Sports
Seneca Valley Wins Second Straight WPIAL Quad-A Baseball Title
May 30, 2012
Back to back was the story of the night as the Seneca Valley Raiders repeated as Quad-A baseball champions with a 5-3 win over Mount Lebanon on Wednesday night at Consol Energy Park. It's the third WPIAL championship for the Raiders. Matt Smith picked up his second straight championship victory. He allowed seven hits and struck out ten. Carson Kessler went 2 for 3 for the Raiders, he drove in a pair of runs.
Back to Back Gold For Neshannock in WPIAL Class A Baseball
The Neshannock Lancers claimed their second consecutive WPIAL Class A title with a 5-0 victory over the previously unbeaten California Trojans at Consol Energy Park on Wednesday night. It's the fifth baseball championship for Neshannock and the fourth since Class A was founded in 1999.Senior pitcher Alex Strittmatter was again superb, going the distance on a five-hitter, he fanned nine, including the final two batters. He also got the job done at the plate, going 2 for 4. Strittmatter was the winning pitcher in last year's title victory over Chartiers-Houston.WPIAL Baseball and Softball Consolation Recaps
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!
Ellwood City Claims WPIAL AA Baseball Title by Winning Backyard Brawl
The Ellwood City Wolverines claimed their fifth WPIAL championship with a 9-7 victory over their cross town rival Riverside Panthers at Consol Energy Field on Wednesday afternoon. Sophomore catcher Zach Mathias led the way, going 3 for 3 in the number nine spot in the batting order.WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association Postseason Awards
The WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Tuesday the 2012 winners of its annual Players, Pitchers and Coaches of the Year Awards. Players, Pitchers and Coaches of the Year were selected in Classes AAAA, AAA, AA and A based on regular season performance by a vote of WPIAL head baseball coaches. The winners will be honored at an Awards Banquet on June 8 at the Airport Marriott.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!2012 WPIAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEWS
May 28, 2012
The baseball season begins to wind down in Western Pennsylvania as four champions will be crowned over the next two days. Stay with the MSA Sports Network for complete pre-game, game and post-game coverage from Consol Energy Park from the first pitch until the final gold medal has been handed out.Here are previews of all four title game:2012 PIAA Track & Field – Day Two Recap
May 27, 2012
At every invitational and championship meet this spring, South Park’s Bill Stanley has set a meet record in the javelin. But Stanley did a lot more than set a meet record today. Stanley is now a national record holder. Stanley, a senior, won the Class AAA javelin title at Shippensburg University and set a national record with a throw of 246 feet, 9 inches. Stanley’s throw, which came on his first of the competition, beat the old record of 244-2, set in 2010 by Sam Crouser of Gresham, Ore. The national record is recognized by the National Federation of High School Associations. NFHS national records can only be set at state championship meets or NFHS-sanctioned meets.Ambridge Kings Again in WPIAL AA Boys Volleyball by Beating Derry
May 26, 2012
Ambridge won their fourth WPIAL Class AA championship in the past five years in dramatic fashion defeating Derry in a comeback victory 18-25, 14-25, 25-12, 25-23, 15-8. on Friday night at Chartiers Valley High School. In the first two games Ambidge never led by more than two points early. Ambridge led 5-3 in the first game when Derry went on a 12-5 run to take control of the game. In game two Ambridge led 4-2 and Derry scored the next 7 and cruised to victory. Matt Vasinko had numerous kills for the Trojans. Game three Lee Smith for Ambridge came alive and pretty much was unstoppable.North Allegheny Sweeps Past Norwin for 6th Straight WPIAL Title
North Allegheny won their sixth consecutive AAA boys volleyball championship defeating Norwin 25-16, 25-21, 25-21 on Friday night at CHartiers Valley High School. The Tigers trailed only 4 times all night. North Allegheny and Norwin were tied 10-10 when the Tigers would score 6 straight points from kilss by Zach Hayes and Zack Shaw and a couple of blocks from Shaw as well as Norwin would never recover in game one. Game 2 was more of Shaw and Tommy Kiesling for the tigers with numerous kills that Norwin could not catch up to. North Allegheny could not pull away because of the play of Nick Idele.Hampton Beats GCC Again To Repeat as D-II Boys Lacrosse Champs
May 25, 2012
At Chartiers Valley high school in the WPIAL Boys Division II Lacrosse Championship, the Hampton Talbots defeat the Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions by a score of 16-7. The Centurions have won 2 WPIAL titles in a row and their 3rd in 4 years, all over GCC.In the first period the Talbots raced to a 4-0 lead. Dylan Szramowski scored the hat trick getting three goals in the first ten minutes to make it 3-0 Hampton. Jon Nigro scored with :42 seconds remaining in the first and Hampton led 4-0.Seneca Valley Edges Shady Side To Win D-I Boys Lacrosse Championship
The Shady Side Academy Indians had come in to the WPIAL Division I Lacrosse finals with quite a bit of momentum winning 6 of their last 7 including playoff wins over Upper St. Clair (7-5) and Mt. Lebanon (8-3). They were, however, only 9-8 coming into their title match with the Seneca Valley Raiders, who were consistent winners all season long with a record of 16-1. This matchup was also a contrast in styles with SV's run-and-gun approach as opposed to SSA's more methodical, patient style. Run-and-Gun Won 8-5.It would not take the Raiders long to strike as just 54 seconds in, Mike Argyros took a feed from Cole Fyock and drove a shot past SSA netminder Tucker Gillman for the early 1-0 advantage. That wold be the only scoring in the 1st period.Hampton Repeats in D-II While Seneca Valley Wins D-I WPIAL Boys Lacrosse Title
The Hampton Talbots are celebrating back-to-back titles while the Seneca Valley Raiders are enjoying their first trip to the golden top of the district boys lacrosse mountain. Hampton beat Greensburg Central Catholic for a second straight year to capture their third Division II title in four years. Meanwhile, Seneca Valley edged Shady Side Academy to win the Raiders first ever Division I District 7 crown. Here are ALL of the final results from the 2012 WPIAL Boys Lacrosse Playoffs.2012 WPIAL DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:Seneca Valley Raiders 8 - Shady Side Academy Indians 5 (MSA)North Allegheny Six-Peats in AAA While Ambridge Back on Top in AA in WPIAL Boys Volleyball
The two most dominant district boys volleyball programs in recent years are adding more gold to their resume. North Allegheny swept past Norwin as the Tigers captured their sixth straight WPIAL Class AAA championship and their ninth in the past ten years. Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought five game victory for Ambridge over Derry in the Class AA Finals as the Bridgers won their fourth WPIAL crown in the last five years. Here are ALL of the final results from the 2012 WPIAL Boys Volleyball Playoffs.2012 WPIAL CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:2012 PIAA State Track & Field – Day One Recap
The first day of the PIAA track and field championships is complete, and only one WPIAL athlete stepped up to the very top of the winners stand. Waynesburg’s Marissa Kalsey won the Class AA pole vault championship at Shippensburg University Friday. She was the only WPIAL athlete to win a gold medal on the first day of the two-day meet. The first day includes finals in only half of the field events. Running events have only preliminary heats. The rest of the field event finals and all running event finals will be tomorrow.Scholastic Notebook – 05/25/2012
Seven of the eight teams in the WPIAL baseball finals are quite familiar with this championship stuff. They all have won at least one title in the past nine seasons. As championship traditions go, the eighth team in the finals is like the odd man out. Belle Vernon has never won a WPIAL championship, and the WPIAL has been staging championships since 1914. Belle Vernon will try to win its first title when it plays Blackhawk in the Class AAA championship Tuesday night at Consol Energy Field in Washington.Peters Twp & North Hills Are Golden Girls in Winning 2012 WPIAL Girls Lacrosse
2012 turns out to be the Year of the Indians in girls lacrosse. In a couple of thrilling championship matches, both Peters Township in Division I and North Hills in Division II captured district gold at Martorelli Stadium in West View on Thursday. Here are ALL of the final scores from the 2012 WPIAL Girls Lacrosse Playoffs.2012 WPIAL DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:Peters Township Indians 21 - Pine-Richland Rams 18 (MSA)WPIAL DIVISION I Consolation:Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 16 - Shady Side Academy Indians 13WPIAL DIVISION I Semifinals:Peters Township Indians 18 - Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 9Pine-Richland Rams 16 - Shady Side Academy Indians 11Peters Township Outlasts Pine-Richland to Win WPIAL Girls Lacrosse D-I Gold
If this were a baseball game, you would call it a slugfest. In hockey, it’s call “fire wagon”. In lacrosse, it’s just a plain old fashioned offensive outburst as these two teams combined for 39 goals at Martorelli Stadium in the North Hills in a 21-18 Indians victory.Peters Township outscored Pine-Richland 14-11 in the second half to capture its fourth WPIAL Division I Girls Lacrosse Championship and it’s first since 2009.The back-and- forth first half was tied at 7-7, thanks to two late goals by the Indians Sarah Bootman and Allison Hurley.
PIAA Basketball Finals Returning to Hershey
May 24, 2012
Basketball teams will once again travel "the Road to Hershey" in pursuit of a state championship. The PIAA Board of Control voted 29-2 to accept the proposal made by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts to move the championships back to the 10,000 seat Giant Center for the next four years. The Hershey bid was substantially better that that submitted by Penn State University. The Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus has hosted the championships for the past six years. Penn State officials have also said since submitting their bid that the university is now trying to become a host site for the NCAA Women's Regional tournament, which would be the same weekend as the PIAA championships in two of the four years.
North Hills Beats Char Valley Again for WPIAL Girls Lacrosse D-II Crown
For the second consecutive season, the North Hills Indians and the Chartiers Valley Colts met for the Division II WPIAL Girls Lacrosse Championship. And for the second straight year the Indians came away with the gold medal winning an 11-10 thriller at Martorelli Stadium.It didn't take long for the Colts to get on the scoreboard, as Hope Tornabene converted a Katie Wiess feed into the games first goal just at :27. The back and forth would ensue as the Indians netted the next three goals.Emily Jamison tied the game at 1-1 just :25 later. Jamison tallied again at (3:09) and then Natalie DiPaolo beat CV goalie Shelby Teagardner at (3:41) and North Hills led 3-1.
