Sports
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.Scholastic Notebook – 06/12/2016
June 12, 2016
Remember back two years ago when Blackhawk pitcher Brendan McKay’s scoreless streak was one of the biggest stories ever in WPIAL high school baseball? Well, the scoreless streak of Mike Boswell isn’t close to McKay’s, but Boswell’s also belongs as one of the most impressive in WPIAL history. Boswell is a 6-foot, 190-pound senior at Riverside who has played a huge role in getting the Panthers to the PIAA Class AA semifinals tomorrow [Monday]. He has not given up a run in four postseason victories and his scoreless streak, going back to the regular season, now stands at 41 innings. McKay’s streak was 72 1/3 innings, which tied for the second-longest in U.S. high school baseball history.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 06/12/2016
With the celebration of another Stanley Cup for the City of Champions still going strong, we get closer to celebrating state baseball and softball gold in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We continue to wind down the 2015-2016 high school season as we conclude the PIAA baseball and Softball state playoffs with Semifinals and Championship action along with another full week of Washington Wild Things pro baseball at CONSOL Energy Park, plus its another edition of Rappin' on Racin' ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, June 13th:2016 PIAA BOYS VOLLEYBALL STATE PLAYOFFS Results
WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League schools have combined for 41 boys volleyball state champions. However it has been slim pickings for district teams in the state playoffs since the turn of the century. In the last 16 years, only North Allegheny in AAA in 2013 and in AA, Ambridge in 2009 and Deer Lakes in 2011 have claimed state gold. No gold came back west again this year after Ambridge fell to now four-time champion Northeastern York in the Class AA Finals. It;s the third time in four year the Bobcats have defeated the Bridgers for the AA state crown. in Class AAA, Landisville Hempfield won their first boys volleyball state championship in ten years with a thrilling five game win over Penn Manor.2016 PIAA BOYS & GIRLS LACROSSE STATE PLAYOFFS Results
As lacrosse continues to grow here in Western Pa, it is still playing catch up to some of the hot bed areas in the eastern side of Pennsylvania. Sooner or later, a WPIAL boys or girls lacrosse team will win a state championship, but that day hasn't come yet and it didn't happen again this year after the districts final hope, Mount Lebanon, fell in the Girls Semifinals. Here are ALL of the results from the 2016 PIAA Boys and Girls Lacrosse Playoffs. 2016 PIAA BOYS LACROSSE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Springfield-Delco Cougars 4 - LaSalle College Explorers 3 PIAA BOYS LACROSSE Semifinals: LaSalle College Explorers 10 - Manheim Township Blue Streaks 2PIAA Baseball and Softball Recaps for Quarterfinals on Thursday
June 9, 2016
On a day when many fan had Stanley Cup dancing in their heads, six WPIAL baseball and softball teams were thinking about just taking a second step toward state gold. While eight of those teams were successful and will play more ball next week, four saw their season end on Thursday, including previously unbeaten Riverside in softball and defending state AA champ Neshannock in baseball. Here are the recaps from the PIAA Quarterfinals in both baseball and softball on Thursday. A special thanks to Lee Mohn, Sean Meyers, Mike Azadian, Mark Schaas, Todd Brown, Bob Gregg, Jason Tennant and Jake Holmes for their help on these recaps. BASEBALL: PIAA CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:PIAA Baseball and Softball Recaps for First Round on Monday
June 7, 2016
The curtain went up on the 2016 PIAA Baseball and Softball postseason Monday as 24 district teams began the battle for state gold. Well, 22 of them did as both the Plum and Blackhawk baseball teams are on hold fore their Round One game until Tuesday. It was a so-so start for district teams as the WPIAL went 5-5 in baseball and 6-6 in softball. Here are the summaries from the eleven First Round state playoff games heard here Monday on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Sean Meyers, Johnny Lee, Steve Nagler, Jake Holmes, Lou Rood, James Dotson, Mike Azadian, Todd Brown, Jason Tennant, Mark Uriah and Bob Gregg for their help on these recaps. PIAA BASEBALL Class AAAA First Round:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 06/2016
June 6, 2016
The first full week of June has us now turning to coverage of ths high school baseball and softball state playoffs this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We continue to wind down the 2015-2016 high school season as we open up the PIAA baseball and Softball state playoffs with First Round and Quarterfinals action along with another full week of Washington Wild Things pro baseball, plus its another edition of Rappin' on Racin' ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, June 6th: TALK SHOW - Rappin' on Racin' at 6:00pm on MSAsports.netScholastic Notebook – 06/04/2016
June 4, 2016
For Morgan Ryan, earning a spot in the WPIAL record book means nothing. As in zero. As in zilch. As in nothing on the scoreboard under the “R” column. Ryan is a junior pitcher for the Hempfield softball team who threw a shutout in a 2-0 victory against Baldwin in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship Friday. A year ago, she threw a one-hitter as Hempfield defeated North Allegheny, 3-0. A check of the scores of WPIAL championship games shows that Ryan is the first pitcher in the history of the WPIAL to throw back-to-back shutouts in championship games. The WPIAL has been staging softball championships for 43 years. So in four-plus decades, there has never been a pitcher like Ryan. By the way, Ryan is a Notre Dame recruit.2016 WPIAL SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS Results
Unlike the district baseball playoffs where none of the top-seeds prevailed in the end, the favorites took home the gold in three of the four classifications. Hempfield repeated in Class AAAA, while undefeated Ellwood City won gold in Class AA and once beaten West Greene won their first ever Class A crown. The lone exception was in Class AAA, where 12th-seed Mount Pleasant was more than happy to play the role of Cinderella en route to their first ever district softball championship. Here are ALL of the results from the 2016 WPIAL Softball Playoffs. All results marked with (MSA) at the end are games you can hear archived here on the MSA Sports Network. 2016 WPIAL SOFTBALL CLASS AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
Ellwood City Blasts Its Way to Second AA Softball Crown
June 3, 2016
Throughout the spring, the long ball has become synonymous with Ellwood City softball. So it should really come as no surprise that it was a pair of blasts, numbers 17 and 18 this year, which lifted the Wolverines to their second WPIAL Softball Championship. Reagen Miller hit a grand slam in the first inning and Camille Maine followed with a three-run home run in the following frame as No. 1 Ellwood City (20-0) ran away with a 10-0, five inning rout of No. 3 South Park (14-4) at California University of Pennsylvania’s Lilley Field on Friday. “I knew we had the capabilities,” Ellwood City coach Gary Rozanski said. “I didn’t know that we’d do it right off the bat like that. It seems the last few weeks we put the hits together.”
Morgan Ryan Dominates As Hempfield Repeats in Quad-A
One year ago, Hempfield pitcher Morgan Ryan threw a one-hit shutout en route to a WPIAL Championship. Flash forward to 2016, and not much has changed. Ryan threw a four-hit shutout as her #1 seed Hempfield Spartans repeated as Class AAAA Softball Champions, defeating #3 seed Baldwin 2-0 on Friday afternoon at California University's Lilley Field. Baldwin threatened early in the contest. Taylor Dadig led off the bottom of the first with a sharp single up he middle. After a wild pitch and a sacrifice moved Dadig to third, Jamie Schleicher drew a walk. Samantha Wampler drove a hard shot to third base, where Kaylee Bloom made a sliding stop and threw to first for the second out. Ryan then forced a groundout to end the inning.
