Sports
Neshannock Lances South Side To Repeat as Class A Softball Champs
May 29, 2014
Much like the entire regular season and playoffs, the rains came to Lilley Field at California University on Thursday afternoon, but after an 85 minute delay, the Neshannock Lancers exploded for four runs and claimed their second consecutive WPIAL Class A softball championship with a 8-5 victory over the South Side Rams. It’s the third championship in the last three years for Neshannock, the Lancers also claimed a PIAA Class AA title in 2012. The victory was also the third this season for Neshannock over South Side, the Lancers claimed both Section 4 meetings.
Perfection Reigns as California Defeats Carmichaels For Class A Baseball Crown
It took nearly 46 hours to complete, but in the end it was perfection that prevailed. California (20-0) became the sixth team in WPIAL history to win a WPIAL Championship and finish league play undefeated, running away with a 6-1 win over section rival Carmichaels (14-3) on Thursday at Consol Energy Park. The game, which was delayed on Tuesday night in the fourth inning after severe weather hit the Washington, PA area an again delayed Wednesday by more storms, was resumed at a 1-1 tie on Thursday afternoon.
Beaver Claims First Softball Gold in WPIAL AA Softball Championship
It was a dominant performance for Casey Farkasovsky when she needed it most. Beaver's sophomore starting pitcher shined bright on the big stage at California University as the Bobcats defeated the Deer Lakes Lancers 2-0 in the Class AA WPIAL Softball Championship. Both teams entered the game unbeaten and the matchup featured the top two seeds in the bracket. Farkasovsky shut down a Deer Lakes team that had seven hitters batting over .400 for the season. She held the Lancers to just three hits and fanned nine batters to go to 16-0 on the season with 129 strikeouts.2014 WPIAL Softball Championship Game Previews
May 28, 2014
The scene shifts to California University, the long-time home of the WPIAL Softball Championships on Thursday. Four championships will be decided, three of the four number 1 seeds in the tournament advanced to play for the gold medal. Here are previews of all the title bouts, all four games can be heard right here on the NETWORK: Class A Championship Game Neshannock Lancers (16-2) vs. South Side Rams (15-3) 11:30am on WBVP 1230-AM and the MSA Sports Network.
Steel Valley Rallies to Beat Seton-LaSalle for First WPIAL Baseball Title
May 27, 2014
It takes 21 outs to complete a 7 inning baseball game, but sometimes the final out is the hardest one to get. Seton-LaSalle came within 1 out of the WPIAL Class AA Championship at Consol Energy Park, but third seeded Steel Valley had other ideas, getting a game tying 2-run single from second baseman Bryce Varhola in the bottom of the seventh inning and an RBI base hit from designated hitter Jesse Cantley to complete the comeback with three runs to defeat the Rebels 6-5 to capture the school’s first ever WPIAL Baseball Championship.WPIAL Consolation Tuesday Baseball & Softball Recaps
Stormy weather played a part in what was scheduled to be six WPIAL consolation baseball and softball games on Tuesday. Two games were postponed, one was suspended and three did go final despite a delay or two. Here are summaries from the three District 7 consolation games that did make it into the books as finals. A special thanks to Pete Blais, Mark Schaas, Bob Gregg and Aaron Thompson for their help on these recaps. BASEBALL: WPIAL CLASS AA Consolation:
2014 WPIAL Baseball Championship Game Previews
May 26, 2014
Consol Energy Field is the home of the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League but this week, the WPIAL Baseball Championships take center stage as four new champions will be crowned. Upsets(and rain) were the story of this championship tournament, who will come out on top. Here are previews of all four games, all of which can be heard right here on The NETWORK:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 05/26/2014
Championship Week is upon us as we conclude the final district playoffs of the 2013-2014 school year as May shifts into June this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have EXCLUSIVE coverage of all eight of the 2014 WPIAL Baseball and Softball as well as the eight consolation games and some of the District 6 diamond title games, plus we Washington Wild Things baseball, the debut of Pennsylvania Rebellion softball, another edition of Rappin on Racin and The WPIAL Baseball Show...championship edition on a special night ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, May 26th:PIAA Track & Field – Day Two Recap
May 24, 2014
If the color of success is gold, then it was a successful weekend for the WPIAL at the PIAA track and field championships. The WPIAL left Shippensburg University today (Saturday) with gold medals in 15 individual events and four relays. That’s pretty good, considering recent history. The 15 gold medals in individual events are the most in a while. The WPIAL had only 10 individual winners last year and also 10 in 2012 and 2011. The WPIAL had nine individual winners in 2010, 12 in 2009 and only five in 2008.2014 WPIAL BOYS VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS RESULTS
The more things change, the more they stay the same. That is the theme this spring in WPIAL boys volleyball. The calendar may change, but the title winners rarely do after North Allegheny won a record eighth straight Class AAA championship and Ambridge picked up a third consecutive district crown. Here are ALL the results from the 2014 WPIAL Boys Volleyball Playoffs. 2014 WPIAL BOYS VOLLEYBALL CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: North Allegheny Tigers 3 - Norwin Knights 0 (MSA) (25-23, 25-11, 25-21) WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals: North Allegheny Tigers 3 - Bethel Park Black Hawks 1 (MSA) Norwin Knights 3 - Fox Chapel Foxes 1 (MSA)2014 WPIAL BOYS LACROSSE PLAYOFFS RESULTS
Defending WPIAL Division I champion Mount Lebanon does not believe in even-steven. The Blue Devils have won district titles in 2009, 2011 and 2013, but have never been able to repeat. That trend continued here in 2014 after the Blue Devils were shut down by Shady Side Academy. It is the first ever boys lacrosse championship for the Indians. In Division II, Quaker Valley also captured their first ever boys lacrosse title with a victory over Indiana at Highmark Stadium in Station Square. Here are ALL of the results from the 2014 WPIAL Boys Lacrosse Playoffs. 2014 WPIAL BOYS LACROSSE DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Shady Side Academy Indians 7 - Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 2 (MSA)2014 WPIAL GIRLS LACROSSE PLAYOFFS RESULTS
Mount Lebanon capped off a perfect season with a WPIAL Division I championship after edging previously undefeated Quaker Valley. It is the Blue Devils fourth district title but their first since 2006. In the Division II Finals, Shaler made it back-to-back championships with a victory over Chartiers Valley at Highmark Stadium. Here are ALL of the results from the 2014 WPIAL Girls Lacrosse Playoffs. 2014 WPIAL GIRLS LACROSSE DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 9 - Quaker Valley Quakers 7 (MSA) WPIAL DIVISION I Semifinals: Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 8 - Shady Side Academy Indians 7PIAA Track & Field – Day One Recap
Maddie Holmberg and Max Adams are both students at Hempfield High School. They went to the same elementary school and the same middle school. They belong to the same church. On Friday, they ended up in the same place again. The top of the winners stand. Holmberg and Adams gave Hempfield two state track and field champions as they both won gold medals today, the first day of the PIAA track and field championships at Shippensburg University. The final day of the championships is Saturday.
Shady Side Academy Beats 2013 Champ Mt. Lebanon To Win WPIAL D-I Boys Lacrosse Gold
Mt. Lebanon was the defending WPIAL Division I boys lacrosse champion and came into the tournament as the top seed. The Blue Devils had also won 3 prior Division I titles in 2009, 2011 and last year. None of that mattered on this night to Shady Side Academy mostly because of senior Dan Marous. The Indians leading scorer netted a third quarter hat trick to break open a 1-1 halftime tie and propel Shady Side Academy to a 7-3 win for its first WPIAL Boys Division I championship at Highmark Stadium at Station Square. The Indians, who were making their 2nd title game appearance in 3 seasons, got on the board first when freshman Clayton Krol took a feed from Michael Concordia and beat Blue Devils goalie Matt Lee at 1:56 of the second quarter.
Quaker Valley Claims First Ever WPIAL Boys Lacrosse D-II Title
There was going to be a first time champ in WPIAL Division 2 boys lacrosse Friday and the Quaker Valley Quakers were the one. Quaker Valley defeated the Indiana Indiana 13-10 to earn the crown. At the outset of the game it seemed to be the a tighter game than the score would indicate. Indiana jumped out to the 1st lead in the game 1-0 when junior attack David Zimmerman tickled the twine with a hard shot. Quaker Valley was able to answer later in the 1st with a goal from Jared Vescio. Vescio better known through the game for his face off ability winning a majority of face offs also had a pair of goals. The next goal was scored by Mike Clark of Quaker and we went to the end if the 1st Quaker Valley a 2-1 lead.MSA Sports Baseball Playoff Recap for Friday, May 23rd
Seven Final Four baseball games took place on Thursday as the winners celebrated a berth in the finals while the losers began to regroup and prepare to play for a berth in the state playoffs. That left one missing piece to the district championship puzzle and that played out Friday afternoon at West Mifflin High School. Here is the recap. A special thanks to Dennis Fischer for his help on this recap. WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:Scholastic Notebook – 05/23/3014
May 23, 2014
The perfect championships don’t happen often in WPIAL softball. But for the Deer Lakes Lancers, they’ve been in the perfect storm before. Deer Lakes is 18-0 and will play Beaver (15-0) for the Class AA championship Thursday at California University of Pennsylvania. It is only the third time in 17 years that a softball title game will match two undefeated teams. But it’s the second year in a row for Deer Lakes. In 2013, Deer Lakes and Riverside both took undefeated records into the title game before Riverside came away with a 5-1 victory. The only other time in the past 17 years that two undefeated teams met in a final was 1998 when Carmichaels beat Sto-Rox for the Class AA crown.
Mount Lebanon Captures First WPIAL Girls Lacrosse D-I Title in 8 Years
The last loss that Mt. Lebanon suffered left a bad taste in their mouths. Shady Side Academy led the Blue Devils 9-7 in last year’s WPIAL Girls Division I Lacrosse semifinals when lightning forced the game to be called off with about ten minutes remaining. Mt. Lebanon took it personal. How personal? The Blue Devils adopted the motto “Let the storm rage on” even putting that mantra on t-shirts for the 2014 season. The WPIAL storm is over for Mt. Lebanon as they improved to (20-0) after defeating Quaker Valley 9-7 at Highmark Stadium. Just like she did in the team’s semifinal win over Shady Side Academy, senior captain Alyssa Battaglia led the Blue Devils scoring 5 goals.
Titanic Performance Helps Shaler Repeat as WPIAL Girls Lacrosse D-II Champs
The Shaler Titans are now back-to-back Division II lacrosse champions after an 11-9 victory over the Chartiers Valley Colts, Thursday night at Highmark Stadium. The No. 2 seeded Titans used a well-balanced offensive attack to jump out to a four goal lead at halftime, thanks in part to four free position goals from Shannon Lynch. Despite falling behind with 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in the early portion of the opening half, Shaler would never trail again after tying the game at two. Margo Mason and Hope Tornabene got things going early for CV but responded quickly to both goals and then out-scored the Colts 6-2 to finish the first half.
Eight is Great as North Allegheny Wins Another WPIAL AAA Boys Volleyball Title
For an unprecedented eighth year in a row, the North Allegheny Tigers are WPIAL champions in boys volleyball. The Tigers used a furious rally in game one to build momentum and propel them to a 3-0 victory over Norwin for the Class AAA crown. Set scores for Thursday night’s match at Baldwin were 25-23, 25-11 and 25-21. Norwin jumped out quickly in the first set, scoring the game’s opening four points and building a seven-point advantage. With the score at 16-9, however, North Allegheny began chipping away at the Knights’ lead. By late in the set, the Tigers had stormed all the way back to tie the score at 22. Then, with the score knotted at 23, a block by senior David Haus and a Norwin miscue gave North Allegheny the come-from-behind victory.
