Sports
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.WPIAL Softball Recaps From Tuesday, May 24th
May 24, 2016
13 was the lucky number for games played on Monday in Round Two of the district softball postseason, while three games were not so fortunate and had to be bumped back 24 hours to Tuesday. For the three teams that won and advanced in those games, the wait was worth it, but the turnaround is quick as they have 24 hours to prep for the Final Four. Here are the three summaries from the WPIAL Quarterfinals Softball games played at Hampton Township Park on Tuesday. A special thanks to Jake Holmes, Josh Rowntree and Kyle Dawson for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Julie Kocjancic
Very few high school track and field or cross-country athletes earn the opportunity to continue their athletic career at the college level. Julie Kocjancic, a former standout at Mount Lebanon High School, now excels at both sports at Penn State University. The junior runner is the focus of this week's WPIAL Alum Q&A.WPIAL Softball Recaps From Monday, May 23rd
While a full slate of Second Round games were scheduled for Monday in the district softball postseason, heavy rains on Sunday forced six site changed. Then an unforecast pop up storm wiped away three games until Tuesday. But the action from the games that were played was tight as we get deeper into the 2016 WPIAL Softball Playoffs. Here are summaries from the diamond on Quarterfinals Monday. A special thanks to Don Rebel, Bob Orkwis, Mark Uriah, James Dotson, Bob Gregg, Sean Meyers, Greg Kuntz, Kyle Dawson and Jason Tennant for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals: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.2016 WPIAL Individual Boys Track & Field Results
May 19, 2016
The broken records have become a broken record. Another meet, another record for Jordan Geist. A junior at Knoch High School, Geist won two more gold medals at the WPIAL track and field championships Thursday and broke a record that had been around for 44 years. Geist won the Class AAA shot put with a throw of 72 feet, 7 inches. Although it was a little short of the best mark in Geist’s career, he broke the championship meet record set in 1972 by Baldwin’s Ron Semkiw. Geist is the top shot putter in the country this year and one of the best of all time.2016 WPIAL Individual Girls Track & Field Results
It was Summer time in May. Sewickley Academy senior Summer Thorpe won both hurdles events at the WPIAL track and field championships Thursday at Baldwin High School. Thorpe is a Notre Dame recruit who won the 100 hurdles in 14.58 seconds and the 300 in 43.86. Her 300 time set a new Class AA championship record. Thorpe had never won a WPIAL title before this year. Thorpe was one of five girls who won two WPIAL titles in individual events, but another big story in the meet was the Robinson sisters. Hunter and Hayden Robinson attend Avonworth but compete under the name of Avonworth/Northgate because of a cooperative sponsorship.WPIAL Baseball Recaps From Thursday, May 19th
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 Softball Recaps From Wednesday, May 18th
On Monday, the district softball postseason opened with opening round action in Quad-A and Single-A. On a chilly, gray day in Western Pa, it was time for all of the Class AAA and Class AA playoff participants to hit the diamond. Well, almost all of them. Four games were pushed back to Thursday, leaving six Triple-A and five Double-A games to thin the field and set up Round Two next week. A special thanks to Sean Meyers, Mike Azadian, Jason Tennant, Paul Paterra, Mark Schaas, Lou Rood, Jake Holmes, Bob Gregg and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round: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:WPIAL Baseball Recaps From Monday, May 16th
May 16, 2016
In the final year of the four classification playoff format, the two biggest classes were the first to take the stage as the curtain went up in the 2016 district baseball postseason. While Class AAA went as expected with all the higher seeds winning with the exception of defending champion Knoch as a #10-seed, two double-digit seeds, #12 Franklin Regional and #14 Norwin pulled off surprised and are now Quarterfinals bound. Here are the recaps from the Quad-A and Triple-A opening day contests in the WPIAL Baseball Playoffs. A special thanks to Steve Nagler, Lee Mohn, Mike Azadian, James Dotson, Josh Rowntree, Don Rebel, Mark Schaas, Jake Holmes and Dan Wallace for their help on these recaps, WPIAL CLASS AAAA Preliminary Round:WPIAL Softball Recaps From Monday, May 16th
Opening day of the 2016 WPIAL Softball Playoffs featured opening round games in both Class AAAA and Class A with a Class AA Preliminary Round contest thrown in for good measure. Here are recaps of the five Quad-A, one Double-A and seven Single-A games that lifted the lid on this seasons postseason softball play. A special thanks to Dennis Fischer, Jason Tennant, Sean Meyers, Bob Gregg, Sam McCollum, Greg Kuntz, Lou Rood, Randy Gore and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/16/2016
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:MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Lacrosse Playoff Teams
Each week during the 2016 regular season, MSA Sports ranked the top ten boys and girls lacrosse teams in the WPIAL in both divisions at www.MSAsports.net On the brink of the district playoffs, this week we rank all of the boys and girls playoff teams here on your exclusive home for the 2016 WPIAL Boys and Girls Lacrosse Playoffs, the MSA Sports Network. BOYS DIVISION I: 1. Mount Lebanon Blue Devils (12-6) (Last Week #2) 2. Shady Side Academy Indians (8-6) (Last Week #1) 3. Pine-Richland Rams (13-4) (Last Week #4) 4. North Allegheny Tigers (10-8) (Last Week #3)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}FINAL 2016 WPIAL Softball Standings
Here are the FINAL WPIAL softball standings for the 2016 season...including all the FINAL WPIAL softball playoff clinchings. The standings will be updated daily through the regular season. You can follow the high school softball season with schedules, scores, weekly rankings every Tuesday and game broadcasts, including another year of the MSA Sports Hometown Softball Program here on the MSA Sports Network. The 2016 WPIAL Softball Playoffs ONLY on the MSA Sports Network will be sponsored by Carlow University. Teams in capital letters are part of the MSA Sports Hometown Softball Program.FINAL 2016 WPIAL Boys Volleyball Standings
Here are the FINAL standings for the 2016 WPIAL Boys Volleyball season...including the FINAL WPIAL playoff clinchings. You can follow the WPIAL Boys Volleyball regular season with updated results and standings along with weekly rankings every Wednesday, plus regular season and postseason broadcasts only here on the MSA Sports Network. Top four teams in each section make the playoffs. If there is a tie for fourth place, head-to-head will be the tiebreaker. If there is a split in the head-to-head, both tied teams make the playoffs. # - Clinched Section Title * - Clinched Playoff Berth x - Eliminated From Playoff Race Only section records are shown. {SET WITH 12 TRIPLE-A PLAYOFF TEAMS}Fox Chapel & Sewickley Academy Win 2016 WPIAL Boys Team Tennis Titles
Thirteen proved to be lucky for Sewickley Academy...or maybe it's just another notch in their dynasty belt. The Panthers cruised to a 13th straight WPIAL Class AA Boys Team Tennis championship with a sweep of Indiana. The 21st boys tennis crown overall ties the Panthers with the Norwin girls volleyball team from 1974 to 1985 for the second longest consecutive district title run only behind the Bethel Park boys swim team that won 20 straight from 1981 through 2000. In Class AAA, while Sewickley Academy is used to boys tennis gold, Fox Chapel is celebrating its first ever boys team tennis championship. The Foxes edged the North Allegheny Tigers to claim the schools first boys tennis title.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.WPIAL Girls Lacrosse Playoff Preview
The brackets have been announced for the 2016 WPIAL Girls Lacrosse Playoffs which are set to begin on Wednesday and Thursday and conclude with the championships at Highmark Stadium at Station Square in Pittsburgh on Thursday, May 26th. Here is a rundown of all eight Division-I and eight Division-II postseason qualifiers. Division 1 #1 Pine-Richland Rams (17-1) (11-1) – 1st Place Division 1 – Section 2 Head Coach: Brittany Pikur (1st Year) Key Players: Soph. MF Marina Miller (Penn State), Sr. MF Maura Flaherty, Jr. MF Caitlyn Byerly, Soph. D Megan Lieberman (Liberty), Sr. MF Maddie Kurlandski
