May 24, 2021 3:56 am
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Phil Mickelson has become the oldest major champion by surviving a somewhat chaotic final round at the PGA Championship. The 50-year-old Mickelson squandered most of a five-stroke lead on the back nine before finishing two strokes ahead of Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen at Kiawah Island. Mickelson closed with a 1-over 73 to finish 6 under for his sixth career major championship. Julius Boros was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship in San Antonio. Boros held the distinction of oldest major champ for 53 years before Mickelson added to his legacy. Lefty also became the first player to win tournaments 30 years apart, and the 10th to win in three different decades. Koepka was 4 over on the par 5s when the game was still on and closed with a 74. Oosthuizen hit into the water as he was trying to make a final run and shot 73.
May 22, 2021 1:54 am
BASEBALL–CLICK for WPIAL Brackets— McGuffey had never won a baseball playoff game prior to this season. Now, the Highlanders have won two in a row, both by shutout. Winning pitcher Austin Beattie scattered six hits over seven innings and walked just one batter to lead McGuffey to the 2-0 win over Derry in the 3A quarterfinals. Beattie also tripled home one run and scored the other on Jake Orr’s ringing double in the fifth inning. The Highlanders advance to the WPIAL semifinals Tuesday against top-seeded Hopewell.
Peters Township scored in the first and never trailed Latrobe, advancing to the semifinals. That semifinal match-up was originally scheduled for Monday but will likely be bumped back one day due to the suspension of the Franklin Regional/Mars Area game. A field light failure at North Allegheny led to that delay. Seton-La Salle needed just three innings to eliminate California. Carmichaels took advantage of eight walks and four errors, ousting Chartiers-Houston. Peters Township, Seton-La Salle & Carmichales also clinched state playoff spots. In a Class 6A first-round game, Upper St. Clair scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with a win over Canon-McMillan.
SOFTBALL–CLICK for WPIAL Brackets–Remaining teams are all off for the weekend. Quarterfinals are set for Monday, semifinals Tuesday & Wednesday.
Monday, May 24 — Quarterfinals
2A #6 Chartiers-Houston vs. #3 Frazier, 12:50 pm at Peterswood Park – WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here!
2A #7 Burgettstown vs. #2 Laurel, 2:50 pm at North Allegheny – WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here!
1A #8 West Greene vs. #1 Eden Christian, 2:00 pm at Peterswood Park
1A #6 Jeff-Morgan vs. #3 Rochester, 4:30 pm at Peterswood Park
— Semifinals
2A #3 Carmichaels vs. #2 Shenango, 2:00 pm at Shaler
Tuesday, May 25 — Semifinals
1A #1 West Greene vs. #4 South Side Beaver, 3:00 pm at Montour
3A #4 McGuffey vs. #1 Hopewell, 4:20 pm at West Mifflin – WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here!
5A #13 Peters Township vs. #1 Franklin Regional , 4:20 pm at Norwin – WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here!
Wednesday, May 26 — Semifinals
6A #6 Canon-McMillan vs. #2 Norwin, 2:00 pm at West Mifflin – WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here!
May 23, 2021 7:35 am
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — After two tough losses, the New York Islanders turned back to Ilya Sorokin in a game they needed to win, and the rookie goalie came through. Sorokin stopped 29 shots, Oliver Wahlstrom and Ryan Pulock each had a goal and an assist and the Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 in Game 4 on Saturday to even the first-round series. Sorokin, who had 39 saves in the Islanders’ 4-3 win in Game 1, was back in goal after Semyon Varlamov started Games 2 and 3 — both losses. Josh Bailey and Jordan Eberle also scored and Mathew Barzal had two assists for New York. Tristan Jarry had 23 saves for Pittsburgh, and drew mocking chants of “Jar-ry! Jar-ry!” from Islanders fans. Game 5 is Monday night in Pittsburgh, and Game 6 back at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday.
May 23, 2021 7:33 am
ATLANTA — Ozzie Albies is feeling much better about Atlanta’s lineup lately. Of course, helping the Braves hit a combined 10 homers in back-to-back lopsided wins certainly helps. Albies hit home runs from both sides of the plate and Ronald Acuña Jr. led off with his major league-best 15th homer as the Braves again showed off their power game and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Saturday. The Braves’ three homers on Saturday followed a seven-homer attack, including blasts by Albies and Acuña, in a 20-1 rout of the Pirates on Friday night. After Acuña hit one of Atlanta’s two grand slams on Friday night, he didn’t wait to keep the offense rolling. With fans in the sellout crowd of 40,068 still arriving, Acuña pulled Mitch Keller’s first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall. Acuña hustled out of the box as there was no certainty the line drive was going to clear the fence. He slowed down for the rest of his home-run trot. It was his 22nd career leadoff shot, extending his franchise record, including three this season. The Braves lead the major leagues with 75 homers. At times, the all-or-nothing approach hasn’t worked, but Atlanta’s batters have connected in consecutive win over the Pirates.
May 22, 2021 3:38 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a grand slam in the second inning off Tyler Anderson, pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza added another slam in the eighth against position player Wilmer Difo and the Atlanta Braves homered seven times in a 20-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Austin Riley homered twice for his first multihomer game, and Ozzie Albies, Marcell Ozuna and Dansby Swanson also went deep for the Braves, who became the first team in major league history to have seven or more homers in a game that included two slams, according to STATS.
May 22, 2021 3:42 am
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Phil Mickelson is in position to become the oldest winner of a major championship. The 50-year-old Mickelson birdied five of his last nine holes for a 3-under 69 that leaves him tied with Louis Oosthuizen at minus-5. Lefty has fallen out of the top-100 ranking and hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in three years. His last major title was at the 2013 PGA Championship.
Mickelson is the oldest player to have a share of the lead at the midway point of a major since a 52-year-old Fred Couples in the 2012 Masters. Oosthuizen’s only bogey of the day came on his final hole. He shot a 68 to grab a share of the lead, one shot ahead of Brooks Koepka. Branden Grace was in great shape before going double-bogey-bogey on his last two holes, dropping him into a fourth-place tie with Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Hideki Matsuyama at 3 under. Those missing the cut include Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Matt Kuchar.
May 22, 2021 3:44 am
STORRS, Conn. (AP) – UConn has extended women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma’s contract through 2025 in a deal worth $15 million. The 67-year-old coach has led UConn to a record 11 women’s national championships and guided the Huskies to their 13th consecutive Final Four this past season, when they lost to Arizona in the semifinal.
May 21, 2021 1:23 am
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Brandon Tanev scored the tie breaking goal with 3:36 left and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Islanders 5-4 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. Jeff Carter scored twice, Kris Letang had a goal and two assists and Jason Zucker also scored for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots. Cal Clutterbuck scored twice, Scott Mayfield had a goal and two assists, and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York. Semyon Varlamov finished with 22 saves. Game 4 is Saturday at Nassau Coliseum. Tanev capped a wild third period as he swatted the puck out of the air past Varlamov for the winner.
May 21, 2021 1:23 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Kevin Newman hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning, Adam Frazier had four hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4. With the score 4-all and Ben Gamel starting the 10th on second base under the pandemic extra-innings rule, Frazier singled Gamel to third off Jacob Webb and Newman singled for a 5-4 lead. Gregory Polanco added a sacrifice fly off Grant Dayton. Atlanta, winner of the last three NL East titles, has lost seven of 10 and dropped to fourth place at 20-24.
May 20, 2021 3:54 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Jack Flaherty earned his major league-leading eight win of the season as the St. Louis Cardinals scored five runs in the second inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5. Flaherty (8-0) allowed two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out seven in six innings of work. He is the first Cardinals pitcher to win eight straight starts since John Tudor and Joaquin Andujar each accomplished the feat in 1985. Pirates starter Trevor Cahill (1-5) allowed four runs
