August 24, 2019 4:11 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Sean Clifford will start at quarterback for No. 15 Penn State in its season opener against Idaho. Clifford was expected to win the starting job after longtime backup Tommy Stevens transferred to Mississippi State following spring practice. Since Stevens’ departure, Clifford had been battling freshman Will Levis for the spot.
August 21, 2019 3:32 pm
(AP) – NBC will use a Skycam as its primary camera during the preseason game Sunday between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans. The network received plenty of critical reviews the last time it tried this for a Thursday night game between the Steelers and Titans. “Sunday Night Football” executive producer Fred Gaudelli is willing to try again after refining some things. The camera will be approximately 50 feet above the ground and perpendicular to the line of scrimmage. Skycams are normally 22 feet above the ground and positioned behind the offense or defense. Gaudelli said the new angle was first used for Notre Dame’s spring game and he hopes that the new view gets better feedback.
August 18, 2019 8:05 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Kris Bryant homered in the seventh inning, and the Chicago Cubs got out of three bases-loaded jams to snap a four-game skid with a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. After committing an error at third base each of the previous two innings, Bryant drove the first pitch of the seventh from Steven Brault (3-2) into the left-field bleachers to put Chicago ahead 1-0. It was Bryant’s 25th homer this season and third in five games. The Cubs moved within one-half game of first-place St. Louis in the NL Central. The Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies, who are chasing the Cubs in the wild-card standings, were playing later Saturday. Jon Lester (10-8) gave up four hits and five walks in six innings after allowing Pittsburgh to load the bases with one out in the first and nobody out in the fifth. He got Kevin Newman to fly out to right in the fifth before striking out Bryan Reynolds and getting out of it when Starling Marte flied to center. Pittsburgh stranded 11 runners and fell to 7-26 since the All-Star break. It loaded the bases a third time with two outs in the seventh. After Ian Happ fully extended in left field to catch a sharp line drive from Reynolds for the second out with runners on first and second, Cubs reliever Tyler Chatwood hit Marte with a pitch. Josh Bell bounced to second to end the inning. Happ scored from third on a throwing error by catcher Elias Diaz in the eighth. Rowan Wick came in after Chatwood walked Adam Frazier to lead off the ninth. He retired each of the three batters he faced for his first major league save. Brault didn’t allow a hit until Addison Russell singled to third with one out in the fifth. He reached career highs in innings pitched with seven and strikeouts with eight, and allowed one run on two hits with one walk.
August 16, 2019 5:35 am
For the past 35 years, WJPA’s own Bob Gregg has served as Chairman of World Series Tournaments, Inc. a non-profit organization whose all-volunteer board prepares and runs the PONY League World Series. Prior to Thursday night’s championship game between Chinese Taipei and Bay County, Michigan, family, friends and co-workers gathered as he was recognized for all of his hard work as he retires as chairman. Gregg says the event has become “part of who I am for fifty years”. He recalled watching “kids from Hawaii hit home runs to win a world championship when I was nine-years old and I just fell in love with this event”. Gregg says he will still be around and will continue to do announcing and program work for the event but won’t be doing all of the administrative work that comes with the job.
August 15, 2019 3:42 am
Last at-bat home runs put unbeaten Chinese Taipei and undefeated Bay County, MI into Thursday night’s PONY League World Series championship game.
Defending champion Chinese Taipei scored single runs in five different innings, including Sun, Yi Lei’s solo home run in the top of the seventh, giving the Asia-Pacific Zone champions a 5-4 win over Youngstown, OH, eliminating the Host Area titlists. Anthony Malagise hit a two-run homer in the third for Youngstown, giving the Ohio squad a 4-2 lead, but they managed only one hit and two baserunners over the final four innings off winning pitcher Chang, Yuan Kai. Chang came on in relief to start the fourth and struck out five and walked one.
Bay County claimed its first-ever berth in the PONY World Series championship game with a 2-1 win over Simi Valley, CA. For the third straight game, the North Zone champions took the lead for good in the sixth inning, this time on Jace Giffel’s lead-off home run, setting the final score. Simi Valley scored its only run in the third as Landon Sawyer scored on Ethan Pena’s sacrifice fly. Bay County tied the game in the fifth. Devin Schular singled, was sacrificed to second and scored on Landon Sella’s RBI single. Kegan LaPan got the win in relief of Cole Schmidt, getting the starter out of a bases-loaded, no out jam in the sixth. Austin Neff was the hard-luck loser, allowing just two runs and six hits over six innings.
Our coverage begins Thursday evening at 6:40 pm. Follow the action on WJPA-AM (1450) and on our PONY World Series webpage: CLICK HERE
August 14, 2019 11:39 pm
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Albert Pujols had two hits and three RBIs Wednesday and set the major league record for career hits by a foreign-born player, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pujols had an RBI single in the 4th inning. His 3,167th hit moved him past fellow Dominican Republic native Adrian Beltre (3,166) and into sole possession of 15th place for career hits. Luis Rengifo also drove in two runs for the Angels, who snapped a three-game home losing streak. Dillon Peters (3-1) allowed two runs in six innings while striking out six after an erratic start. Melky Cabrera and Elias Diaz each had an RBI for the Pirates, who failed to complete a three-game sweep of the Angels. Pittsburgh has not won three in a row since July 1-3, against the Chicago Cubs. Chris Archer (3-9) allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings, and his streak of starts without a win reached 12 games. It is the longest such span in Archer’s eight-year career. The Angels scored four runs in the fourth inning to erase a two-run deficit. Los Angeles moved in front on Rengifo’s double to left field. The Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds overran the ball when it dropped in, and it bounced all the way to warning track. Rengifo kept running, rounding third and sliding headfirst into home to give the Angels a two-run lead. The 39-year-old Pujols drove in Los Angeles’ first run with his record-setting single. David Fletcher followed with an RBI double that tied the game at 2-all. Pittsburgh pulled within 4-3 in the seventh inning. Diaz scored from third when Erik Gonzalez hit into a double play. Pujols put the Angels ahead 6-3 with a two-run single in the eighth inning. Rengifo drove in Pujols to make it 7-3. Diaz had an RBI single in the ninth inning for the final margin of victory. The Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Peters loaded the bases with no outs with a walk and hitting two batters. Josh Bell hit into a double play that scored Kevin Newman, and Cabrera had an RBI single to right that made it 2-0.
August 13, 2019 3:41 am
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Mitch Keller earned his first major league victory, Jacob Stallings had a homer and a two-run double, and the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their eight-game losing streak with a 10-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. Kevin Newman, Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds also homered for the Pirates, who won for just the third time in 21 games and only the fifth time since the All-Star break. Pittsburgh jumped to an early 6-0 lead on Jose Suarez (2-4) and the road-weary Angels, who played in Boston on Sunday. Keller (1-1) came up from the minors to make his fourth big league start, and the Pirates’ top pitching prospect finally secured his first win. The rangy right-hander yielded five hits, two walks and just one earned run over five innings, striking out four and pitching out of two late jams. Max Stassi drove in his first run for the Angels, but Los Angeles opened a seven-game homestand by losing for the ninth time in 11 games. Starling Marte had three hits for the Pirates, who have skidded out of playoff contention over the past month. They began their first series at the Big A since 2013 by trouncing a similarly sliding opponent, starting with a three-run first inning. After Bell drove home the first run with a single, infield errors by Matt Thaiss and Albert Pujols gift-wrapped two more runs while the Pirates batted around. Newman led off the second with his seventh homer of the season, and the Pirates added two more runs in the third on Stallings’ double down the left field line. Stallings, a 29-year-old catcher with 16 career RBIs entering the game, matched his career high with three RBIs. Suarez yielded seven hits and six runs over three innings in his third consecutive rough start. Stassi, the veteran catcher recently acquired by the Angels from Houston, got his first RBI since May 8 with a long fly to center in the fourth. Stallings homered in the fifth, and Reynolds and Bell both connected in the sixth. All three homers came off Jose Rodriguez, who came up from the minors to make his second appearance of the season for LA.
August 12, 2019 3:48 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Lane Thomas hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt and Dexter Fowler also homered, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-9 Sunday. St. Louis rallied from an 8-4 deficit to sweep the three-game series and move into second place in the NL Central, two games behind the Chicago Cubs. Josh Bell had two homers and four RBIs for Pittsburgh, which has lost eight straight. Pablo Reyes added a solo shot in the ninth. Thomas, a rookie outfielder playing his 21st game, drove in five runs. His first career slam came off Kyle Crick (3-7) and put the Cardinals ahead 9-8. He also had an RBI triple in the fourth. John Gant (8-0) tossed a scoreless seventh to pick up the win. Andrew Miller picked up his fourth save in six tries. Goldschmidt hit his team-high 26th homer in the first inning and started the five-run seventh-inning rally with a leadoff single. Marcell Ozuna followed with a single, and Crick hit back-to-back batters to set the stage for Thomas’ third homer of the season. Fowler hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Geoff Hartlieb. Bell hit two-run homers in the first and fifth innings. It was the fifth multihomer game of his career, all this season. The homers, his 28th and 29th, were his first since July 5. He has an NL-leading 68 extra-base hits. Pittsburgh starter Steven Brault gave up four earned runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three. Brault had a seven-game hitting streak halted with an 0-for-2 performance. He came into the contest on an 8-for-10 run. Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas surrendered five earned runs and seven hits over five innings. He gave up both home runs to Bell. St. Louis outfielder Jose Martinez left the game in the fifth with right shoulder discomfort.
August 11, 2019 7:14 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Adam Wainwright gave up a home run on the first pitch of the game but not much else, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 Saturday night. The contending Cardinals won their second in a row after ending a five-game losing streak. Wainwright (8-8) allowed six hits, including the home run by Adam Frazier, and struck out eight in six innings. He improved to 6-2 this season at home. Giovanny Gallegos pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief before yielding to Carlos Martinez, who got two outs for his 12th save in 15 chances. Joe Musgrove (8-11) gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Tommy Edman doubled in the Cardinals sixth and scored the go-ahead run when shortstop Kevin Newman’s relay throw to third evaded Colin Moran and rolled into the Pittsburgh dugout. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a single, Marcell Ozuna doubled and Paul DeJong hit an RBI single. St. Louis made it 1-all when Ozuna grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and no out for the second straight night in the bottom of the first.
August 9, 2019 6:56 am
The world has come to Washington County! The 2019 DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY World Series opens today. The first game is set for 5:30 p.m. as Arecibo, Puerto Rico takes on Hagerstown, Maryland. At 8 p.m. it will be Youngstown, Ohio against Guasave, Mexico. Saturday will feature Brownsville, Texas taking on Bay County, Michigan at noon. At 2:30 p.m, the host Washington County team goes up against London, U.K. Teams from Taipei, China and Simi Valley, California are also here. They will see action Saturday afternoon. A champion will be crowned Thursday night August 15th at Lew Hay’s PONY Field in the title game at 7 p.m. Follow the action on WJPA-AM (1450) and on our PONY World Series webpage: CLICK HERE!
