Sports
This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 06/15/2016
July 15, 2016
It is the quietest seven days in the entire calendar year as the Frontier League hits its all-star break this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We are the only place to turn for audio and video coverage of the Washington Wild Things, as they return to action after the break at CONSOL Energy Field in Washington to host the Southern Illinois Miners, plus another edition of Rappin' on Racin' ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, July 11th: TALK SHOW - Rappin' on Racin' at 6:00pm on MSAsports.net Tuesday, July 12th: No Broadcasts
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – Sewickley Kings of Single-A Again
July 12, 2016
Sewickley Academy is once again on top of the Class A standings in the chase for the MSA Sports Cup after leapfrogging defending champ Greensburg Central Catholic. In fact, the Panthers and Centurions have been tagging in for titles the last five years with GCC winning in 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 and SA claiming the Cup in 201--2011, 2013-2014 and now in 2015-2016. The championship for Sewickley Academy is the schools 9th in 13 years of the competition and was aided greatly by district and state championships in boys golf and boys tennis along with WPIAL crowns in boys cross-country and boys soccer.
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – A New Champ Wins Double-A
July 9, 2016
For only the fifth time in the thirteen years of the MSA Sports Cup Class AA chase, the torch has been passed to a new champion. Greensburg Central Catholic won the first three years, followed by a five year run by Shady Side Academy and three of the last four years the AA Cup has gone to Quaker Valley with a one year run at the top by Seton-LaSalle two years ago. Now the AA crown is coming to Beaver County thanks to Beaver High School. After a couple of close calls in recent years, the Bobcats were lifted to the top spot in part because of district championships won in each season...girls tennis in the fall, ice hockey in the winter and a second straight WPIAL title in girls track & field in the spring.
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – SF Three-peats in Triple-A
July 7, 2016
In the first ten years of the MSA Sports Cup, while there were a couple of dominating schools in the other three classifications, the chase for the Class AAA Cup had been up for grabs with eight different schools earning The Cup. However in the last three years of the season long competition, Triple-A has become the pride of the Lions. After finishing as the runner-up in 2012-2013, South Fayette has staked its claim on top in Class AAA as the Lions are the first school in this classification to win a third consecutive MSA Sports Cup.
MSA SPORTS CUP RESULTS – NA Remains Perfect in Quad-A
July 6, 2016
Another school year is in the books and another MSA Sports Cup in Class AAAA is headed to North Allegheny High School. NA captured the schools 13th Cup in 13 years since the MSA Sports Network started this school year long competition to determine the top sports programs in each classification. There are 20 sports in which schools can earn points in the competition and the Tigers earned points in 18 of them. While it was not the highest point total or largest margin of victory, North Allegheny still cruised to their final Quad-A Sports Cup as they will move up to 6-A starting this fall. The second place school finished 430 points behind NA.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 07/05/2016
July 5, 2016
As we come off the celebration of the United States of America's 240th birthday, we turn our attention to pro baseball this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We are the only place to turn for audio and video coverage of the Washington Wild Things, as this week they hit the road at Joliet against the Slammers during the week before returning home to CONSOL Energy Field in Washington to host the Schaumburg Boomers in Frontier League action this weekend, plus a star-spangled edition of Rappin' on Racin' ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, July 4th: HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!
2015-2016 MSA SPORTS MALE ATHLETE of the YEAR
June 30, 2016
There is a reason why Erick Taylor has that “K” at the end of his name. His father had a best friend who was shot and killed many years ago, and the friend spelled his first name “Erick.” So Garth Taylor decided to give his son the same name in memory of his friend. Almost two decades later, the name Erick Taylor meant something special around WPIAL sports. It defined supreme athlete. Taylor has been named the MSA Sports Athlete of the Year for boys sports in the WPIAL in the 2015-16 school year. The award is selected by the MSA Sports staff.
2015-2016 MSA SPORTS FEMALE ATHLETE of the YEAR
Amanda Kalin is so talented that she could be a Division I college player in two different sports. On the high school level, Kalin is so talented that she is in a division all by herself – best athlete in the WPIAL. Kalin, who recently completed her junior year at Pine-Richland High School, has been selected the MSA Sports Athlete of the Year for the 2015-16 WPIAL school year. The 5-foot-8 Kalin had a superb junior year in both basketball and soccer. Her outstanding individual talent helped her teams thrive. Her extraordinary athletic ability is evidenced by how her college recruiting went in the past two years.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 06/27/2016
June 27, 2016
As the month of June melts into the month of July, we turn our attention to pro baseball this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We are the only place to turn for audio and video coverage of the Washington Wild Things, as this week they return home to CONSOL Energy Field in Washington to host the Gateway Grizzlies and the Florence Freedom in Frontier League action, plus the final high school football all-star game of the summer and a star-spangled edition of Rappin' on Racin' ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, June 27th: TALK SHOW - Rappin' on Racin' at 6:00pm on MSAsports.net
2016 MSA SPORTS DIAMOND STUDS
June 24, 2016
A first-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft, one of the winningest pitchers in WPIAL history, another pitcher who rarely gave up a run and a hitter who had one of the highest batting averages in WPIAL history. Those are a few of the players who highlight the MSA Sports Diamond Studs all-star team. The Diamond Studs are the top 10 players in the WPIAL, regardless of position. They are picked by the MSA Sports staff.
2016 MSA SPORTS DIAMOND DOLLS
Pitchers can dominate the sport of softball. But this year’s Diamond Dolls all-star team is led by pitchers who also were big factors as hitters. The Diamond Dolls is made up of the top 10 players in the WPIAL, regardless of position, and is picked by the MSA Sports staff. Pitchers like Hempfield’s Morgan Ryan, Shaler’s Bri Dobson and West Greene’s Madison also had huge impacts as hitters and led their teams to highly successful seasons. All four WPIAL champions have a player on the Diamond Dolls team. Youth also is served on this team as it includes four sophomores. Here is a look at the Diamond Dolls team. PLAYER OF THE YEAR MORGAN RYAN, HEMPFIELD Pitcher - SeniorThis Week on the MSA Sports Network – 06/24/2016
With another fantastic high school sports school year in the rear view mirror, we turn our attention to pro baseball this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We are the only place to turn for audio and video coverage of the Washington Wild Things, as this week they hit the road to Traverse City and Schaumburg for Frontier League action, plus its another edition of Rappin' on Racin' ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, June 20th: TALK SHOW - Rappin' on Racin' at 6:00pm on MSAsports.net Tuesday, June 21st:
Hempfield’s Golden Season Continues With PIAA Softball Title
June 17, 2016
Alexa Pastor’s bases loaded sacrifice fly scored Jordan Sterling with the game’ s only run in the bottom of the 8th inning as Hempfield defeated Avon Grove 1-0 to capture the 2016 PIAA AAAA Softball Championship at Beard Field on the campus of Penn State University.
Vincentian Victory Gives Royals First PIAA Baseball Crown
On May 17th, Vincentian Academy defeated Bentworth after three errors in the seventh inning continued play into the ninth before a bases loaded walk scored the winning run, advancing the Royals to the second round of the WPIAL playoffs. Exactly one month later, that same Vincentian team, that barely survived their first playoff game, are PIAA Class A state baseball champions after a 5-2 victory over District 5’s Meyersdale Red Raiders on Friday at Penn State University's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Plum Settles for Silver Again
June 16, 2016
The Plum Mustangs lost just two games all season long. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the two losses came in championship contests, including on Thursday in the PIAA Quad-A Championship. Boyertown, of District 1, claimed gold with a 4-1 victory at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park at Penn State University. With the victory, Boyertown notched its third PIAA title, and first since 1991. Bears pitcher Pat Hohlfeld recorded the compete-game win, knocking off the Mustangs in their first ever state final appearance.
Yough Blanks L-S For First Ever State Softball Crown
Olivia Miller and Cassidy Pearce hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the seventh, giving Yough a 1-0 win over Lampeter-Strasburg, the Cougars' first-ever PIAA softball championship. The WPIAL third-place team won five straight post-season games since a 1-0 loss to West Allegheny in the WPIAL semifinals. With the aid of a caught stealing in the top of the fourth, the first 13 Yough batters were retired by LS senior Jordan Weaver, a Mount St. Mary's recruit. Back-to-back singles to open the sixth by Kayley Westerman and Kierra Waywood were wasted by Yough (22-3) with a bunt pop-out, a fielder's choice and a groundout.
Williams Valley Edges West Greene for PIAA A Softball Title
The PIAA Class-A Softball Championship Game pitted two very similar teams against one another and both the East Champion Williams Valley and the West Champion West Greene played a hard fought even game that would end in walk-off fashion with a Williams Valley Vikings run in the bottom of the seventh securing a 3-2 win over the Pioneers and a State Championship. The game started with defense as the first 11 batters combined produced no base runners for either team.PIAA Baseball and Softball Recaps for Semifinals on Monday
June 13, 2016
The final step toward a happy place, specifically Happy Valley, the site of the 2016 PIAA baseball and softball championship games. Round Three was held Monday with four baseball and four softball teams from the WPIAL halfway to a state championship. Plum and Vincentian Academy baseball and Hempfield, Yough and West Greene softball are now one win from a state crown, while Riverside and Serra Catholic baseball and South Park softball see their dreams and seasons come to an end on Monday. Here are recaps from the State Semifinals games, all of which were heard here on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Todd Brown, Mike Azadian, James Dotson, Lou Rood, Jason Tennant and Sean Meyers for their help on these recaps. BASEBALL:2016 PIAA BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Plum was undeated in the regular season and remained perfect until an upset loss in the WPIAL Quad-A Finals when they were stunned by Norwin. The Mustangs bounced back though with three straight wins in the state postseason until they fell for a second time Thursday in the PIAA championship game in Happy Valley. District 1 Boyertown and District 12 Neuman-Goretti captured state crowns. Here are ALL of the results through two of the state championship games from Thursday in the 2016 PIAA Baseball Playoffs along with the times for the Class A and Class AAA title games at Penn State on Friday. 2016 PIAA CLASS AAAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Boyertown Bears 4 - PLUM MUSTANGS 1 (MSA)2016 PIAA SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS
Yough did not even qualify for the WPIAL championship game, but they did win the district consolation game to earn a sport in the PIAA playoffs that paid off handsomely on Thursday. The Cougars won the schools first ever state championship with a win over Lampeter-Strasburg to win the Class AAA title game. Meanwhile, West Greene did win the WPIAL Class A championship, but finished second in the state when Williams Valley scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to win the state crown. Here are ALL of the results from three of the State Softball Championships at Penn State University on Thursday, plus the schedule for the Quad-A title game on Friday in the 2016 PIAA Softball Playoffs.
