What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 13, 2024: With rain subsiding, play ball
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Friday, April 12, 2024 | 10:11 PM
Hempfield catcher Caden Biondi forces out Central Catholic’s Andres Hurkmans at home plate during their game on April 3 at No Offseason in Russelton.
As the young kids used to sing, “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day” … or month.
The good news for district baseball and softball teams is the rain has stopped and some sunshine is expected Saturday.
Now the million dollar question is, can teams take advantage of the rare nice day to get a postponed section game or two in, or are the fields too soggy to use?
Having a turf field helps either for the home team or a pair of visitors.
Two teams going in opposite directions will finish their section series on the turf at Gateway when Hempfield takes on Baldwin at noon.
The Spartans sit in first place in Section 2-6A with a record of 5-0 in the section and 9-0 overall as they look to complete their second straight three-game sweep.
The Highlanders have struggled at 0-4 in the section and 1-7 overall.
Hempfield defeated Baldwin in the first two games of the series Tuesday and Wednesday by a combined score of 19-2.
Soggy softball
There are a handful of WPIAL section softball games on the Saturday afternoon schedule that may or may not be played.
One of the games is a big one in Section 3-5A as Western Beaver visits West Allegheny.
South Fayette and Mars are tied for first place in the section with records of 2-1. The Golden Beavers are 1-1 and the Indians are 1-0.
Western Beaver and West Allegheny are a combined 9-2 overall and are averaging double-digit runs scored per game.
The Golden Beavers are averaging 11 runs in their three games while the Indians are averaging over 10 runs a game in their eight contests played.
Weekend lax
Several WPIAL lacrosse teams are in action against teams from out of the district or out of the state.
However, there are some battles within the District 7 borders Saturday.
On the boys side, Mars visits Mt. Lebanon, North Hills is home to Gateway and Hempfield takes on Central Catholic.
In girls lacrosse, Canon-McMillan travels to South Fayette, North Allegheny is home to Freeport and Moon battles Sewickley Academy.
More Baseball
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• Belle Vernon pitcher wowed by Kent State baseball program
• Fox Chapel’s Blake Krushinski commits to play baseball at West Virginia
• WPIAL approves new section alignments for spring sports in 2025, ’26 seasons
