May 10, 2021 9:50 am
WPIAL committees are due to meet Thursday (softball) and Friday (baseball) to set the brackets for the upcoming playoffs. After COVID issues through the fall and winter seasons, area schools have been more hampered by bad weather, particularly over the past week. Now, many teams have back-to-back-to-back games on their schedules this week to finish the season. Several schools also have COVID shutdowns, leaving them to play doubleheaders twice (or more) this week.
As of now (Tuesday), here’s the playoff picture for Washington & Greene County softball & baseball teams:
Softball
6A Canon-McMillan has clinched a berth, Peters Township is eliminated.
5A Trinity has clinched, section championship still possible
4A Ringgold is elminated
3A Waynesburg is in, McGuffey is still alive but must win out and get help from Southmoreland vs. South Allegheny
2A Burgettstown & Chartiers-Houston have clinched in Section 1. Fort Cherry needs one win to clinch a berth (hosting Carlynton in doubleheader on WJPA-AM today)
Carmichaels, Charleroi & Bentworth have clinched in Section 3. California is alive, needing to beat Charleroi and have Beth-Center lose at least once (Charleroi, Carmichaels)
1A West Greene, Mapletown & Jefff-Morgan have clinched, Avella is eliminated.
Baseball
6A Canon-McMillan has clinched a berth
5A Peters Township has clinched a berth, Trinity is eliminated
4A Ringgold is alive, currently in a four-team battle for the final berth. Rams have three games left (West Mifflin, @Uniontown, vs. Uniontown)
3A McGuffey has won its first-ever section title. Waynesburg qualifies if Southmoreland or Yough sweep the doubleheader today against each other
2A Carmichaels, California, Beth-Center & Bentworth have clinched in Section 1. Wash High clinches with wins @Bentworth and over Frazier
Chartiers-Houston has clinched in Section 2. Burgettstown plays Fort Cherry today & tomorrow, each clinches a berth with a win or with a Brentwood loss to Seton-La Salle
1A Avella is alive (and likely to qualify) in Section 1. The Eagles will benefit from Western Beaver’s school shutdown, putting Avella up two games on Cornell.
Jeff-Morgan & West Greene have clinched in Section 2 while Mapletown has been eliminated.
May 11, 2021 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Tyler Naquin homered and drove in four runs, Tucker Barnhart keyed a six-run fourth inning with a two-run double and the Cincinnati Reds rolled to a 14-1 victory over the skidding Pittsburgh Pirates. Naquin’s three-run shot came in the seventh inning, bounced off the right-field foul pole and made it 11-1. He also doubled home a run during the fourth-inning outburst. Barnhart’s double to left-center field was the big blow in the fourth as the Reds snapped a 1-all tie. The Pirates lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
May 11, 2021 3:52 am
Two-time All-Star infielder Todd Frazier has been cut by the Pittsburgh Pirates after hitting .086 in 13 games. The team designated him for assignment Monday. The 35-year-old had just three hits in 35 at-bats with no home runs and four RBIs. The Pirates signed Frazier to a minor league contract after he spent last year’s pandemic-shortened season with the Texas Rangers and New York Mets. The 11-year veteran has a .241 career average with 218 home runs.
May 11, 2021 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) -Taylor Hall scored his second goal of the game 2:53 into overtime and the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 3-2 in their home finale to clinch third place in the East Division. Brad Marchand also scored for Boston, which will face second-place Washington in the upcoming playoffs. Tuukka Rask had 16 saves. Mathew Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom scored for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves before he was replaced to start the third period by Ilya Sorokin, who stopped 10 shots. New York will face East-champ Pittsburgh. Hall cut in front and beat Sorokin with a backhander for the game-winner.
May 10, 2021 3:53 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Tyler Anderson pitched eight solid innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the Cubs in ninth 6-5, ending Chicago’s five-game winning streak. Wilmer Difo had three hits and drove in three runs as the Pirates won for just the third time in their last 20 games at Wrigley Field. Held to two runs and four hits by Anderson, the Cubs made it close in the ninth. Chicago scored three times before pinch-hitter Javier Baez grounded out with a runner on second to end it.
May 10, 2021 3:51 am
CHICAGO (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates put infielder Colin Moran on the 10-day injured list with a strained left groin amid several roster moves before playing the Chicago Cubs. Moran exited Saturday’s game against the Cubs in the bottom of the first inning. He is hitting .297 with four home runs and 19 RBIs in 32 games. Infielder Ke’Bryan Hayes was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day list. The rookie had a strong spring, homered on opening day at Wrigley Field and then exited early in the second game with a strained left wrist that’s sidelined him. The Pirates claimed outfielder Ben Gamel off waivers from the Cleveland Indians.
May 10, 2021 3:55 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Arizona Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets will have new head coaches next season. The Coyotes parted ways with Rick Tocchet and the Blue Jackets did the same with John Tortorella. The Coyotes were fourth in the West Division on April 5 before losing 12 of their next 15 games to miss the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. The Jackets reached the playoffs in each of their first four full seasons under Tortorella, but they finished last in the Central Division this year at 18-26-12.
May 10, 2021 3:58 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Medina Spirit’s victory in the Kentucky Derby is in serious jeopardy because of a failed post-race drug test. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert called a news conference to announce that Medina Spirit tested positive for an excessive amount of the steroid betamethasone that is sometimes used to treat pain and inflammation in horses. Churchill Downs immediately suspended Baffert and said Medina Spirit would be disqualified if the drug findings were upheld. Baffert denied all wrongdoing and promised to be fully transparent with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission during its investigation. Medina Spirit is Baffert’s fifth horse known to have failed a drug test in just over a year. If he is disqualified from the Derby, second-place finisher Mandaloun will be declared the winner.
May 9, 2021 7:42 am
PITTSBURGH — Jeff Carter scored and Maxime Lagace stopped 29 shots for his first career shutout as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 on Saturday. Lagace, making his first start in more than two years, got his seventh career win, and helped Pittsburgh clinch first place in the East Division when Washington needed overtime to beat Philadelphia. The Penguins were without Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith, their top two goaltenders, for the regular season finale. Carter scored his 17th goal as the Penguins finished the regular season with 13 wins and points in 14 of their last 16 games. Pittsburgh also finished 22-4-2 at home, one of the best marks in the league. Michael Houser, who grew up in northern Pittsburgh suburbs, made 22 saves for Buffalo. Houser made his fourth straight start for the Sabres, who used a NHL-high six goalies this season. Lagace played with the Vegas Golden Knights when he made his last start on Feb. 1, 2019, against Carolina. Lagace, who played in his 18th NHL game, joined Pittsburgh as a free agent in the offseason, and split the year on the team’s taxi squad and minor league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He served as the backup for five games with Pittsburgh, including the last two before Saturday’s start.
May 9, 2021 7:44 am
CHICAGO — Pinch-hitter Matt Duffy had a go-ahead single in the seventh inning, reliever Keegan Thompson pitched three scoreless innings for his first major league victory and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 Saturday for their fifth straight win. Willson Contreras and Eric Sogard each drove in a run for Chicago, which has won seven of nine to improve to 17-16. Thompson (1-0) allowed two hits and a walk following starter Trevor Williams, who gave up two runs and five hits in four innings. Andrew Chafin worked a scoreless eighth and Craig Kimbrel got the final three outs for his sixth save. Duffy pinch hit for Thompson and blooped a two-out single to right off reliever Clay Holmes to score Jason Heyward — who led off with a walk against Sam Howard (2-2) and stole second — with the winning run. Ka’ai Tom hit his first big league homer and Frazier had three hits for Pittsburgh, which has dropped eight of nine. The Pirates have totaled eight runs in their last six games. They are 2-17 in their last 19 games at Wrigley Field.
