May 17, 2022 3:49 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Willson Contreras led off with a double and became a rare leadoff hitter with a first-inning grand slam as the Chicago Cubs burst to an eight-run lead and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-0. Contreras became the 10th leadoff hitter since 1901 with a first-inning slam, the first since Houston’s George Springer off Kansas City’s Edinson Volquez on June 24, 2016. The slam was the 100th homer of Contreras’ career. Wade Miley retired his first 14 batters before Michael Chavis lined a single to left and ended a 13-inning hitless streak for Pittsburgh batters.
May 16, 2022 1:07 am
The WPIAL Softball & Softball playoffs got underway Monday afternoon. Baseball first-round action is slated to open Tuesday. Links for brackets & broadcasts plus the daily schedule for teams from the two-county area follow.
Baseball WPIAL Brackets — Click Here — Softball WPIAL Brackets — Click Here
Monday–Softball
2A Fort Cherry 11, Carlynton 4
6A North Allegheny 8., Peters Township 0
Tuesday–Baseball
3A #15 Waynesburg vs. #2 South Park, 2 pm at West Mifflin
1A #12 Jeff-Morgan vs. #5 OL/Sacred Heart, 2 pm at Peterswood Park
2A #10 Bentworth vs. #7 Neshannock, 3 pm at Chippewa Park
2A #16 Beth-Center vs. #1 Serra Catholic, 4 pm at Greater Latrobe
1A #11 Avella vs. #6 Sewickley Academy, 4 pm at Beaver
3A #9 McGuffey vs. #8 Deer Lakes, 4:30 pm at Peterswood Park
2A #6 Burgettstown vs. #11 California, 4:30 pm at W&J, WJPA-AM (1450) or LISTEN HERE!
2A #14 Fort Cherry vs. #3 Shenango, 5:30 pm at Chippewa Park
2A #12 Chartiers-Houston vs. #5 Riverside, 6:30 pm at Plum
2A #4 Carmichaels vs. #13 Apollo-Ridge, 6:30 pm at Greater Latrobe
5A #1 Peters Township vs. Connellsville, 7 pm at W&J, WJPA-AM (1450) or LISTEN HERE!
1A #4 West Greene vs. #13 Western Beaver, 7 pm at Peterswood Park
Tuesday–Softball
1A #9 Mapletown vs. #8 Bishop Canevin, 3 pm at Waynesburg University
3A #6 Waynesburg vs. #11 South Park, 4 pm at Trinity
5A #3 Trinity vs. #14 Connellsville, 5 pm at Waynesburg University
1A #7 Jeff-Morgan vs. #10 St. Joseph, 6 pm at Trinity
Wednesday–Softball
6A #6 Canon-McMillan vs. #3 Pine-Richland, 3 pm at Montour, WJPA-AM (1450) or LISTEN HERE!
2A #4 Chartiers-Houston vs. #13 Riverside, 3 pm at Sewickley Academy
2A #10 Carmichaels vs. #7 Seton-La Salle, 4 pm at Trinity
2A #16 Fort Cherry vs. #1 Neshannock, 5 pm at Sewickley Academy
2A #14 Bentworth vs. #3 Ligonier Valley, 5 pm at Norwin
2A #12 Burgettstown vs. #5 Laurel, 5 pm at North Allegheny
2A #8 Charleroi vs. #9 Serra Catholic, 6 pm at Trinity
Thursday–Softball Quarterfinals
1A #1 West Greene vs. Bishop Canevin / Mapletown winner, site/time to be determined
May 17, 2022 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Vegas Golden Knights have fired coach Peter DeBoer after they missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. General manager Kelly McCrimmon says the front office believes a new coach would put the team in the best position to succeed next season. DeBoer coached the Golden Knights for 2 1/2 seasons after being named to replace Gerard Gallant in January 2020. They reached the playoffs the previous two years and lost one round before the Stanley Cup Final each time. In other NHL moves:
The New York Islanders have hired longtime Barry Trotz assistant and right-hand man Lane Lambert to succeed him as coach. It’s Lambert’s first head coaching job in the NHL. Trotz was fired last week after the Islanders missed the playoffs for the first time in his four seasons behind the bench.
May 16, 2022 3:51 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Artemi Panarin scored a power-play goal 4:46 into overtime and the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists and Chris Kreider and K’Andre Miller also scored for New York which got its third straight comeback win after trailing 3-1 in the series. Andrew Copp had two assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 42 shots. Evan Rodrigues had a goal and an assist and Jake Guentzel and Danton Heinen also scored for the Penguins, who were ousted in the first playoff series for the fourth straight year.
May 16, 2022 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Reds starter Hunter Greene and reliever Art Warren combined to allow zero hits in a complete game, but it didn’t count as a no-hitter – or even a win – because the Pittsburgh Pirates eked out a run in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 1-0 win. This was the sixth time in big league history since 1901 that a team has won despite not getting any hits. It last happened in 2008 when Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo of the Angels lost while holding the Dodgers hitless. By Major League Baseball record-keeping rules, Cincinnati’s accomplishment isn’t an official no-hitter because its pitchers didn’t go at least nine innings. Greene, the prized Reds rookie, was pulled with one out in the eighth. Warren gave up an RBI groundout to Ke’Bryan Hayes for the only run.
May 15, 2022 1:49 am
Three batters into the game, top-seeded Washington & Jefferson had a 2-0 lead and never looked back, rolling to a 10-2 win over #4 Westminster in the Presidents Athletic Conference baseball tournament championship game. Peter Kalinski’s two-run double was part of the W&J catcher’s 2-for-5, 3 RBI afternoon. The Red & Black added single runs in the second and third innings, then blew it open with six markers over the final three frames including back-to-back home runs by Trevor Dean and Jacob LaDuca. Jameson Campbell (10-1) picked up the win with six innings of work, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out seven. The Presidents have now won 14 conference titles, including the last three in a row and five of the last seven. W&J (35-8) earns the League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and is in line to possibly host one of 16 regional groupings. Those regional brackets are due to be announced Monday morning.
May 15, 2022 7:38 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Zach Thompson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Daniel Vogelbach homered to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night. Brandon Drury broke up the no-hit bid by lining a clean single to right field with two outs. Despite having not allowed a hit that deep into the game, Thompson wasn’t thinking no-no. That was the only hit allowed by Thompson (2-3) in six innings. He had three walks and three strikeouts while throwing 76 pitches. He combined with Wil Crowe, Chris Stratton and David Bednar on a four-hitter that ended the Reds’ three-game winning streak. Thompson entered with a 7.08 ERA in six games, including five starts, but ran his scoreless innings streak to 12. Last Sunday, he pitched five shutout innings at Cincinnati but did not get a decision. Bednar retired the last four batters for his sixth save in as many opportunities. Vogelbach’s 433-foot leadoff home run to center off Luis Castillo in the fourth made it 3-0. It was Vogelbach’s team-leading sixth homer and the game’s lone extra-base hit. Rodolfo Castro had two of the Pirates’ five hits.
May 13, 2022 11:07 pm
The top three batters in W&J’s lineup combined for four hits, three doubles and five RBIs as the top-seeded Presidents downed Grove City to move to the championship round of the Presidents Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. Tyler Horvat doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs. Nate Rush used a single and a fielder’s choice for his two RBI and Peter Kalinski’s double in the fifth put W&J up 4-0, a lead that was never surrendered. Grove City scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within a run but could never tie the game. Henry Litman got the win for W&J, allowing three runs in seven innings.
W&J moves on to face Westminster in the championship round, needing one win Saturday to claim their fifth PAC title in seven years. The Titans must win twice to win the conference title. The champion also advances to the NCAA Regional next weekend.
The three-day, double-elimination NCAA qualifier takes place at the College’s Ross Memorial Park adjacent to Wild Things Park. We’ll have every W&J game live on WJPA-AM (1450) and online LISTEN HERE!
Thursday
#1 W&J 10, #4 Westminster, 9, 11 innings
#3 Grove City 9, #2 St. Vincent 7
Friday
W&J 5, Grove City 4
3 pm #4 Westminster 8, #2 St. Vincent 2
6 pm Westminster 10, Grove City 7
Saturday
12:20 pm Championship game: Wash & Jeff (34-8) vs. Westminster (24-18)
3:30 pm If Necessary game
May 14, 2022 4:13 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Chris Kreider’s long slap shot bounced over Louis Domingue and into the net with 1:28 left and the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 to push their thrilling first-round series to a deciding Game 7. Kreider’s second goal of the game and fourth of the playoffs sent the series back to New York. Mika Zibanejad had two goals and two assists, and Andrew Copp added an empty netter in the waning seconds. Game 7 is Sunday at Madison Square Garden. The Penguins played without captain Sidney Crosby, who sat out with an upper-body injury sustained in Game 5.
May 14, 2022 4:14 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Mike Moustakas homered twice and Brandon Drury drove in four runs to lead the resurgent Cincinnati Reds to an 8-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Moustakas hit a solo shot into the right field stands in the fourth inning to break a 2-2 tie. In the seventh, he had another solo homer to make it 8-2, two batters after Drury had a two-run drive. It was the 15th multihomer game for Moustakas. He helped the Reds win for the sixth time in eight games following a 3-22 start. Tyler Mahle won for the first time since opening day.
