Sports
Hometown Softball Recap – Blackhawk Cougars – 05/04/2017
May 8, 2017
It was a string of incredible highs and lows for the Blackhawk Cougars softball team this season. The high point was a five game winning streak including wins over Beaver and Ambridge. The lows, two losses each to Hopewell and New Castle that contributed mightily to the end of the Cougars season and today’s one sided home loss to the section champion Bridgers 16-5 in 6 innings. Blackhawk (7-7) trailed 2-0 after a half inning. The Cougars got a run back on Abby Riggio’s single in the bottom of the inning. Ambridge plated two more runs in the third and Blackhawk rallied again as Haley Holsinger singled home a run to cut the score to 4-2.
Coaches Corner – Harry Rutherford
May 7, 2017
In this feature titled “Coach’s Corner”, I will be interviewing a different coach every week and asking them questions about their personal life and about coaching. Hopefully their answers will not only shed some light on how they coach their respective teams, but also allow readers to get to know the men behind the fields/courts. This week features head softball coach Harry Rutherford of Elizabeth Forward high school. Coach Rutherford is in his 8th season as head coach of the Warriors, producing only one losing season. Coach Rutherford has led his squad to 5 straight postseason berths, and in 2012 they fell short of a WPIAL title, losing in the finals to Montour. Let’s take a look inside Coach Rutherford’s corner:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/07/2017
We say so long to the spring high school sports regular season and prepare for the postseason as well as say hello to another season of pro baseball this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We wind down the regular season with plenty of WPIAL baseball and WPIAL softball including coverage of several Hometown Softball broadcasts. We also have WPIAL boys and girls lacrosse, WPIAL boys volleyball and the start of another season of Washington Wild Things baseball, plus another edition of WPIAL Diamond Notes along with the WPIAL Softball and WPIAL Baseball Playoff Pairings Shows ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, May 8th:Scholastic Notebook – 05/06/2017
May 6, 2017
The Waynesburg Raiders have gone about one of the most impressive turnarounds in WPIAL baseball from last season to this season. Leading the Raiders’ resurgence is a senior and a freshman who live in the same house. Hunter Robinson is a senior at Waynesburg and his younger brother, Luke, a freshman. They have turned baseball diamonds into Robinson's Township this season. Hunter (5 feet 11, 185 pounds) has been super as a pitcher. He is 5-1 with a 0.39 ERA and has struck out 52 in 36 innings. Hunter has signed to play next season at California, Pa. Luke (6-0, 190) leads Waynesburg in hitting with a .526 average (20 of 38). He also has pitched nine innings in six games.Luke Ross Repeats in 2-A While Frosh Connor Bruce Win 3-A Tennis Titles
It wasn't easy, but both Connor Bruce of Peters Township and Luke Ross of Sewickley Academy are kings of the WPIAL Boys Singles tennis court. Both needed three sets to win gold Friday afternoon at The Club Sports and Health Center in Monroeville. It's more gold for the senior Ross, who repeats as WPIAL 2-A champ in winning his third singles championship of his career. He also helped Sewickley Academy win a 13th straight team title two weeks ago. Ross beat Luke Phillips of Carlynton 6-3, but then fell 6-1 in the second set. Ross won the third set to beat Phillips for the third time in a title match. the two squared off in both the WPIAL and PIAA boys singles tennis final a year ago with Ross winning both.Hometown Softball Recap – Peters Township Indians
May 4, 2017
The Peters Township Indians fell at home in a game they needed to win to continue to control their own destiny in their march to the WPIAL Softball Playoffs. The Baldwin Highlanders strung four hits together in the pivotal 5th inning and defeated the Indians 4-0 for the 8th consecutive time. Baldwin took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning. Cassie Carlson led off with a single and Salena Juquay beat out a sacrifice bunt to give the Highlanders first-and-second with no outs. Taylor Dadig then sacrificed Carlson to third base and Juquay to second base before Addie Tagg delivered the first run with an RBI groundout.Hometown Softball Recap – Latrobe Wildcats – 05/04/2017
Morgan Ryan continues to shine in the WPIAL Class 6-A Section 2 section as she notched her 13th win Thursday evening. Ryan threw a complete game shutout as she allowed just 3 hits, 1 walk with 10 strikeouts as the Spartans of Hempfield knocked off the rival Latrobe Wildcats 3-0. Sophomore Kiley Myers pitched 4 clean innings for Latrobe until allowing single runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th. Myers had 6 strikeouts. Autumn Heasley and Laura Fox homered for Hempfield to provide insurance in the late innings. Fox finished 3-for-4 with a homerun and 2 RBIs. Hempfield moves to 18-0 overall and 9-0 in section. Latrobe is now 8-6 overall with a conference record of 7-3. Both teams have qualified for the upcoming WPIAL Class 6-A playoffs.Hometown Softball Recap – North Hills Indians – 05/04/2017
At McIntyre Elementary School in the North Hills, the host Indians girls softball team took a tough loss to their rival the North Allegheny Tigers by a score of 4-2 Thursday afternoon. The Indians fall to 8-8 overall and 5-5 in the section. They have locked up a playoff berth and will finish 3rd in their section. In Thursday's game, the Indians scored first in the bottom of the first inning. After a walk and a single, Madison Posterivo hit an RBI single to make it 1-0. North Allegheny would score two runs each in the 4th and 5th innings to take a 4-1 lead. In those innings the Tigers would get 4 hits, a walk, and reach on an error.Hometown Softball Recap – Belle Vernon Leopards – 05/04/2017
In a rare outcome of top teams in a Class 4-A vs Class 6-A, the Belle Vernon Leopards emerged victorious in a classic pitchers' duel as Bailey Parshall bested Canon-Mac Abi Michelucci. The Leopards jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st Lexie Church reached on a fielding error. She moved to 2nd on a wild pitch, and then Parshall drove her home with a single. Parshall then scored after hits by the Sokol sisters, Makenzie and Alex, but on Alex's base hit, Makenzie was thrown out in a rundown for the 3rd out. Parshall was in cruise control as she retired the first 12 batters she faced. She struck out 9 of those batters in the first 4 innings.Hometown Softball Recap – West Mifflin Titans – 05/04/2017
Although the section slate has been a struggle for West Mifflin in 2017, the Titans triumphed convincingly on senior recognition day, blasting Carrick 17-2 in four innings at West Mifflin High School. In the victory, the Titans (2-9 Class 4A Section 2, 6-11) collected 16 hits, and scored runs in every inning. Carrick, winless on the season, struck first, as the Raiders scored twice in the top of the first, as Kelly Denk crushed a two-out triple that plated Ashlyn Wilkes. As Denk slide into third, the relay throw went astray, allowing her to score on the error.Hometown Softball Recap – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers – 05/03/2017
May 3, 2017
On a chilly and windy Tuesday afternoon, Chartiers-Houston hitters heated up as the Buccaneers defeated the Burgettstown Blue Devils 16-0 in three innings. Chartiers-Houston scored 5 runs in the first inning, 8 in the second and 3 in the third to mercy rule Burgettstown. Chartiers-Houston starting pitcher Kaitlyn Dittrich pitched two innings, had three strikeouts and allowed Burgettstown's only hit. Buccaneers Head Coach Tricia Alderson replaced Dittrich on the mound with Karlyn Bayer in the third inning. Bayer struckout the side and solidified two hits at the plate. Chartiers-Houston outfielder Kayla Alderson went 4-4 and tallied 4 runs batted in. Designated player and Buccaneer Junior Jessica Ford went 2-3 and hit the only homerun of the contest.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Softball – 05/02/2017
May 2, 2017
Each week during the 2017 regular season, MSA Sports will rank the top ten softball teams in the WPIAL in all six classifications every Tuesday at www.MSAsports.net Here are this weeks rankings. Log on every day for updated standings and game broadcasts on your exclusive home for the 2017 WPIAL Softball Playoffs, the MSA Sports Network. CLASS 6-A Top Ten: 1) HEMPFIELD SPARTANS (16-0) (Last Week #1) 2) BALDWIN HIGHLANDERS (9-2) (Last Week #2) 3) CANON-McMILLAN BIG MACS (8-2) (Last Week #3) 4) BETHEL PARK BLACK HAWKS (8-3) (Last Week #4)
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Portia McBride
Portia McBride has enjoyed a memorable softball career, from an unexpected hero on the Elizabeth Forward High School team, to a trio of stops in the college ranks. McBride is now winding down her career at California University of Pennsylvania, and has been stellar in the circle in 2017. She is this week's feature for the WPIAL Alum Q&A.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Baseball – 05/01/2017
May 1, 2017
Each week during the 2017 regular season, MSA Sports will rank the top ten baseball teams in the WPIAL in all six classifications every Monday at www.MSAsports.net Here are this weeks rankings...including a NEW #1 team in Class 2-A. Log on every day for updated standings and game broadcasts on your exclusive home for the 2017 WPIAL Baseball Playoffs, the MSA Sports Network. CLASS 6-A Top Ten: 1) PINE-RICHLAND RAMS (12-3) (Last Week #1) 2) CANON-McMILLAN BIG MACS (9-5) (Last Week #2) 3) NORWIN KNIGHTS (10-3) (Last Week #3) 4) NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (10-3) (Last Week #4)
WPIAL Coaches Corner – Bryan Cornell
April 30, 2017
In this feature titled “Coach’s Corner”, I will be interviewing a different coach every week and asking them questions about their personal life and about coaching. Hopefully their answers will not only shed some light on how they coach their respective teams, but also allow readers to get to know the men behind the fields/courts. This week features head baseball coach Bryan Cornell of West Allegheny high school. Coach Cornell is in his 15th season as head coach of the Indians, winning 3 WPIAL championships in 2007, 2008, and 2014. He also won a WPIAL championship as a player at West A in 1994. Coach Cornell is just as busy during the Fall, as he doubles as the defensive coordinator for the Indians football team. Let’s take a look inside Coach Cornell’s corner:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 04/30/2017
It's the final full week of the regular season in high school baseball and softball as well as the first full week of May this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have plenty of WPIAL baseball section contests along with WPIAL softball including coverage of several Hometown Softball broadcasts. We also have WPIAL boys and girls lacrosse, plus another edition of WPIAL Diamond Notes ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, May 1st: WPIAL High School Baseball - Baldwin vs Canon-McMillan at 4:15pm on WJPA-AM 1450 WPIAL High School Baseball - North Allegheny vs Butler at 7:00pm on the North Allegheny Sports Network at MSAsports.netScholastic Notebook – 04/28/2017
April 28, 2017
Dan Oliastro’s head coaching career at Riverside High School is close to turning 50. He is 73 years old. But one thing that never seems to get old with Oliastro and Riverside is winning. The coach and his Panthers just keep churning out the victories. Riverside won the WPIAL 2A championship last year. Oliastro has more championship trophies than any other baseball coach in the WPIAL, with four WPIALs and four PIAAs. This season, the Panthers might be in line for Title IX compliance. Riverside had an 11-1 record heading into Friday’s action. The Panthers are MSA Sports’ No. 1-ranked WPIAL Class 3A team.Hometown Softball Recap – South Side Rams – 04/28/2017
The South Side Rams softball team clinched the Class 2-A Section 4 title Thursday afternoon at home by defeating the Shenango Wildcats 9-3. Senior McKenna Smith, the winning pitcher, pitched a complete and delivered a three run double. Senior Hunter Hand contributed a two-run homer and a run scoring double for the Rams while Junior Regan Hozak had three hits and drove in two as South Side remained undefeated. For Shenango, Jacqui Baker stroked two home runs and drove in all three Wildcats runs. South Sided Beaver is now a perfect 11-0 overall and 10-0 in section play. Shenango falls to 8-4 overall and 5-4 in the section.Fox Chapel & Sewickley Academy Boys WPIAL Tennis Champs Again
One of the longest championship dynasty's in WPIAL history continued on Thursday as Sewickley Academy swept past Indiana 5-0 to win the WPIAL Class 2-A boys team tennis title. The championship is the 13th in a row for the Panthers and 21 of the last 24 2-A crowns since their first district championship in 1993. While it pales in comparison, Fox Chapel won their second straight Class 3-A title with a victory over top-seed Peters Township. Here are ALL of the final results from the 2017 WPIAL Boys Team Tennis Playoffs. 2017 WPIAL CLASS 3-A CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Fox Chapel Foxes 4 - Peters Township Indians 1 WPIAL CLASS 3-A Semifinals:Hometown Softball Recap – Blackhawk Cougars – 04/26/2017
April 26, 2017
The Blackhawk Cougars were rolling to a five game winning streak after a 3-1 win over Ambridge on Monday. But with most teams, there are as many lows as highs in a season and the Cougars suffered their second straight loss and more importantly a key tiebreaker with the 8-6 victory by the visiting New Castle Red Hurricanes on Wednesday. The Cougars rallied from a four run deficit in the seventh to knot the game at 6, but could not stop the Canes from plating two in the 8th. New Castle is now 3-6 overall and 3-4 in section.
