West Allegheny baseball’s debut among Friday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, April 6, 2018 | 3:42 AM

West Allegheny’s baseball team already had six wins in the scorebook before April 6 last season, but the fourth-ranked Indians are winless right now.

And they’re also undefeated.

A preseason contender in WPIAL Class 5A, West A (0-0) is scheduled to make its delayed season debut Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Indians are slated to host Trinity in a Section 2 opener for each team. Trinity has played just once this season, a 6-2 loss to Keystone Oaks on March 26.

Rain, snow and cold temperatures have caused trouble for most WPIAL baseball and softball teams so far this spring. Friday’s forecast calls for wind, occasional rain and afternoon temperatures in the low 50s.

Varsity Baseball @ West Allegheny and JV Baseball at home have been postponed today. Varsity re-scheduled for Friday at @WestASports 4:30pm Donaldson Elementary pic.twitter.com/7oVkEYVLBH

— Trinity Athletics (@Trinity_Hillers) April 5, 2018

West A went 21-3 last season and reached the WPIAL semifinals. This year’s team features sophomore Austin Hendrick, an outfielder and pitcher committed to Mississippi State.

Class 2A softball battle starts with section opener

South Side Beaver and Mohawk, the top two softball teams in the Section 4-2A standings last season, face off Friday afternoon in a section opener at South Side. Each team is 1-0.

South Side swept their two-game season series last season, finished 20-4 overall and 12-0 in the section. The fifth-ranked Rams return as the PIAA runners-up from last year, but they’ve lost star pitcher McKenna Smith, who graduated. Mohawk went 13-4, 9-3 last season.

Ranked softball teams face off in Class 5A

Another softball matchup Friday features preseason No. 3 Albert Gallatin visiting fourth-ranked Connellsville, the top two finishers in Section 2-5A last season.

Connellsville (11-6, 11-1 last year) won both head-to-head matchups a year ago but ultimately won the section title by only one game. Albert Gallatin finished 19-5, 10-2.

So far this season, Albert Gallatin is 1-0 while Connellsville started 0-3.

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