What to watch for in WPIAL sports for May 2, 2022: Baseball, softball section play wraps up

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, May 1, 2022 | 9:44 PM

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Welcome to May, where the regular season continues to wind down, and the postseason is two weeks away.

Most WPIAL baseball teams will close out their sectional series schedule this week.

In five of those sections, the top two teams are deadlocked for first place and will meet in a home-and-home series that will decide a section outright winner or co-champions.

• Section 1-6A, North Allegheny vs. Pine-Richland as both teams are 6-2 in the section, two games ahead of Butler, Central Catholic and Seneca Valley. This is a clash of the last two 6A champions.

• Section 4-3A, Yough vs. Southmoreland has the Cougars a half-game in front of the Scotties with McGuffey and Waynesburg Central a game back. Yough still has a makeup game scheduled with Charleroi next week.

• Section 4-2A, Burgettstown vs. Seton LaSalle as both teams are undefeated in section play with 8-0 records. After this series, The Blue Devils finish with Fort Cherry next week and the Rebels conclude with two games against Brentwood.

• Section 1A, Union at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has both teams deadlocked with 7-1 records. If the Scotties and Chargers split and Rochester sweeps Avella, there will be tri-champions with Union, OLSH and Rochester.

• Section 3-A, Sewickley Academy vs. Eden Christian Academy as both teams are perfect in section play. The Panthers are 8-0, and the Warriors are 7-0 with a makeup game against St. Joseph’s set for Thursday.

Bucs stop here

The Section 1-2A title is on the line Monday as Chartiers-Houston hosts Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

The Buccaneers are 7-0 in the section and have a half-game lead over the 8-1 Chargers.

A Chartiers-Houston win gives it the section championship, but an OLSH victory likely leads to a share of the section title.

Two weeks ago, these two teams met at Youthtowne and Chartiers-Houston came away with a convincing 14-5 win.

The Bucs had a 7-2 lead after four innings and put the game away with a 5-run fifth inning.

Three other key softball games with fourth-place and playoff implications set for Monday:

• Hampton (3-5) at Mars (2-6) where the Talbots can clinch in Section 3-5A and earn a sweep of the Fightin’ Planets for the season with a victory.

• Carlynton (1-5) at Fort Cherry (2-5) will square off in a Monday doubleheader with fourth place at stake in Section 1-2A.

• Northgate at Ellis School has the visiting Flames (3-4) already having clinched a playoff spot, whereas the Rangers (2-5) need a win to secure a postseason berth in Section 3-A.

Team Tennis first playoff serves

Four years ago, one of the longest championship streak in WPIAL history ended when Sewickley Academy, after winning its 14th straight Class 2A boys team tennis championship, saw the run end when it moved up to Class 3A and fell short.

After winning the Class 2A district crown last spring, Quaker Valley looks to start a championship run of its own.

The Quakers will be the top-seeded team when the Class 2A championships begin with first-round matches Monday.

The first round matches are:

Ringgold at Quaker Valley

Beaver at South Park at South Park Courts

Indiana at Central Valley

Highlands at Thomas Jefferson

Carlynton at Mars

Hampton at Valley

Mt. Pleasant vs. Montour at Bethel Park

Blackhawk vs. North Catholic at Cranberry Township Park

All the matches begin at 3 p.m. with the exception of the 4 p.m. start for the match at QV.

Tags: Beaver, Blackhawk, Burgettstown, Carlynton, Central Valley, Chartiers-Houston, Eden Christian, Ellis School, Fort Cherry, Hampton, Highlands, Indiana, Mars, Montour, Mt. Pleasant, North Allegheny, North Catholic, Northgate, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Pine-Richland, Quaker Valley, Ringgold, Seton La Salle, Sewickley Academy, South Park, Southmoreland, Thomas Jefferson, Union, Valley, Yough