What to watch for in WPIAL sports on March 30, 2021: Ranked softball squads meet

By: Don Rebel
Monday, March 29, 2021 | 10:20 PM

In the 2017 WPIAL Class 6A baseball semifinals, North Allegheny defeated Canon-McMillan, 5-3.

It marked the second straight year the Big Macs lost in the district semifinals.

A year later in May of 2018, Canon-McMillan finally cleared the semifinals hurdle with a win over Central Catholic that set up a rematch with NA for WPIAL gold in the 6A finals.

The Big Macs prevailed 6-3 to capture their first WPIAL baseball crown.

Canon-McMillan would later beat North Allegheny in the state quarterfinals and eventually win the 2018 PIAA 6A championship.

On Tuesday, the Big Macs and Tigers meet in a Class 6A nonsection contest at North Allegheny. Listen to the game on HSSN at 4 p.m.

Nonsection softball

While several teams begin section play on the softball diamond Tuesday, two teams ranked in the HSSN preseason top 5 in their respective classifications will square off in a nonsection dandy.

Seneca Valley is ranked No. 4 in Class 6A. The Raiders have five starters back from a final four team two years ago and feature one of the top pitchers in the class in junior Maddie Gross.

Hampton is ranked No. 4 in Class 5A. The Talbots were quarterfinalists in 2019 and will turn to a freshman in the circle in Charlotte Lomb.

Seneca Valley will host Hampton on Tuesday.

First serves

The 2021 WPIAL boys volleyball season kicks into gear Tuesday with several teams already involved in section matches.

North Allegheny has won three straight district Class AAA boys volleyball championships while Ambridge has been the king of the court in AA with back-to-back crowns.

North Allegheny begins section play Tuesday with a visit to rival North Hills.

Also in Section 2-AAA, Butler visits Pine-Richland.

In Section 1-AAA, Baldwin visits Peters Township, Bethel Park hosts South Fayette, and Canon-McMillan is at Upper St. Clair.

In Section 3-AAA, Penn-Trafford is at Central Catholic, Armstrong is at Latrobe and Norwin hosts Hempfield.