Tennis finals rematch among Friday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, May 4, 2018 | 1:30 AM

For the second season in a row, Peters Township's Connor Bruce and Fox Chapel's Robby Shymansky will battle in the WPIAL tennis finals.

The two needed a third-set tiebreaker a year ago when Bruce won the WPIAL Class AAA boys individual title 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6). They'll rematch for this year's title at 2 p.m., Friday at Alpha Tennis Center in Harmar.

The Class AA final also is scheduled for Friday, but the championship matchup isn't decided. Sewickley Academy's Arjan Bedi has a spot secured but Thursday's other semifinal was postponed by the weather. Indiana's Zachary Palko and Thomas Jefferson's Yash Maheshwari must complete their semifinal.

There also are two consolation matches scheduled for Friday. In Class AAA, Moon's Logan DeAngelo faces Allderdice's Marcus Mitchell. In Class AA, Sewickley Academy's Nishant Purewal will face Palko or Maheshwari.

Track teams are headed to Baldwin

For the next 14 days, Baldwin is the center of the WPIAL track universe starting with the 45th annual Baldwin Invitational on Friday. Eighty-four schools are registered to compete in a meet that's traditionally one of the season's strongest.

The meet starts at 12:30 p.m. with preliminary races and field events.

The WPIAL team championship is Monday at Baldwin, and the WPIAL individual championship is May 17 at the school's stadium.

Baseball playoff field almost set

The playoff scenario is simple for Mt. Lebanon baseball: Win and you're in.

But rival Upper St. Clair (6-5, 12-5) can play spoiler Friday when the Panthers visit Mt. Lebanon (7-10, 5-6) at 4:15 p.m. It's each team's finale in Section 3-6A. USC already has clinched a playoff spot, thanks in part to a 1-0 victory over Mt. Lebanon on April 18.

Across the WPIAL, much of the baseball playoff field is set with most teams down to one section game.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.