What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 7, 2025: Playoff spots coming down to the wire in Section 2-5A baseball

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 | 11:50 PM

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One of the tightest races this spring in WPIAL baseball comes down to the next-to-last day of the regular season.

Section 2-5A still has two playoff berths up for grabs heading into the final 48 hours of the season.

Bethel Park has clinched the section crown and is finished with a 9-3 section record.

Peters Township has clinched a playoff spot with a 7-4 record and can do no worse than a tie for second place.

Upper St. Clair is 5-5 and sits in third place, South Fayette and Trinity are 5-6, Moon is 4-7 and Chartiers Valley is 3-7.

On Wednesday, Peters Township visits South Fayette, Moon is home to Trinity and Upper St. Clair hosts a doubleheader against Chartiers Valley.

USC clinches with one win and could end up tied for second with two wins and a Peters Township loss.

A Trinity victory puts the Hillers into the postseason.

South Fayette needs a win and a Trinity loss or two Upper St. Clair losses since the Lions lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Hillers.

A three-way tie for fourth place between South Fayette, Trinity and Moon for fourth place would put the Hillers into the playoffs based on a 3-1 head-to-head record against the Lions and Tigers.

If Chartiers Valley swept and Peters Township and Moon won, there would be a five-way tie for third place with Upper St. Clair, Trinity, South Fayette, Moon and Chartiers Valley all 5-7.

In that case, all five would qualify because they would all be 4-4 head-to-head against each other.

Baseball playoff implications

There are a handful of other district baseball playoff berths up for grabs Wednesday.

Here are the games with playoff berths at stake.

• In Section 3-3A, Freeport and Ligonier Valley are 6-4. Freeport travels to Southmoreland and Ligonier Valley visits Mt. Pleasant as all four teams will first finish a suspended game from Monday before playing their second section series game afterward.

• In Section 4-3A, McGuffey battles Seton LaSalle twice while Keystone Oaks plays Washington one more game. McGuffey just needs one win to clinch while KO needs a win and a McGuffey loss to clinch.

• In Section 1-2A, Chartiers-Houston hopes to wrap up a playoff berth with a win at California and Frazier looks to clinch with a victory at Beth-Center.

• In Section 2-2A, Laurel looks to earn a playoff spot needing a sweep of a doubleheader against Northgate.

• In Section 2-A, Rochester needs a win over Aquinas Academy and a Winchester Thurston loss to Union to qualify.

• In Section 3-A, Clairton needs a win at Monessen to stay alive for a playoff spot.

Softball playoff implications

The section champion in Class 6A softball will finally be determined — maybe.

Following another postponement Tuesday, Seneca Valley will visit Hempfield at 4 p.m.

Hempfield is in first place with a 14-1 record in 6A, 18-1 overall.

Seneca Valley is in second place with a 13-2 record in 6A, 15-2 overall.

This is the regular season finale for both the Spartans and the Raiders.

A Hempfield home victory would give the Spartans the outright regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the Class 6A playoffs.

However, if Seneca Valley wins, the two softball powers in the highest classification would be tied for first place and the Raiders would earn the top spot because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Last week, in their first meeting of the year at Seneca Valley, senior pitcher Lexie Hames struck out 17 Spartans as the Raiders handed Hempfield its only loss of the season, 2-1.

Other district softball games of note Wednesday:

• In Section 3-4A, Western Beaver can clinch a playoff berth with a home win against playoff-bound North Catholic.

• In Section 1-A, Cornell and Bishop Canevin are tied for fourth place. The Raiders host the Crusaders in a doubleheader Wednesday. If they split, both teams qualify for the postseason.

• In Section 3-A, Monessen can clinch a playoff berth with section wins over Leechburg and St. Joseph on Wednesday.

Serving for gold

The 2025 WPIAL boys team tennis championships are set for Wednesday with a couple of new kids on the block battling for the Class 2A crown.

No. 4 North Catholic, fresh off a semifinal upset of South Park, will take on No. 2 Valley at the Janet Swanson Tennis Center at Washington & Jefferson College at 3:30 p.m.

The Trojans and Vikings programs have never won a district boys team tennis title before.

Also in 2A, South Park faces Hampton at the Nichols Courts at Sewickley Academy at 3:30 p.m. for third place and a PIAA state playoff berth.

In Class 3A, the last two WPIAL champions collide when top seed North Allegheny squares off against No. 2 Gateway.

The Tigers are the defending champions while the Gators won it all in 2023.

North Allegheny has a total of five WPIAL boys tennis titles and Gateway has two.

The two clash at the Swanson Center at W&J on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Only two district teams in 3A qualify for the upcoming state playoffs.

Midweek volleyball

There are a handful of WPIAL boys volleyball section matches Wednesday with a couple of them carrying playoff implications.

• In Section 4-3A, Gateway (5-2) looks to remain in first place as it hosts Penn Hills (1-6).

• In Section 1-2A, the section crown is at stake when Derry (7-0) is home to Deer Lakes (6-1). If the Trojans win, they are the outright champs. If the Lancers are victorious, the two teams will be co-champs.

• In Section 2-2A, Mars (3-3) visits Aquinas Academy (2-5), which needs a win to tie the Fightin’ Planets for third place and both teams would qualify.

Lax winding down

A couple of key matches are slated for Wednesday as the WPIAL boys lacrosse season winds down.

In Section 2-3A, a share of the section crown is at stake when Shady Side Academy (5-0) hosts Pine-Richland (4-1).

In Section 2-2A, a playoff berth is up for grabs when Moon (4-5) visits Quaker Valley (4-5).