolen bases.
April 15, 2024 4:38 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is the Masters champion for the second time in three years. And once again, it wasn’t particularly close. Scheffler grabbed the lead for good with magnificent shots around the turn. And then he let Ludvig Aberg, Collin Morikawa and Max Homa make all the mistakes. Scheffler closed with a 68 for a four-shot victory. He’s the fourth-youngest player to have two green jackets. And he stretches his lead at No. 1 in the world to levels not seen since the peak years of Tiger Woods. Scheffler now has three wins in his last four starts.
April 14, 2024 7:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brad Marchand scored short-handed to cap Boston’s four-goal second period, and the Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4. Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist, and Jake DeBrusk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Danton Heinen and Morgan Geekie also scored as the Bruins regained the top spot in the Atlantic Division with their fifth win in six games. Linus Ullmark finished with 28 saves. Michael Buntin scored twice, Drew O’Connor had a goal and an assist, and Bryan Rust also scored for the Penguins, who lost in regulation for the first time in 11 games (7-1-3). Alex Nedeljkovic was pulled after giving up three goals on 16 shots midway through the second period, and Tristan Jarry stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced.
April 14, 2024 7:43 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Castellanos hit a walk-off, bases-loaded single in the ninth inning, Kyle Schwarber homered and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Saturday. Alec Bohm added an RBI for the Phillies, who moved over .500. Oneil Cruz homered for Pittsburgh. Schwarber led off the ninth with a single to right off Jose Hernandez (1-1), and Trea Turner walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. Both advanced on a wild pitch. Hernandez struck out Bryce Harper for the first out, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton lifted Hernandez for Roansy Contreras. Pittsburgh intentionally walked Bohm to load the bases before Castellanos laced a first-pitch, 95-mph fastball over center fielder Jack Suwinski. Jeff Hoffman (2-0) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to cap an impressive outing by Philadelphia’s relievers, who struck out seven, walked one and allowed one hit in five scoreless innings.
April 14, 2024 7:55 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler has the lead in the Masters after a wild Saturday at Augusta National. And it wasn’t even blowing as hard as the day before. Scheffler had one last birdie for a 71 to give him a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa going into the final round. They were among six players who had a share of the lead at one point. There were charges and collapses. Bryson DeChambeau made double bogey on the 15th and holed out from the fairway for birdie on the last hole. Tiger Woods had an 82, his worst score in a major.
April 13, 2024 4:30 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bailey Falter allowed one run over five innings to beat his former team, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates over Philadelphia 5-2 as Phillies star Bryce Harper broke out of an 0-for-18 slide with two hits. David Bednar pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in five chances, and Henry Davis doubled, singled and drove in two runs. Bryan Reynolds and Connor Joe also had RBIs for the Pirates, who took advantage of some sloppy play by Philadelphia. The Phillies ditched their red and white pinstripes to debut blue, yellow and black City Connect jerseys that were odes to Philadelphia’s flag.
April 13, 2024 4:34 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa are tied for the lead after a brutal day at the Masters. The beauty of Augusta National was more of a beast with a raging wind that never stopped. Only eight players broke par. Just as many shot 80 or worse. Homa had 15 pars and shot a beautifully boring round of 71. Scheffler had a 72 and DeChambeau shot 73. The weekend shouldn’t be as rugged. But it will include Tiger Woods. He set a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut. And he’s only seven shots out of the lead.
April 13, 2024 4:35 am
Arizona Coyotes players have been informed the NHL club is expected to relocate to Salt Lake City, a person with knowledge of the meeting tells The Associated Press. Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong flew to Edmonton, Alberta, to tell players about the team’s potential move to Utah before the Coyotes game against the Oilers, the person said on condition of anonymity because the move hasn’t officially been announced. The league has been working on separate schedules for next season based on the team playing in Utah or Arizona. Potential new owner Ryan Smith solicited names for a Salt Lake City-based team earlier this week.
