George Guido: Baseball, softball playoff races going down to the wire

By: George Guido
Saturday, May 7, 2022 | 7:01 PM

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Two WPIAL playoff slots remain open for local teams as the regular season goes into its final three days.

Kiski Area is still alive for one of the Class 5A baseball positions. The Cavaliers (2-7) need to defeat Franklin Regional (3-7) in a game that was postponed at least twice last week.

The Panthers defeated Kiski Area, 13-11, in nine innings last Tuesday.

In softball, Plum (3-7) has two section games remaining, and the Mustangs are a half-game behind Penn Hills (4-7) with two games left in Class 5A. One game is against Penn Hills, the other against Woodland Hills (0-10).

The WPIAL has mandated that all section games need to be completed by Wednesday.

The softball playoff pairings will be released Thursday; baseball on Friday.

Blair commencement speaker

It’s always good to catch up with student-athletes who have moved beyond the high school ranks.

Deer Lakes graduate Katelynn Blair, the 2017 Valley News Dispatch Softball Player of the Year, was the student commencement speaker Saturday at West Liberty (W Va.).

Blair received degrees in accounting and finance. She played four seasons for the Hilltoppers softball team.

At Deer Lakes in 2017, Blair batted .672, had 17 doubles, nine home runs and 38 RBIs in leading the Lancers to the WPIAL Class 4A title game and the PIAA quarterfinals.

Blair will attend law school at the University of Akron this fall.

Her sister, Makayla, who is two years younger, also plays for West Liberty.

Tipinski chooses Toledo

New Kensington native Kyle Tipinski, who helped lead North Catholic to last season’s WPIAL title game, will attend Toledo.

Tipinski was Allegheny 7 Conference Offensive Player of the Year. He lined up in a slot much of the season.

He also played basketball and track before concentrating on football.

He kept in shape by running up and down Drey Street in Arnold during the summer.

Cumberland Valley improvements

Cumberland Valley High School is in the midst of a $2 million renovation of Chapman Field in anticipation of hosting the PIAA football finals over the next three seasons.

The school district will be putting in new SportTurf, getting a new synthetic track and is installing LED lighting.

Cumberland Valley is near Mechanicsburg.