Softball
Scholastic Notebook – 06/01/2012
June 1, 2012
After Blackhawk’s Brendan McKay pitched a shutout in the WPIAL Class AAA championship Thursday, Blackhawk coach Bob Amalia said there is no stage too big for McKay. But as sophomores go, McKay has the entire stage to himself. The way McKay has pitched this season brings about a question. Has there ever been a sophomore pitcher in the WPIAL who has enjoyed this much success in one of the largest classifications? McKay, a sophomore left-hander, has been tremendous for a pitcher in any year, let alone one in his sophomore season. His statistics go beyond impressive.Canon-Mac, Montour, Deer Lakes & Char-Houston Are Golden in WPIAL Softball
There was plenty of excitement in this softball postseason all the way down to the wire with half of the championships games being decided on a walk off hit in extra innings. One team successfully repeated as champion while another won their second title in three years. The other two that sit atop the district softball hill are celebrating first time ever WPIAL golden crowns. Here are ALL of the final scores from the 2012 WPIAL Softball Playoffs.All archived broadcasts (MSA after the score) from the softball postseason are exclusively here on the MSA Sports Network is sponsored in part by Carlow University.Big Macs Tasty in Winning First WPIAL AAAA Softball Championship
Canon McMillan won their first-ever WPIAL softball championship with a 4-1 victory over Hempfield Thursday night at Lilley Field at California University. Big Macs' pitcher Alayna Astuto gave up only 3 hits in 7 innings, walking two and striking out one. Hempfield starter Karilyn Null retired the first 9 Canon McMillan batters, and the game was scoreless until Abby McCartney doubled home Maddie Engel in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Big Macs a 1-0 lead. Olivia Lorusso followed with a three-run homer to left field to make it 4-0, which was all Astuto and Canon McMillan would need. Pinch hitter Sarah DiOrio drove home Michaela LaDonne with an RBI ground out in the top of the 7th for Hempfield's only run.Montour Blanks EF For 2nd WPIAL AAA Softball Crown in 3 Years
At the University of California of PA in the WPIAL girls AAA Softball Championships, the Montour Spartans defeat the Elizabeth Forward Warriors by a score of 7-0 to claim their second title in the last three years.They put on a hitting display and kept the foot on the gas making sure the Warriors could not come back late in the game.The scoring started for the Spartans in the 3rd inning as the number nine hitter, Junior Alyssa McMurtrie led off with a line drive home run to CF to make it 1-0. One out later Megan Vacco started a string of three straight singles, the other two by Kaitlyn Kutchman, and Alllison Hryadil and they led 2-0.The score grew to 4-0 Spartans in the 5th as Tori Roman and Stephanie Seibert singled then Olivia Dixon reached on an error.
Deer Lakes Comes Back Late to Claim First WPIAL AA Softball Championship
May 31, 2012
In unlikely fashion, the Deer Lakers Lancers rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and a run in the eighth to claim their first ever Class AA Softball championship with a 3-2 eight inning win over the Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions.Becca Babincak bunted to lead off the inning and stole second, after one out, Candace Scanga hit a grounder to first that Alie Perz could not handle, putting runners at first and third. Greensburg Central Catholic brought the outfield in with Siera Sarver at the plate, she drove a deep fly ball to right center over the head of the outfielders to score the game winning run.Chartiers-Houston Rallies in 9th for Dramatic WPIAL Class A Softball Title
In another classic in the Class A softball championship game at California University's Lilley Field, the Chartiers-Houston rallied in the bottom of the ninth to claim back to back titles with a walk-off win. With two outs and trailing 2 to 1, Piper McLaughlin tripled past centerfielder Megan Bayles to bring home both the tying and winning runs to give the Buccaneers their ninth WPIAL championship.WPIAL Baseball and Softball Consolation Recaps
May 30, 2012
In the midst of all of the WPIAL baseball and softball championship games are five contests on Wednesday with the postseason future of ten district teams up for grabs. Three softball consolation games at California University of Pennsylvania and a pair of baseball consolation games at the Washington & Jefferson Sports Complex were broadcast on The Network with the five winners earning a berth in the PIAA state playoffs that begin next week. Here are the recaps from those games.Special thanks to Brandon Showers, Bob Gregg, Greg Kuntz, Mike Azadian and Josh Rowntree for their help on these recaps!This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/29/2012
May 29, 2012
Plenty of Diamond Gold will be up for grabs post holiday this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have EXCLUSIVE coverage of all eight 2012 WPIAL Baseball and Softball Championship Games and all five WPIAL baseball and softball consolation games along with a pair of District 6 Softball Championship Games, plus news from the world of auto racing with Rappin on Racin, pro baseball featuring the Class AA Eastern League's Altoona Curve and the Frontier League's Washington Wild Things and women's pro football featuring the Pittsburgh Passion ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, May 28th:HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY FROM ALL OF US HERE AT THE MSA SPORTS NETWORK!WPIAL Softball Playoff Recaps for Wednesday, May 23rd (and Thursday, May 24th)
May 23, 2012
The Final Four nail-biting continued Thursday afternoon at Fairhaven Park in the final Round Three game in the WPIAL Softball Playoffs. On Wednesday, two extra inning contests, a couple of walk-off hits and tying and wining runs left on the bases or at the plate highlighted a busy and exciting day. More of the same happened Thursday with yet another walk off hit leading to the demise of the top team in Quad A. Here are recaps from all eight Semifinals games as Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, Elizabeth Forward, Montour, Greensburg Central Catholic, Deer Lakes, Chartiers-Houston and Carmichaels all had their ticket punched to Championships TWPIAL Softball Playoff Recaps for Monday, May 21st
May 22, 2012
Five Quarterfinals games were played on Friday, so the other eleven second round games in Class AAA, Class AA and Class A had to wait until Monday afternoon to determine which teams would qualify for the Final Four in their respective classifications. Here are the recaps from all eleven of those WPIAL Softball Playoff games as heard here on the MSA Sports Network.A special thanks to Mark Schaas, Josh Rowntree, Bob Orkwis, Steve Nagler, Bobby Fox and Jason Tennant for their help on these recaps.WPIAL SOFTBALL CLASS AAA QUARTERFINALS:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/20/2012
May 20, 2012
It's a golden time for some of the spring high school sports as we countdown to a holiday weekend this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have EXCLUSIVE coverage of the 2012 WPIAL baseball and WPIAL softball Quarterfinals and Semifinals along with District 6 high school baseball playoff action and the championship matches for WPIAL boys volleyball, WPIAL boys lacrosse and WPIAL girls lacrosse, plus news from the auto racing world with Rappin on Racin and pro baseball featuring the Class AA Eastern League's Altoona Curve and the Frontier League's Washington Wild Things ALL here at MSAsports.netWPIAL Softball Playoff Recaps for Thursday, May 17th
May 17, 2012
Thursday was a unique passing of the guard in the WPIAL softball playoffs as the First Round came to an end with one Class A game while the Second Round began with four AAAA and one AA Quarterfinals contest. All six games can be heard archived on MSA Sports, with the recaps from Shaler, Hempfield, Peters Township, Canon-McMillan, Neshannock and Chartiers-Houston wins can be read right here.A special thanks to Mark Schaas, Mike Azadian, Lee Mohn and Bob Gregg for their help on these recaps.WPIAL CLASS AAAA QUARTERFINALS:WPIAL Softball Playoff Recaps for Tuesday, May 15th
May 16, 2012
There were a total of 19 Preliminary round and First Round WPIAL softball playoff games played Tuesday after Monday was washed away by Mother Nature. Six of those games were heard here on the network as we began our exclusive coverage of the postseason leading all the way to the four finals at California University of Pennsylvania. A special thanks to Jason Tennant, Lee Mohn and Mike Azadian for their help on these recaps.WPIAL CLASS AAAA FIRST ROUND:MOTHER NATURE KO’s DAY ONE OF WPIAL BASEBALL & SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
May 14, 2012
Steady rain on Sunday and more rain in the forecast for Monday throughout Western Pennsylvania forced the WPIAL to postpone opening day in both the WPIAL baseball and softball playoffs.ALL 21 of the First Round baseball games scheduled for Monday have been pushed back 24 hours to Tuesday with one doubleheader site change. In softball, there were 9 Preliminary Round or First Round games postponed on Monday. Seven of those games are now scheduled for Tuesday while two contests have been pushed back to Wednesday.Check below WPIAL baseball and softball playoff articles below for all of the latest changes.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/13/2012
May 13, 2012
Spring playoff fever (along with a little precipitation) is in the air as we wind down the high school sports year this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have EXCLUSIVE coverage of the 2012 WPIAL baseball and WPIAL softball playoffs along with District 6 regular season and playoff baseball and the start of the WPIAL boys volleyball, plus news from the auto racing world with Rappin on Racin and pro baseball featuring the Class AA Altoona Curve and the 2012 debut of Washington Wild Things baseball ALL here at MSAsports.netMonday, May 14th:TALK SHOW - Rappin on Racin at 6:00pm on MSAsports.netScholastic Notebook – 05/11/2012
May 11, 2012
The way the WPIAL baseball playoffs are set up, a team that makes it to a championship game could use its No. 1 pitcher in three of four contests. That is extremely good news for Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson pitcher Greg Schneider hasn’t just been unbeatable this season. It has been almost impossible to score on him. Schneider had one of the most dominating regular seasons of any pitcher in recent WPIAL history. Schneider, a Thomas Jefferson senior and a Pitt recruit, led Thomas Jefferson to the Class AAA Section 3 title. His statistics were remarkable.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Softball Playoff Rankings 2012
May 9, 2012
Each Tuesday during the regular season, MSA Sports ranked the top ten WPIAL softball teams in each of the four classifications. Now on the brink of the 2012 Softball Playoffs, we rank ALL of the 62 teams that will battle for the four golden trophies in the finals, which are once again set for California University of Pennsylvania on Thursday, May 31st ONLY here on MSA Sports. The Network's exclusive coverage of the district postseason, which begins with the Playoff Pairings Show on Thursday night at 6:00pm, is sponsored once again this year by Carlow University.Records through Tuesday, May 8th in parenthesis.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/07/2012
May 7, 2012
The regular season winds down in high school baseball and scholastic softball this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We feature plenty of WPIAL and District 6 baseball and softball including the WPIAL Baseball and Softball Playoff Pairings Shows along with WPIAL boys volleyball, boys and girls lacrosse, plus more women's pro football with the Pittsburgh Passion and news from the auto racing world with Rappin on Racin and pro baseball featuring the Class AA Altoona Curve ALL here at MSAsports.netMonday, May 7th:TALK SHOW - Rappin on Racin at 6:00pm on MSAsports.netHometown Softball Program Game Recap – South Side – 05/04/2012
May 4, 2012
It was a beautiful day for softball in Hookstown PA. Home of the South Side Rams. In a Hometown Sports broadcast the Rams clinched a share of the section title with a 9-0 win over their rival the Western Beaver Golden Beavers. South Side finishes the regular season with an overall record of 16-3. In single A section 5 they finished with an 11-1 record and a share of the title with Shenango. They split the season series and have identical 11-1 records.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Softball – 05/02/2012
May 2, 2012
FOR THE FINAL TIME during this regular season, MSA Sports will rank the top ten softball teams in the WPIAL in all four classifications every Tuesday at www.MSAsports.net, including a NEW #1 t
