Baseball, softball teams hope to hit the field in Monday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, March 25, 2018 | 10:03 PM

Sunny and 50 degrees is the forecast for Western Pennsylvania on Monday, allowing for district baseball and softball teams to hit the field…unless said fields are still snow covered.

Monday also marks the start of section play in district softball. Like the NFL begins the season with a Thursday game featuring the Super Bowl champions, the WPIAL will feature two-time defending champion West Greene.

The Pioneers open up Section 2-A play at home against Avella. The Eagles have managed only three wins over the last two years and lost both games to West Greene, 34-0, in 2017.

Baseball and more southern softball

There are 40 WPIAL nonsection softball games in the district on Monday, including seven games in South Carolina and Florida.

Still enjoying their visit to the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C., are four area teams. West Allegheny, South Fayette and Avonworth will each play a pair of games Monday while Uniontown concludes its trip south with a 5 p.m. game against Croton-Harmon out of New York.

Yough will conclude its southern trip to Orlando, Fla., with a game against James Madison Memorial from Wisconsin. It will mark the end of a four-game start to the season in the Disney Tournament from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

Back home in Western Pa., there are 30 nonsection district baseball games slated for Monday afternoon. Field conditions permitting of course.

Girls lacrosse openers

Section play opens up for many district teams in girls lacrosse on Monday. A year ago, two teams captured WPIAL gold for the first time as Pine-Richland won in Division I and Hampton won the Division II title.

Three teams that qualified for the D-I postseason a year ago and a former champ collide in two opening Section 3 matches. Seneca Valley reached the semifinals last year and will open the 2018 campaign by visiting Sewickley Academy. The Panthers lost in the first round a year ago.

In 2017, North Allegheny qualified for the playoffs only to fall to section rival Seneca Valley in the quarterfinals. The Tigers open up section play by hosting Shaler. While the Titans did not qualify of the 2017 playoffs, they did win three straight Division II championships from 2013 through 2015. The Shaler at North Allegheny match will air live at 7:30 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Don Rebel is a TribLIVE High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.