Baseball
WPIAL Baseball Recaps From Tuesday, May 24th
May 25, 2016
You've read it here before and will read it again. The unkindest loss of the all is the district Semifinals loss. So close and yet so far. Sure, losing in the championship game is rough, but realizing that goal and being part of the pageantry is a lifetime memory. And yes, losing at this stage doesn't mean season over as you get to play for a berth in the upcoming state playoffs where dreams can be still be realized from the third-seed out of the WPIAL. But don't sell that to the eight teams on the wrong end of the score today. They ain't buying it...at least until their next practice. Here are recaps from all eight WPIAL Semifinals games played in great weather conditions on Tuesday.Scholastic Notebook – 05/22/2016
May 22, 2016
Plum’s Alex Kirilloff has a good chance to be selected in the first round of the June 9 Major League Baseball draft. Teams love his bat and also like the way he plays the outfield. At Plum, they also love the way he pitches. Kirilloff has a bright future as an outfielder, but at the present, he is one dominating pitcher. He is certainly one of the best hurlers in the WPIAL. When Plum defeated Peters Township, 2-0, in the WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals Thursday, Kirilloff led the way with his hitting – and pitching. He had a double and triple at the plate. But he also pitched six innings , struck out 11 and gave up only one hit.WPIAL Baseball Recaps From Thursday, May 19th
May 19, 2016
Some soggy fields on a chilly, dreary Wednesday gave way to a sunny Thursday as the WPIAL pushed back eleven games to make for a busy day with all sixteen Second Round contests taking place around Southwestern Pennsylvania. When all was said and done, the Final Four field was set for the final four classification district postseason with the expansion to six classes taking place next spring. Here are all the recap from Quarterfinals Thursday. A special thanks to Don Rebel, Kyle Dawson, Bob Orkwis, Sean Meyers, Brandon Showers, James Dotson, Josh Rowntree, Bob Gregg, Jake Holmes, Brian Mroziak, Greg Kuntz, Mark Schaas and Chris Lackner for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:WPIAL Baseball Recaps From Tuesday, May 17th
May 18, 2016
Day Two of the WPIAL baseball Playoffs saw the conclusion of the First Round with a pair of Quad-A, eight Double-A and seven Single-A contests. The underdogs enjoyed the day as six lower seeds pulled off victories to advance, including a pair of #14-seeds. Here are recaps from the 17 high school baseball playoff games that put a wrap on Round One. A special thanks to Don Rebel, Steve Nagler, Jason Tennant, Jake Holmes, Kyle Dawson, Chris Lackner, James Dotson, Sean Meyers, Mark Schaas, Bob Gregg, Ed Troup, Greg Kuntz for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/16/2016
May 16, 2016
Let the postseason begin! While other are wrapping up their gear for the summer, The Network prepares for exclusive coverage of the district baseball, softball, lacrosse and volleyball playoffs this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have First Round and Quarterfinals action in WPIAL Baseball, First Round play in WPIAL Softball and Quarterfinals matches in WPIAL boys and girls lacrosse along with the first full week of the Washington Wild Things 2016 campaign, plus Rappin' on Racin' and another edition of WPIAL Diamond Notes on a special night ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, May 16th:FINAL 2016 WPIAL Baseball Standings
May 14, 2016
Here are the FINAL WPIAL baseball standings for the 2016 season...including the FINAL WPIAL playoff clinchings. The standings will be updated daily through the regular season. You can follow the high school baseball season with schedules, scores, weekly rankings every Monday and near daily game broadcasts here on the MSA Sports Network. The 2016 WPIAL Baseball Playoffs can be heard ONLY on the MSA Sports Network. The top three teams in each section qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. # - Clinched Section Title * - Clinched Playoff Berth x - Eliminated From Playoff Contention {SET WITH 17 QUAD-A PLAYOFF TEAMS}Scholastic Notebook – 05/13/2016
May 13, 2016
Plum High School’s nickname is Mustangs. But when it comes to athletes, Plum has a thoroughbred in Ashley Amato. The MSA Sports staff doesn’t name a female athlete of the year until late June. But you would think Amato will get serious consideration. There are three-season rooms in houses, but Plum houses a three-sport standout in Amato. And in the spring, she shines brightest. So far this track and field season, Amato has the best 200-meter time in WPIAL Class AAA at 25.3 seconds. She has the third-best 100 hurdles time of 14.69 and is tied for the third-best 100 time at 12.2. She is has the third-best AAA long jump at 18-2 ¾. At the Baldwin Invitational last Friday, Amato won the long jump, was second in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the 200.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Baseball Playoff Teams – 05/11/2016
May 11, 2016
Each week during the 2016 regular season, MSA Sports ranked the top ten baseball teams in the WPIAL in all four classifications. Now that the district postseason field is set, we rank ALL of the 60 playoff bound teams. HOWEVER, it is not a true ranking from #1 to whatever. Like the steering committee does, we seed the teams to avoid the teams from the same section playing each other in the First Round. You fill in the top four, then the next four, then you start plugging teams in. Not an exact science, but it makes the guess work fun. Don't forget to listen to the 2016 WPIAL Baseball Pairing Show Friday night at 8:00pm on your home for EXCLUSIVE coverage of the 2016 WPIAL Baseball Playoffs, the MSA Sports Network at MSAsports.netThis Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/09/2016
May 9, 2016
The final contests of the high school baseball, softball and lacrosse regular season will give way to postseason talk this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have WPIAL and District 6 high school baseball and softball regular season finales as well as WPIAL girls lacrosse and college baseball postseason play featuring the LaRoche Red Hawks, plus Rappin' on Racin', another edition of WPIAL Diamond Notes and the WPIAL Softball Pairings Show and the WPIAL Baseball Pairings Show ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, May 9th: TALK SHOW - Rappin' on Racin' at 6:00pm on MSAsports.netScholastic Notebook – 05/06/2016
May 6, 2016
It was against lowly competition, and each game lasted only five innings. But still, the recent pitching performances of Zach Bowen were ones for the national record book. Bowen is a sophomore at Serra Catholic who pitched back-to-back perfect games. Both games were blowouts and lasted only five innings because of the 10-run rule. Bowen’s first perfect game came April 27 against Clairton in a 17-0 win. Then this past Monday, Bowen pitched another perfect game in another 17-0 win, this time against Geibel Catholic. According to the National Federation of High School Associations record book, only two other pitchers are known to have thrown consecutive perfect games. Mike Bradley of Fort Bragg, Cal., did it in 1991 and Anthony Velasquez of Bayside, N.Y., in 2006.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Baseball – 05/02/2016
May 2, 2016
Each week during the 2016 regular season, MSA Sports will rank the top ten baseball teams in the WPIAL in all four classifications every Monday at www.MSAsports.net Here are this weeks rankings...including a NEW #1 team in Class AA. Log on every day for updated standings and game broadcasts on your exclusive home for the 2016 WPIAL Baseball Playoffs, the MSA Sports Network at MSAsports.net WPIAL CLASS AAAA TOP TEN: 1. PLUM MUSTANGS (14-0) (Last Week #1) 2. SHALER TITANS (11-4) (Last Week #5) 3. PINE-RICHLAND RAMS (12-4) (Last Week #2)This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/02/2016
Section play in the 2016 WPIAL baseball and softball seasons comes to an end, weather permitting, for most teams this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have 'Stretch Run' action from both WPIAL and District 6 high school baseball and softball as well as WPIAL girls lacrosse and WPIAL boys volleyball, plus Rappin' on Racin' and another edition of WPIAL Diamond Notes ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, May 2nd: TALK SHOW - Rappin' on Racin' at 6:00pm on MSAsports.net WPIAL High School Baseball - Plum vs Franklin Regional at 4:00pm on MSAsports.netScholastic Notebook – 04/29/2016
April 29, 2016
It’s unlikely that the Pittsburgh Central Catholic baseball team will make the WPIAL playoffs this season. That’s highly unusual. Central Catholic’s string of six consecutive playoff appearances would be broken. But that’s not what makes the Vikings’ situation unusual. What makes Central Catholic’s case so unusual is that Central Catholic is the defending WPIAL Class AAAA champion. Since 2000, the WPIAL champion in the largest classification has missed the playoffs the following year only twice. Mt. Lebanon won in 2006 and missed the playoffs in 2007. Hopewell won in 2000 and missed the playoffs in 2001.
