What to watch for in WPIAL sports for April 4, 2022: Section games on tap in baseball, softball

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, April 3, 2022 | 10:58 PM

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Last week, five of the 20 WPIAL baseball sections got the early jump on section games.

On Monday, teams from the other 15 sections join in on the fun.

Of course, as is the case all week long it appears, weather permitting.

Of the 20 district sections, only three ended up with ties for the section championship last year.

Norwin and Hempfield finished tied for first in Section 2-6A with 7-3 section records last spring. On Monday, both are on the road as Norwin visits Baldwin and Hempfield plays Upper St. Clair at Boyce-Mayview Park in a game at 7 p.m. on Trib HSSN.

There was a three-way tie for the top spot in Section 3-5A between South Fayette, West Allegheny and Shaler. In the section openers on Monday, Shaler is at Chartiers Valley, South Fayette is at Moon and West Allegheny is home to North Hills.

The Lions, Indians and Titans were a combined 24-6 in section while the Colts, Indians and Tigers were combined 6-24 in the section.

In Section 1-A, Rochester and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart were 8-2 while Union finished 6-2 in section play.

All three of those teams open on the road on Monday with OLSH at Cornell, Rochester heading to Western Beaver and Union making the long trek to Avella.

In the section series setup being used by the WPIAL again this season, two section teams play on Monday and the same two square off on Tuesday as they flip-flop home field.

Perfect lid lifters

There are three WPIAL baseball section openers Monday that feature a pair of early undefeated teams going head-to-head.

Two of those six teams are defending WPIAL champions.

• In Section 1-6A, Seneca Valley (3-0) is at 2021 champion North Allegheny (1-0).

• In Section 1-5A, defending champ Franklin Regional (1-0) hosts Penn-Trafford (3-0).

• In a Section 3-5A battle of the Indians, North Hills (3-0) visits West Allegheny (2-0).

Monday softball

It is also a busy day of softball games around the WPIAL with 50 section contests scheduled for the first full week of April.

One of the top matchups pits two teams that finished tied for first place in their section last season.

Chartiers Valley and West Allegheny finished tied for the Section 4-5A title last spring with 10-2 records.

The two teams split against each other, with the Colts winning at home 1-0, and the Indians also prevailed at home, winning 5-4.

Chartiers Valley is off to a 3-0 start, including 1-0 in section play. The Colts visit a West Allegheny team that has split its first two nonsection games.

Tags: Avella, Baldwin, Chartiers Valley, Cornell, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Moon, North Allegheny, North Hills, Norwin, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Penn-Trafford, Rochester, Seneca Valley, Shaler, South Fayette, Union, Upper St. Clair, West Allegheny, Western Beaver