Westmoreland lookahead for Week of April 8, 2019

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, April 7, 2019 | 7:14 PM

MONDAY

Baseball: Section 2-6A is expected to produce a tight race, and the schedule will continue to offer quality matchups. Three of note include Connellsville at Penn-Trafford, Hempfield at Plum and Latrobe at Norwin.

Section 1-5A and 1-4A won’t skimp, either: Kiski Area visits Franklin Regional in the former; Yough at Mt. Pleasant and Derry at Greensburg Salem meet in the latter.

Greensburg Central Catholic hosts Leechburg in Section 3-A.

Softball: They might be matchups that once seemed better suited for nonsection play, but Pine-Richland at Norwin and Seneca Valley at Hempfield are Section 2-6A games now.

Top games in Section 1-5A are: Franklin Regional at Albert Gallatin, Kiski Area at Latrobe and Penn-Trafford at Armstrong.

More games to watch: Highlands at Mt. Pleasant and Greensburg Salem at Indiana (1-4A), Southmoreland at South Park (3-3A) and Springdale at Greensburg Central Catholic (3-A).

Southmoreland-South Park is a rematch of last year’s WPIAL title game.

Boys tennis: The WPIAL postseason is here already. Section singles tournaments will begin around the district with winners advancing to Tuesday’s later rounds.

TUESDAY

Track & field: Two Section 1-AAA meets jump out on the schedule: Hempfield at Norwin and Greensburg Salem at Latrobe.

In Section 8-AA, Southmoreland visits Mt. Pleasant.

Baseball: Southmoreland visits Jeannette in a local nonsection game.

Softball: Washington at Jeannette is a notable nonsection game.

Boys tennis: Section singles tournaments are scheduled to conclude at various sites.

Boys volleyball: North Catholic at Derry features a pair of ranked teams in Section 2-AA.

WEDNESDAY

Baseball: Hempfield hosts Penn-Trafford in a much-anticipated matchup in Section 2-6A. The game will be played at Seton Hill.

Norwin at Connellsville and Plum at Latrobe are other contests in that section.

A game to watch in Section 1-4A is Greensburg Salem at Yough.

Softball: The centerpiece game of the day has to be No. 1 Mt. Pleasant at No. 2 Yough in Section 1-4A.

Again, they are matchups featuring schools many miles apart, but they count in Section 2-6A: Butler at Hempfield and Norwin at North Hills.

Other top games: Latrobe vs. Penn-Trafford (1-5A) at Seton Hill, Franklin Regional at Kiski Area (1-5A) and Greensburg Salem at Highlands (1-4A).

THURSDAY

Track & field: Greensburg Salem won’t have to travel far to take on Hempfield in a Section 1-AAA meet. Latrobe visits Penn-Trafford, and Mt. Pleasant heads to Derry (8-AA).

Boys volleyball: Norwin visits Hempfield for a top-tier matchup in Section 3-AAA.

FRIDAY

Baseball: The game to watch in Section 2-6A, a pitcher’s delight, perhaps, has Hempfield at Norwin. Penn-Trafford hosts Plum.

Additional games of note: Knoch at Mt. Pleasant (1-4A), Yough at Highlands (1-4A), McKeesport at Belle Vernon (3-4A), Riverview at Jeannette (3-2A), Greensburg Central Catholic at Vincentian (3-A) and Derry at Burrell (nonsection).

Softball: A number of quality games include Hempfield at Norwin (2-6A), Penn-Trafford at Franklin Regional (1-5A), Yough at Greensburg Salem (1-4A), Elizabeth Forward at Belle Vernon (2-4A), Southmoreland at South Allegheny (3-3A) and Jeannette at Greensburg Central Catholic (3-A).

Track & field: Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium will be the site for the 28th Annual Lady Spartan/17th Annual Wildcat Invitational.

SATURDAY

Track & field: Some of the top athletes from around the WPIAL will invade West Mifflin’s Titan Stadium for the Tri-State Track and Field Coaches Association Championships.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.