Sports
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Caitlin Baxter
April 4, 2017
As the calendar officially turns to the spring sports season, softball and baseball come to the forefront. To that point, this week's installment of the WPIAL Alum Q&A focuses on Caitlin Baxter, a former softball standout for Butler Area, who is now excelling on the diamond in her final year at Slippery Rock University. Baxter joined the Butler varsity squad as a freshman, as she played shortstop for the Golden Tornadoes. Her first campaign represented the most team success during her tenure, as Butler concluded its season with a mark of 9-8. The following year, in 2011, Butler went 7-8, and followed that up by enduring a 5-13 record in 2012, when Baxter was sidelined because of a knee injury sustained during basketball.
Aliquippa Snaps 107-Game Baseball Losing Streak
April 3, 2017
Streaks are meant to be broken. On Friday night, it was the Connecticut women's basketball team that had a 111-game winning streak snapped in the Final Four on a buzzer-beater. On Monday afternoon, another triple-digit streak came to an end. On a dreary day in Herman, Pennsylvania, the Aliquippa baseball team defeated Summit Academy 5-4, snapping a 107-game losing streak for the 'Quips dating back to April 21, 2008. It has been a long time coming for an Aliquippa program synonymous with victory in Western Pennsylvania. Boasting a record 16 WPIAL football championships and the active lead with 12 WPIAL basketball titles, it is difficult to imagine their spring sports program to be any different.Hometown Softball Recap – Peters Township
Peters Township played fabulous defense for 6 2/3 innings. Unfortunately for the Indians, softball is a full seven inning game. Two throwing errors by PT defenders in the 7th and 8th innings allowed Mount Lebanon to rally and hold on for a 3-2 victory Monday at wet Peterswood Park. Kiley Hartbauer of Peters Township and Catie Rogan of Mount Lebanon each pitched four shutout innings before the Indians plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Kate Hondru led off with a double and two outs later scored on a Haley Cecere double.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Baseball – 04/03/2017
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. 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) NORWIN KNIGHTS (2-0) (Last Week #1) 2) PINE-RICHLAND RAMS (5-0) (Last Week #4) 3) PETERS TOWNSHIP INDIANS (5-0) (Last Week #6) 4) BUTLER GOLDEN TORNADO (1-1) (Last Week #2) 5) BETHEL PARK BLACK HAWKS (2-1) (Last Week #5)
Coaches Corner – Brian Dzurenda
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 Brian Dzurenda of the Serra Catholic Eagles. Coach Dzurenda is in his 18th year coaching at his alma mater. He has led the Eagles to WPIAL championships in 2009, 2010, and 2016. He has also led Serra Catholic to a record three straight PIAA state championship games from 2009-2011, claiming state gold in 2011. Let’s take a look inside Coach Dzurenda’s corner:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 04/03/2017
Spring has sprung as we not only hit April, but also the start of section play on the district diamonds this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have plenty of WPIAL baseball section contests along with WPIAL softball as we begin our coverage of Hometown Softball with a record 11 schools, plus we begin our WPIAL boys lacrosse coverage and debut WPIAL Diamond Notes for another season on Tuesday evenings ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, April 3rd: WPIAL High School Baseball - Laurel Highlands vs Franklin Regional at 4:00pm on MSAsports.net WPIAL High School Baseball - Hampton vs North Hills at 7:00pm on the Hampton Talbots Sports Network at MSAsports.net
MSA Sports 2017 Boys All-Netters
March 31, 2017
The MSA boys All Netters team is in guarded condition this year. Of the 10 players selected to the All Netters team, eight are guards and another is a guard-forward. The team also is Ram tough. Two plays from WPIAL Class 6A champion Pine-Richland Rams are on the team. The All Netters team is picked by the MSA Sports staff and is made up of the top 10 players in the WPIAL. A handful of the players on the first and second teams are headed to Division I colleges and one is headed to a major college for football. Here is a look at the MSA Sports All Netters team as well as the Player of the Year: FIRST TEAM: PLAYER OF THE YEAR
MSA Sports 2017 Girls All-Netters
There are more than 8,000 reasons to like the players on the first team of this year’s MSA All Netters girls all-star team. That’s how many points the five players have scored in their careers. The All Netters team is selected by the MSA Sports staff and takes into consideration all players in the WPIAL. This year’s first team consists of three seniors and two juniors, and the three seniors are all headed to Division I colleges. And all five were big scorers. One of the seniors is among the top 10 scorers in WPIAL history. Here is a look at the first- and second-team selections on the All Netters team, as well as the Player of the Year. FIRST TEAM: PLAYER OF THE YEAR
MSA Sports 2017 All-Icers
With the Penguins Cup and Pennsylvania Cup championships concluded, it's nearly time to put a bow on the 2016-17 PIHL campaign. The final piece of business, though, is unveiling the highly-anticipated MSA Sports All-Icers teams. As voted on by the MSA Sports Network staff, six players, regardless of position, were named to the first team, while six more were voted to the second team. Three of the four championship squads were represented, and both Plum and Franklin Regional featured a pair of standouts. Here's a look at the very best the PIHL had to offer in 2016-17. All-Icers First-Team:PIHL Notebook – 03/28/2017
March 28, 2017
It was a whirlwind final five days of the 2016-17 PIHL hockey season. Four champions were crowned with Peters Township, Plum, Franklin Regional and Meadville claiming PIHL gold. Just a few days later, three of those teams competed for state supremacy, with the Indians taking Pennsylvania Cup gold, too. Here's a quick glance at the action throughout the final week. AAA: Peters Township defeated Central Catholic 5-2; defeated Holy Ghost Prep 2-1
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Danny Kucerovy
March 27, 2017
While the PIHL has produced numerous incredibly successful players over the past few decades, some of the most talented players do not participate in high-school hockey, instead electing to play on travel teams. That appeared to be the path that Daniel Kucerovy was going to take, until his junior year, when he was convinced by his friends and teammates to join the Bethel Park varsity team. Kucerovy made a big impact with the Black Hawks, and now he's playing for Bentley University. Kucerovy is this week's feature for the WPIAL Alum Q&A.
WPIAL Coaches Corner – Jeff Ackermann
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 on the MSA Sports Network – 03/27/2017
It's all about the transition. We make the transition of broadcasting winter sports to spring sports as march transitions into April this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We begin our spring scholastic sports coverage with a handful of WPIAL baseball games, a WPIAL softball contest and a WPIAL boys volleyball match, plus one more winter sports event with the Quigley Classic girls and boys high school basketball games ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, March 27th: WPIAL High School Baseball - Bishop Canevin vs West Allegheny at 4:30pm on MSAsports.net Tuesday, March 28th: No Broadcast Wednesday, March 29th:2017 PIAA BOYS BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS Results
March 26, 2017
While the east claimed four of the six state titles, it was once again District 12 that flexed its boys basketball muscles. The district made up of public and private schools in the Philadelphia area, won three PIAA boys basketball championships by a combined score of 242-150. The two exceptions from the west were WPIAL 2-A champion Sewickley Academy and District 10 1-A champ Kennedy Catholic. While the Sewickley Academy Panthers brought home state gold, it was the runner-up silver basketball that Pine-Richland in 6-A and Lincoln Park in 3-A brought back from Hershey. Here are ALL of the final results from the 2017 PIAA Boys Basketball Playoffs. All results with (MSA) after them are games you can hear anytime you want archived here on The Network.2017 PIAA GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS Results
When it comes to girls high school basketball in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the East is the Beast. It was a clean 6-0 sweep for teams from the eastern side of the state in the state championships. Among those from the west that had to settle for the runner-up silver trophy were North Allegheny in 6-A, Trinity in 5-A and Bishop Canevin in 3-A. Here are ALL of the final scores from the 2017 PIAA Girls Basketball Playoffs. All results with (MSA) after them are games you can hear anytime you want archived here on The Network. 2017 PIAA CLASS 6-A GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Boyertown Bears 46 - NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS 35 (MSA)
Sellout Crowd Sees Reading Edge PIne-Richland for Boys 6-A State Title
March 25, 2017
The Giant Center in Hershey officially holds 10,500 attendees. It was near max capacity (9,531) for the PIAA Class 6A Boys Basketball Championship on Saturday night, and approximately 80% were supporting the Reading Red Knights. Nearly 8,000 fans dressed in red, but it was one red-clad player in particular who caused the havoc against Pine-Richland. Miami commit Lonnie Walker led his team in every major statistical category en route to a 64-60 Reading victory in a back-and-forth instant classic.
Peters Township Claims 5th PA Cup State 3-A Title
The front of the net is space reserved only for the courageous as goaltenders and their defensemen are not a very welcoming group when they have to share that space around the goal crease. But if you want to score goals in tight playoff hockey games, then you have to have the courage and willingness to venture into that area, and maybe, just maybe you can slam home a rebound for the decisive State Championship winning goal.
Archbishop Wood Beats Trinity to Repeat as PIAA Girls Champs
Archbishop Wood's slow down offense and tenacious defense added up to a 34-26 win over Trinity in the PIAA Class 5-A Girls Championship game Saturday night. The Vikings regularly held the ball outside the three-point line for upwards of 45 seconds while Trinity sat in a 2-3 zone inside the arch. The District 12 champions hit three treys in the game's first 4 minutes to lead 9-0 but scored only one more field goal before halftime. The Hillers struggle to take care of the ball and get good looks at basket, but stayed within reach, trailing 14-7 at the half.
Downingtown East Defeats Plum for 2-A PA Cup
If the 2017 Class-AA Pennsylvania Cup had theme songs, the title track for the Plum Mustangs would have been "It's Been A While" by Staind. After winning their first Penguins Cup and since 1989, Plum was looking to make it two for two in state title games as well. But for Downingtown-East, as Foreigner sang "It Feels Like The First Time", as the Cougars claimed their first Pennsylvania Cup in program history in their third state championship appearance, beating Plum 3-1 at the RMU Island Sports Complex on Neville Island.
Bayard Rustin Beats Franklin Regional in OT for PA Cup 1-A Title
Sophomore forward Matt Owens, who had a hat trick in the Golden Knights 6-0 PA Cup win over Franklin Regional last year, was the hero again for Bayard Rustin as he beat Danny Soltesz on a breakaway 3:07 into overtime to give Bayard Rustin its 4th consecutive PA Cup hockey championship.
