Trib HSSN Top 20 Stories of 2020: Spring sports season shelved
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Saturday, January 2, 2021 | 9:31 PM
Adin Zorn participates in baseball practice at Sewickley Academy on Wednesday, March 11, 2020.
The most unique year in our lifetime is coming to an end. With so many mass starts and stops, highs and lows, just about all walks of life were affected by the coronavirus in 2020.
High school sports were no different. The first two and a half months of the year were carefree and business as usual. Then the final nine and a half months were greatly affected by the pandemic, whether scholastic contests were played or not.
Trib HSSN closed out the year with a daily countdown and a look back at the top 20 WPIAL stories from the year 2020.
No. 1 — Spring Never Sprung
First it was the NBA, then the NHL, then college and high school sports.
It was March 11, 2020 when the sports world started grinding to a halt because of the global spreading of the coronavirus known as covid-19.
It was on that Wednesday night that all but two of the scheduled PIAA second round basketball playoffs were played. One of the two games scheduled for that night that was postponed was the boys Class 6A contest between Mt. Lebanon and Cheltenham.
Before the game was re-scheduled, the PIAA announced the next day that both the PIAA boys and girls basketball playoffs and the state Class AA swimming championships were postponed for two weeks.
The following week with spring sports scheduled to begin, they were also put on hold as the spread of the virus continued to rise across the commonwealth.
Days turned to weeks as coaches and athletes did what they could to be ready just in case the green light to play was given.
The light remained red.
Finally on April 9, the worst fears became a reality as the PIAA announced the rest of the state basketball and swimming championships had been canceled, along with the entire spring sports season.
The sports affected were baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls track, boys volleyball and boys tennis.
This was the first time an entire high school sports season was canceled. The only other known cancellation was in 1918 because of the global outbreak of the Spanish Flu. The high school football season was stopped in October with the rest of the season and the championship game postponed by the WPIAL.
No. 7 — T.J. All the Way…Again
No. 10 – West A Senior Drafted
No. 12 – Emotional Championship
No. 14 – The Bucs Aren’t Stopping Here
No. 16 – An Overdue Golden Storm
No. 17 – Lots of Mercy for Central Valley Foes
No. 20 – Golden Knights of the Tennis Court
More Baseball
• What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 21, 2024: It’s a quick turnaround for baseball semifinalists• High school roundup for May 20, 2024: Mt. Lebanon’s David Shields, North Allegheny’s David Posey pitch teams into semifinals
• Westmoreland County WPIAL baseball playoff capsule for Tuesday, May 21, 2024
• Burrell wins pitchers’ duel with Neshannock in Class 3A quarterfinals
• Penn-Trafford squeezes past Fox Chapel in another tight game between section rivals
