March 1, 2022 3:47 am
Derek Jeter announced a surprise departure from the Miami Marlins after 4 1/2 mostly unsuccessful years that didn’t come remotely close to matching his success as a player for the New York Yankees. Jeter became CEO of the Marlins in September 2017 when Bruce Sherman bought the team from Jeffrey Loria. Miami went 218-327 during his four seasons at the helm, finishing with a winning record only once at 31-29 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
March 1, 2022 3:49 am
GENEVA (AP) – The International Olympic Committee has made a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia over the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The IOC has urged others to exclude Russian athletes and officials from international events. The IOC says the move is needed to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.” It opens the way for FIFA to exclude Russia from a World Cup soccer qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland already has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia. The IOC’s call also applied to athletes and officials from Belarus because that country has abetted Russia’s invasion.
February 28, 2022 3:56 am
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Sidney Crosby scored with 2:14 left to rally Pittsburgh over the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 and bolster their hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, Chad Ruhwedel also scored, and Bryan Rust added two assists in Pittsburgh’s second straight win. Casey DeSmith stopped 32 shots to improve to 3-0 against Columbus. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jack Roslovic scored for Columbus, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 37 shots as the Blue Jackets lost their second straight.
February 28, 2022 3:59 am
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – Negotiators for locked-out major league players and owners recessed their talks until Monday, the day management has set as a deadline to salvage March 31 openers. The sides held a series of short and more frequent meetings that stretched into Sunday night before saying they would resume in the morning. MLB says that if there is not a deal by the end of Monday, there will not be enough training time to start the season as scheduled and play 162 games. Entering the 88th day of the work stoppage they were still far apart on big issues that include luxury tax thresholds and rates, the size of the new bonus pool for pre-arbitration players and minimum salaries.
February 26, 2022 8:45 pm
Washington & Jefferson swept the Presidents Athletic Conference basketball championships Saturday. The W&J women rolled past Westminster to start the afternoon. The W&J men rallied from nine points down with 14 minutes to play to beat Chatham for the second time in 10 days. The sweep is the first in the school’s history.
Aleena McDaniel came off the bench to score 11 points for the the top-seeded women. Sarah Berardelli also had 11 for W&J. Victoria Koeck added 10. The Presidents led for all but three minutes in the middle of the second quarter, a stretch that was answered by a 6-0 run to close the half. W&J rattled off a dozen straight points in the middle of the third to put the game away then nailed seven of 8 free throws in the fourth to close it out. The PAC championship is the 5th for the women’s basketball program at W&J, the first since 2006.
Plagued by turnovers and poor shot selection, the W&J men found themselves down 10 points with 13 minutes to play in the first half but rallied back late to close to within six at the break. Chatham pushed the lead back to nine points with 14 minutes to play but W&J held the Cougars to 13 points the rest of the way. Five Presidents finished the game in double figures, led by Okikola Agbale 18 off the bench. Kyran Mitchell, who was called for four offense fouls, measured himself enough to stay in the game and finish with 13 points. JR Mazza scored 12, all in the second half. Nick Gearhart added 11 and Isaiah Langston had 10 including a pair of foul shots in the final minute to clinch the win. The title is the W&J men’s first since 1995 and their 10th overall. Only Bethany (14) has more.
Both teams have earned the League’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The brackets will be released Monday afternoon with first-round games due to be played Friday at campus sites.
February 26, 2022 10:46 pm
The Fort Cherry boys took the lead for good late in the first half, then blew the game open with a 10-point spurt midway through the third quarter on the way to the school’s first berth in the WPIAL semifinals in 61 years. Dylan Rogers returned from an ankle injury to score 28 points. Owen Norman added 19, Maddox Truschel chipped in 15. The win also clinches a state tournament spot for the Rangers. Trinity’s girls trailed most of the game, staged a wild, fourth-quarter rally only to see Madeline Cherepko’s 40-foot buzzer beater hit home, lifting #6 McKeesport past the host Hillers. Alyssa Clutter scored 31, 26 in the second half in the loss. Trinity joins the Burgettstown girls and Wash High boys in the follow-the-leader waiting game to see if their seasons continue in the state playoffs. Trinity qualifies if McKeesport beats South Fayette in Tuesday’s semifinal. Burgettstown qualifies if Serra Catholic reaches the finals or if Neshannock wins the championship. The Little Prexies earn a state berth if Shady Side Academy reaches the finals or if Aliquippa wins the title. Click for WPIAL brackets.
Tuesday, Mar. 1 (winner to 2A Boys Championship game)
2A Boys #2 Fort Cherry vs. #3 Carlynton at West Allegheny, 7:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
February 27, 2022 7:32 am
PITTSBURGH — It’s difficult to get a read on Tristan Jarry. The reserved Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender speaks with a monotone that makes it hard to tell if he’s coming off his best performance of the season, or his worst. It’s a steadiness that has fueled Jarry to a pair of All-Star appearances. Yet, look hard enough at the way Jarry plays, and there’s an edge now that didn’t exist a year ago during a forgettable first-round playoff loss to the New York Islanders. Jarry no longer sits back in his crease. Instead he’s out there cutting down angles and occasionally mixing it up in the process. Jarry calls it “taking the ice that’s mine.” He claimed plenty of it in a taut 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday that leapfrogged the Penguins over their rivals for second-place in the tight Metropolitan Division. Two days after getting pulled for the first time all season in a dismal loss to last-place New Jersey — a game in which he allowed five goals on 19 shots thanks in large part to some shaky play in front of him — Jarry turned aside all 27 shots he saw from the Rangers to post the 11th shutout of his career, tied with Matt Murray and Les Binkley for third-most in team history. Evgeni Malkin provided the difference with a power-play goal 5:09 into the third period when he went down to one knee to rifle a snapshot from the right circle past Igor Shesterkin. The score was Malkin’s eighth of the season. Pittsburgh ended a three-game losing streak by returning to the kind of responsible, disciplined play that was the team’s hallmark until a recent dip in which they were shaky in losses to Toronto, Carolina and the Islanders. Shesterkin finished with 25 saves, but the Rangers, who tested Jarry early and late, ended their six-game point streak.
February 26, 2022 10:55 am
The PIAA individual wrestling championship series is underway for Class 3A wrestlers in the area. Section tournaments are happening Saturday at four sites including the Section 4-AAA matches at Peters Township. WJPA-AM (1450) has live, start-to-finish coverage.
Saturday, Feb. 26–Section 4-AAA Wrestling
9:20 am Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, 1st/2nd Consolations, WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
1:50 pm Championship & Consolation Finals (3rd/5th), WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
February 26, 2022 1:11 pm
Washington & Jefferson swept the women’s & men’s semifinal doubleheader Thursday night, advancing to the Presidents Athletic Conference championship games happening today. The #1 W&J women jumped in front comfortably, then held off a Bethany rally to earn a spot in the final against #2 Westminster. W&J opened conference play with a one-point win over the Titans in early December, then followed that up with a 16-point home win in mid-January.
The top-seeded W&J men battled back and forth with Waynesburg, finally securing the win and a third meeting with Chatham this season. The teams split their regular season home-and-home series, each winning on the road.
The two championship games will be played at W&J’s Salvitti Family Gymnasium. We’ll have live coverage of both games on WJPA. The women’s game is set to tip at 4:30 pm with the men’s title tilt set for 7:30 pm. Hear both games on WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
Championship Saturday
Women
4:20 pm #2 Westminster (18-8, 15-5) at #1 Washington & Jefferson (22-4, 19-1), WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
Men
7:20 pm #2 Chatham (21-4, 16-4) at #1 Washington & Jefferson (23-4, 18-2), WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
February 25, 2022 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jesper Bratt scored twice in the first six minutes, rookie Nico Daws made 37 saves and the last-place New Jersey Devils drilled the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1. Yegor Sharangovich, Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer and Damon Severson also scored for the Devils, who won for just the third time in their last 12 games. Evgeni Malkin scored his seventh of the season for Pittsburgh but the Penguins dropped their third straight.
