April 28, 2023 4:07 am
Mother Nature is likely going to be the winner today, though there are some places hoping to beat the weather and get softball games in despite the rain. There are six softball games involving Washington County teams on the schedule today. However, several of them, including one which we were going to broadcast, have been postponed: Burgettstown at Bentworth.
In softball action Thursday, Canon-McMillan’s loss at Mt. Lebanon dropped the Big Macs into 7th place with five games left. The top six Class 6A teams qualify. Canon-Mac is battling Mt. Lebanon and Pine-Richland for the last two spots. The Big Macs have, on paper, the more favorable schedule. Charleroi run-ruled Wash High to stay within a game of first-place OLSH. Those two meet on Monday, the Cougars needing a win to keep title hopes alive. Chartiers-Houston bashed four home runs to beat West Greene, all but locking up second place in 1A Section 2. Both teams had already clinched playoff spots.
Friday’s schedule:
5A Trinity at Thomas Jefferson PPD to 5/5
4A Laurel Highlands at Ringgold
2A Burgettstown at Bentworth PPD to 5/2
2A Ft. Cherry at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart PPD to 5/5
1A Carmichaels at Avella PPD to 5/5
1A California at Mapletown
In Thursday baseball action, Canon-McMillan clinched a playoff berth and moved two games up on second-place Hempfield. C-M won at Baldwin while Hempfield lost for the third straight time to Mt. Lebanon. The Big Macs host Central Catholic Monday afternoon looking to clinch at least a share of the section title with a win. We’ll have that game for you on WJPA-AM.
Thursday’s scores:
Softball Mt. Lebanon 13, Canon-McMillan 9
Softball Charleroi 14, Wash High 0
Softball Chartiers-Houston 6, West Greene 5
Baseball Canon-McMillan 10, Baldwin 6
April 28, 2023 4:09 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The opening game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals was postponed because of rain and will be made up Saturday as part of a day-night doubleheader. The teams already were scheduled to play at 1:05 p.m. The makeup game will begin at 6:05 p.m. With rain expected to continue throughout the rest of the day, the series opener was called off Friday about four hours before the scheduled first pitch. We will have have both of those games on WJPA 1450 AM, pregame starting at 12:40 p.m. for Game 1, and pregame starting at 5:40 p.m. for Game 2.
April 29, 2023 4:12 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joey Porter Jr. is going home to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected the Penn State cornerback and Pittsburgh native with the first pick in the second round of the NFL draft. Porter, the son of former Steelers linebacker and assistant coach Joey Porter Sr., played high school football in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs before spending four seasons with the Nittany Lions. Porter joins a cornerback group in need of an influx of youth and talent. The team signed veteran Patrick Peterson during the offseason but lost Cam Sutton to Detroit in free agency. (Photo: AP)
April 29, 2023 4:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) — An Andy Warhol silkscreen portrait of O.J. Simpson is going up for auction. Part of Warhol’s famous “Athletes” series, the portrait spent 19 years in the possession of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which says it never displayed it. The Phillips auction house is billing the work as a rare instance of two major 20th century pop culture figures coming together. Now 75, Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of the double slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. He was found liable for the deaths in 1997 by a California civil court jury, and later served nine years in prison for armed robbery. (Photo: AP)
April 28, 2023 4:05 am
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens agreed in principle with Lamar Jackson on a five-year deal on Thursday, making their star quarterback the highest-paid player in NFL history. The Ravens and Jackson agreed on a $260 million, five-year deal with $185 million in guaranteed money, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract hasn’t been signed. The deal keeps the 2019 NFL MVP in Baltimore for the foreseeable future and ends a contract negotiation saga that was dominating the team’s offseason. Jackson’s contract tops the $255 million, five-year deal the Philadelphia Eagles gave Jalen Hurts earlier this month. Hurts got $179.3 million in guarantees.
April 28, 2023 4:04 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Quarterbacks dominated the first part of the NFL draft. Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson were among the top four picks Thursday night, an expected result in a league where teams know finding a franchise QB is the quickest path to success. The Carolina Panthers selected Young, the slender and dynamic Alabama quarterback, with the No. 1 pick, seven weeks after making a blockbuster trade with Chicago to move up to get their choice of potential franchise players. The Panthers chose the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner over Ohio State’s Stroud, Florida’s Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis. New coach Frank Reich said earlier in the week that the organization reached a consensus Monday after several weeks of deliberation
April 28, 2023 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers provided quarterback Kenny Pickett with some needed protection, trading up to acquire offensive tackle Broderick Jones of Georgia with the 14th pick in the NFL draft. The Steelers sent the 17th pick and a fourth-round selection in this year’s draft to New England to move up and acquire the 6-foot-4, 311-pound Jones. Jones will likely have a chance to start immediately at left tackle, where Dan Moore Jr. had started each of the last two seasons. Moore took a step backward in 2022.
April 28, 2023 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mitch Keller struck out 10, matching his career high, in six innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the three-game series. The right-hander gave up two runs on five hits. Keller also had 10 strikeouts in six innings last Aug. 30. Connor Joe and Rodolfo Castro homered back-to-back in the sixth off Dodgers starter Julio Urías. He allowed six runs on seven hits. The Pirates have won nine of 10, pushing their hot start to 18-8.
April 28, 2023 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dick Groat, a two-sport star who went from All-American guard in basketball to a brief stint in the NBA to ultimately an All-Star shortstop and the 1960 National League MVP while playing baseball for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, has died. He was 92. Groat’s family says in a statement that he died Thursday at UMPC Presbyterian Hospital from complications of a stroke. Groat was an All-American in both basketball and baseball at Duke. He was drafted by the NBA’s Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952 before focusing on baseball full-time after a stint in the Army. Groat played 14 seasons in the majors, most of them with Pittsburgh. He was a World Series champion with the Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals.
April 27, 2023 9:19 am
Pirates great Dick Groat has died at the age of 92. A native of Wilkinsburg, Groat spent nine of his 14 seasons in the major leagues with the Pirates. He was a member of the 1960 World Series championship team and won the National League MVP award that year. He was also a two-time All American in baseball and basketball. Just last week, the Pirates announced Groat as a member of their 2023 Hall of Fame Class which is to be enshrined August 26 at PNC Park. From 1979 until 2019 Groat was a radio analyst for University of Pittsburgh basketball games.
