Alle-Kiski Valley lookahead for week of May 20, 2019

By: Doug Gulasy
Sunday, May 19, 2019 | 5:12 PM

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MONDAY

Baseball: Two Alle-Kiski Valley baseball teams that pulled WPIAL first-round upsets will play a quarterfinal doubleheader at Pullman Park in Butler. No. 11 St. Joseph, coming off a 10-1 win over No. 6 Monessen in the Class A first round, will play No. 3 Union at 2 p.m. The Spartans will be followed by Highlands, which as the No. 14 seed in the Class 4A bracket knocked off No. 3 Thomas Jefferson. The Golden Rams face No. 6 Beaver at 4:30 p.m.

The highest-seeded A-K Valley playoff qualifier opens its postseason as No. 1 Freeport faces Waynesburg in a Class 3A quarterfinal at 6 p.m. at Latrobe. The Yellowjackets lost their playoff opener in each of the past three seasons.

Burrell returns to the WPIAL quarterfinals for a third consecutive season and will face No. 2 Hopewell in a Class 3A quarterfinal at 7 p.m. at Boyce Mayview Park. The seventh-seeded Bucs are coming off a 10-2 first-round win over McGuffey.

Softball: Four Alle-Kiski Valley teams that received first-round byes will take the field Monday afternoon.

In Class A, No. 2 Leechburg will face Jeannette at 3 p.m. at Fox Chapel. The Blue Devils routed the Jayhawks twice during Section 3-A play.

In Class 3A, No. 3 Burrell faces Keystone Oaks at 3 p.m. at Hampton, hoping to advance past the quarterfinals after losing in that round last season.

In Class 4A, Knoch will see if its regular-season dominance extends to the postseason as the No. 3 Knights face Greensburg Salem at 3 p.m. at Hampton.

In Class 5A, Plum will look to extend its end-of-season hot streak to the playoffs as the No. 2 Mustangs face West Allegheny at 5 p.m. at Hampton.

Springdale’s return to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2000 went well, as the sixth-seeded Dynamos routed Quigley Catholic, 14-0, in a first-round game. They go into the Class A quarterfinals as an underdog, taking on No. 3 Union at 3 p.m. at Sewickley Academy.

Boys lacrosse: Freeport is in the WPIAL Class AA semifinals for the first time after thrilling wins over Chartiers Valley and Moon, and the Yellowjackets will attempt to pull off another upset as they take on top-seeded Mars at 6 p.m. at Fox Chapel.

WEDNESDAY

Baseball/softball: The semifinals will take place. Winners advance to the WPIAL championship games the following week: May 28 or 29 at Wild Things Park in Washington for baseball teams, and May 29 or 30 at Peterswood Park for softball teams. Semifinal losers still have a shot at the state playoffs via the consolation game, which will take place next week.

FRIDAY

Track and field: The PIAA championships begin at Shippensburg. Five Alle-Kiski Valley athletes/relays claimed WPIAL titles: Deer Lakes distance runner Josh Yourish and hurdler Kiera Cutright; Burrell hurdler Kaylen Sharrow and its sprint relay team; and Plum thrower Hunter Linhart.

Boys lacrosse: The WPIAL Class AA championship and consolation games will take place at Robert Morris — the consolation game at 4 p.m. and the championship game at 6. The top three teams in the classification will advance to the PIAA playoffs.

Boys tennis: The PIAA singles and doubles championships begin at Hershey Racquet Club. Fox Chapel’s Robby Shymansky, last season’s state Class AAA singles runner-up, will face Hershey’s Andreas Wingert in the first round. Valley’s Michael Odrey will take on Saucon Valley’s Tej Laliwala in the Class AA singles first round. Fox Chapel’s Jay Kashyap and Brandon Wei will compete in the Class AAA doubles first round against Cedar Crest’s Dylan Tull and Jack Muraika.

SATURDAY

Boys tennis: The PIAA singles and doubles semifinals and finals will take place.

Track and field: The PIAA championships will conclude at Shippensburg. All track finals will take place Saturday.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Doug at 412-388-5830, dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter .