January 29, 2020 2:51 am
With just three play dates remaining in the regular season, the number of open playoff spots is dwindling quickly. The top four teams in each of the WPIAL’s 17 sections qualify for post-season play, plus unbreakable ties for the final spots. Section play is scheduled to end on Feb. 7 with the Basketball Steering Committee meeting on Feb. 10. The brackets will be released by the League the following night.
Class 6A–defending WPIAL/PIAA champion Peters Township is still alive, but barely. At the moment, the Indians are three games back of the final spot with three games to play. Peters Township must win out, Baldwin lose out and Connellsville must lose at least once. Canon-McMillan is already eliminated.
Class 5A–Trinity has clinched a playoff spot and can wrap up second place in Section 1 with a win Thursday at Moon.
Class 4A–Ringgold (2-9) cannot reach the playoffs.
Class 3A–Charleroi (7-4), Brownsville (6-5) and Beth-Center (4-6) are all alive for the final two spots in Section 2. McGuffey, Washington and Waynesburg have been eliminated.
Class 2A–Burgettstown (7-2) and Chartiers-Houston (7-2) have clinched playoff berths and will meet Monday at Burgettstown, likely with second place on the line. Fort Cherry (4-6) is tied with Frazier and is still alive for the fourth spot but the Rangers lost both regular season meetings with the Commodores. FC plays Bishop Canevin (10-0) and Burgettstown while Frazier takes on Carmichaels (1-8) and Bentworth (0-9). If the teams finished tied, Frazer is in, Fort Cherry out. Camichaels and Bentworth have been eliminated.
Class 1A–West Greene, Avella and Monessen have clinched playoff spots. California (5-5), Jeff-Morgan (3-6) and Mapletown (1-7) are still alive for the fourth spot in Section 2. The Trojans will take the final spot unless they lose both remaining games (Monessen, Jeff-Morgan). Even with that, if the Rockets don’t also beat Avella and Monessen, California would qualify. Mapletown’s road is long and complicated and anything shy of winning four straight plus lots of help above them will eliminate the Maples.
January 28, 2020 9:44 am
The Frontier League All Star game is coming back to Washington. The league announced Monday that the game will be played July 15 at Wild Things Park. The All Star week celebration will begin July 13. Commissioner Bill Lee says that “given the addition of new teams, it becomes imperative that the premier event of the league be first class. We selected Washington, PA and the Washington Wild Things because we know, from experience, they will create an extraordinary event.” It will the third time that Washington has hosted the event but will be the first following the league’s merger with the Can-Am League. The Frontier League now includes teams from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Ontario and Quebec.
January 28, 2020 2:48 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired infielder Liover Peguero and right-handed pitcher Brennan Malone from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for outfielder Starling Marte and cash considerations. The Pirates will also receive an additional capacity in its 2019-2020 International Signing Bonus Pool, allowing them to spend an additional $250,000 in this year’s International Signing Period. The announcement was made by Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington. “We’re excited about adding two young players of this caliber and the opportunity we’ll have to help them continue to grow.” said Cherington. “In addition, we now have a greater ability to acquire impact type talent in this year’s international free agent market. “We have a foundation of talent in Pittsburgh and in our system that we feel will be a key part of our success. We also know that we need more of it if we are going to realistically be able to compete deep into September and October,” added Cherington.
January 25, 2020 4:19 am
(AP)- The Saints are going to court to keep the public from seeing hundreds of emails. The messages allegedly show team executives doing public relations damage control for the area’s Roman Catholic archdiocese to help it contain the fallout from a burgeoning sexual abuse crisis. Attorneys for several men suing the church say 276 documents they obtained through discovery show the NFL team aided the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its “pattern and practice of concealing its crimes.” Saints attorneys say the archdiocese sought its advice on how to handle media attention that would come from the 2018 release of a list of more than 50 clergy members “credibly accused” of sexual abuse.
January 25, 2020 3:19 am
The opening round pairings are set for the week-long WPIAL Team Wrestling Championships. In Triple-A, Waynesburg is the top seed, followed by Seneca Valley, Canon-McMillan and Hempfield. The top 12 seeds are already slotted into opening-round action on Wednesday. Peters Township and Trinity both lost twice in the Section Team championships and will have preliminary round bouts Monday night. We’ll have both matches on WJPA-AM (1450).
WPIAL Wrestling Team Tournaments WPIAL AAA Bracket — WPIAL AA Bracket
WPIAL AAA Preliminary Round (winners advance to Wednesday’s First Round)
Monday, Jan. 27 (at Canon-McMillan)(WJPA-AM)
6:00 pm Peters Township vs. Pine-Richland. Winner to face #1 Waynesburg.
6:00 pm Chartiers Valley vs. Hampton. Winner to face #4 Hempfield.
7:15 pm Norwin vs. West Mifflin. Winner to face #3 Canon-McMillan
7:15 pm Trinity vs. Franklin Region. Winner to face #2 Seneca Valley.
In Double-A, Burrell, Burgettstown, McGuffey and Quaker Valley are the top seeds and host two rounds Wednesday night. Beth-Center is seeded eighth and heading to Burrell while Fort Cherry is seeded 13th and will face Quaker Valley.
January 24, 2020 2:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The NFL said that the number of concussions that players had suffered increased slightly in 2019 over the previous season. The league said that there 224 concussions, 10 more than in 2018. But those totals are way down from the 281 in 2017. The total includes concussions from practices and games in both the preseason and regular season. The league said that it did 485 concussion evaluations in preseason and regular-season games this season. The league said about one-third of concussion evaluations in the regular season have some element of self-report.
January 23, 2020 3:03 am
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – Lamar Stevens scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half, and Penn State was in control for most of the game in a 72-63 victory over Michigan. Curtis Jones scored 18 points and Myreon Jones added 16 for the Nittany Lions, who handed Michigan its third straight loss. Penn State led by nine at halftime and extended its advantage into double digits soon after that. Zavier Simpson led Michigan with 18 points, but the Wolverines made just three of their first 21 shots from the field in the second half.
January 22, 2020 3:12 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Brian Elliott made 19 saves, Jakub Voracek and James van Riemsdyk scored, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0. It was Elliott’s first shutout of the season and 39th of his career. The 34-year-old is filling in for injured Carter Hart. Justin Braun added an empty-netter for the Flyers, playing their eighth game in 15 days. They enter a nine-day break having won five of seven. Penguins had won two in a row and six of seven. It is the second time they have been shut out this season.
January 15, 2020 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – The fallout from the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing evidence has reached the Boston Red Sox. The Bosox have fired manager Alex Cora a day after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred implicated him in the sport’s sign-stealing scandal. Cora was the Astros’ bench coach when they won the 2017 World Series and led Boston to the title the following year in his first season as manager. Manfred’s nine-page report investigating sign-stealing by the Astros mentioned Cora 11 times, saying Cora was among those who “originated and executed” aspects of the cheating scheme. Manfred explained that the team used a center field camera to decode catchers’ signals to pitchers and banged on a trash can with a bat or massage gun near the dugout to let hitters know which pitch was coming.
January 15, 2020 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby collected a goal and three assists in his return from a two-month layoff and the Pittsburgh Penguins rolled past the Minnesota Wild 7-3. Crosby missed 28 games following abdominal surgery on Nov. 14 but looked as dangerous as ever while leading the surging Penguins to their fourth straight win. Crosby helped set up Evgeni Malkin’s goal less than 8 minutes in and picked up his first goal since Oct. 29 in the third period. Zach Parise and Marcus Foligno scored for the Wild, but Minnesota never really got back in it after spotting the Penguins a four-goal lead.
