Titans Keep QB Tannehill

March 16, 2020 3:44 am

The Titans are keeping the quarterback who led them within a victory of the Super Bowl, agreeing to a four-year, $118 million extension with Ryan Tannehill. The Titans went 7-3 over their final 10 regular-season games after Tannehill replaced Marcus Mariota (mar-ee-OH’-tah). Tannehill was 9-4 as a starter last season and led the NFL with a career-best 117.5 passer rating, the fourth-highest in NFL history and a franchise best. He threw for 2,742 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions during the regular season after coming to Tennessee from the Dolphins.

CDC Hints Sports Could Be Shut Down Through April

March 16, 2020 3:40 am

UNDATED (AP) – The already-delayed professional sports seasons in North America could be on hiatus for significantly longer than first planned.  New recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday night seem to suggest that sports in this country could for all intents and purposes be gone until May, if not later.  That’s twice as long as the 30-day shutdowns that the NBA, NHL and Major League Soccer decided to put into place last week. The league suspensions were in response to the global coronavirus pandemic that has already made a deep impact on the U.S. financial markets and has been blamed for at least 64 deaths in this country.  Major League Baseball also was going with what essentially was a 30-day shutdown after canceling the rest of spring training and pushing back the start of regular season play for two weeks; Opening Day was to have been March 26.

No Hoops, Hardball, Hockey, Or Hazards For A While

March 15, 2020 3:54 am

UNDATED (AP) – The NCAA has canceled the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments because of the spread of coronavirus. The decision came one day after the NCAA announced games that were scheduled to start next week would be played in mostly empty arenas. That plan was scrapped as every major American sports league put the brakes on their seasons due to concerns about the pandemic. The NCAA also canceled its championships in every winter and spring sport, including hockey, baseball and lacrosse.  All remaining Division I conference basketball tournaments have been canceled. Moments away from tipoff at some arenas, and minutes apart, each Power Five conference canceled its remaining games. The Big East game between Creighton and St. John’s began at Madison Square Garden but was called off at halftime. Smaller conferences followed suit, shutting down their tournaments.  Major League Baseball has delayed the start of its season by at least two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak. Opening day had been scheduled for March 26, and the decision announced by Commissioner Rob Manfred left open whether each team would still play 162 games. MLB also suspended the rest of its spring training schedule.  The NHL has put its season on pause, effective immediately, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The move came one day after the NBA suspended its season following a positive test for COVID-19 by a Utah Jazz player. Commissioner Gary Bettman said the hope is to resume play later and still award the Stanley Cup. The NHL Players’ Association backed the decision, calling it “an appropriate course of action at this time.”  The PGA has canceled the remainder of The Players Championship, along with three tournaments leading up to The Masters.

MLB Opening Delayed, Spring Games Suspended

March 12, 2020 3:43 pm

Following a call with the 30 clubs, and after consultation with the Major League Baseball Players Association, Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. today announced that MLB has decided to suspend Spring Training games and to delay the start of the 2020 regular season by at least two weeks due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic. This action is being taken in the interests of the safety and well-being of our players, clubs and our millions of loyal fans.

MLB will continue to evaluate ongoing events leading up to the start of the season. Guidance related to daily operations and workouts will be relayed to Clubs in the coming days. As of 4 p.m. ET today, forthcoming Spring Training games have been cancelled, and 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier games in Tucson, Ariz., have been postponed indefinitely.

PIAA Second Round; Trinity Advances

March 11, 2020 10:54 pm

Riley DeRubbo led Trinity with 18 points in a relatively easy win over Great Valley in the 5A girls second round.  WPIAL champion Chartiers Valley and Section 1 foe Thomas Jefferson won their games and will meet in the quarterfinals.

The 6A boys second round game between Mt. Lebanon and Cheltenham was postponed due to concerns about COVID-19 exposure in the Cheltenham School District.  Thursday morning, the game was again postponed with no re-schedule date yet announced. Sites/times as well as additional news is expected soon from PIAA headquarters.

Click for PIAA Brackets.  Here’s the schedule for remaining area teams (all dates/times/sites are tentative):

Thursday, March 12 (winner advances to Saturday quarterfinals)
Boys 6A Mt. Lebanon vs. Cheltenham POSTPONED

Friday, March 13 (winners advance to Monday semifinals)
Girls 6A Bethel Park vs. Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 5:30 pm at Bald Eagle HS, Bellefonte
Girls 6A North Allegheny vs. Nazareth, 7:00 pm at Bald Eagle HS, Bellefonte
Boys 1A Bishop Canevin vs. Berlin-Brothersvalley, 6:00 pm at Hempfield Area HS
Boys 1A Cornell vs. Bishop Carroll, 7:30 pm at Hempfield Area HS

Saturday, March 14 (winners advance to Tuesday’s semifinals)
Girls 5A Trinity vs. Gettysburg
Girls 5A Chartiers Valley vs. Thomas Jefferson

Pitt Loses To N.C. State In ACC Tourney

March 11, 2020 3:48 am

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Devon Daniels scored 23 points to help North Carolina State beat Pittsburgh 73-58 in Wednesday’s second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. C.J. Bryce added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Wolfpack. Markell Johnson also had 11 assists. N.C. State took over with a run of five straight scoring possessions in the second half. That helped the Wolfpack build a double-digit margin and lead by as many as 20 points late. Xavier Johnson scored 15 points to lead the Panthers. Pittsburgh was the tournament’s No. 13 seed that advanced by beating Wake Forest on Tuesday.

#2 Gonzaga Outlasts San Francisco In WCC Semi

March 10, 2020 3:47 am

UNDATED (AP) – No. 2 Gonzaga survived a scare to beat San Francisco 81-77 in the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals. Joel Ayayi scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to lead the Bulldogs. Killian Tillie had 19 points and Ryan Woolrdige had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting to pace Gonzaga, which will play in its 26th WCC final and seeking its 17th championship.

Pirates Prospect Hayes Remains Patient

March 10, 2020 3:46 am

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – Pittsburgh Pirates third base prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes is trying to stay patient while waiting for a call-up to the majors. The 23-year-old is the organization’s top minor-league prospect. His rise through the ranks slowed a bit in 2019 after he struggled a bit at the plate at Triple-A Indianapolis. Hayes spent the offseason working on his swing and is hitting a solid .318 so far during spring training. Hayes is already considered one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball, something he picked up from his father Charlie, who played 14 seasons in the majors and won the 1996 World Series with the New York Yankees.

Struggling Penguins Lose Again

March 9, 2020 3:45 am

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Morgan Geekie scored twice and added an assist in his NHL debut and Justin Williams added two third-period goals and the Carolina Hurricanes surged past the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2. Jake Gardiner added a goal and an assist and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes. Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Malkin scored for Pittsburgh and Tristan Jarry finished with 30 saves but the listless Penguins capped a miserable weekend at home by losing for the second time in 24 hours to teams they’re scrapping with for positioning in the crowded Metropolitan Division.

PIAA Wrestling Finals

March 8, 2020 3:18 am

WPIAL wrestlers brought home 50 total medals from the PIAA Wrestling Championships–36 in AAA, 14 in AA.  Burgettstown’s Riley Kemper finished fifth, his brother, Shane, sixth. McGuffey’s Garrett Boone placed seventh.  Austin Walley (Ellwood City) was the district’s only AA champion.  Five others settled for silver medals.

Gerrit Nijenhuis (Canon-McMillan) beat Donovan McMillon (Peters Township) to win the 182-pound championship, the first-ever meeting between two Washington County wrestlers in the finals.  The win was the 181st for Nijenhuis, the most all-time among WPIAL wrestlers.  Waynesburg’s Wyatt Henson won his championship match while Rocco Welsh finished second.  The Raiders’ Mac Church took third, Cole Homet fifth and Luca Augustine sixth. WPIAL AAA wrestlers won six titles, seven more finished second.  The League brought home 4 third-place finishers, seven took fourth, two in fifth-place, five in sixth, one seventh and four eighth.

Results and archive Listen links are avilable on our High School Wrestling hub Click Here.