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Tuesday, April 16, 2024 | 11:41 PM
christopher horner relive
Hempfield's Allie Cervola speaks with North Allegheny's McKenna Rowlands after the March 25 game.
In WPIAL Class 6A softball, all eyes are on Seneca Valley, which sits in first place in the nine-team classification with a 6-0 section record.
The two teams with the best chance to catch up with the Raiders will meet on Wednesday, with North Allegheny (3-1) hosting defending champion Hempfield (5-1) in prime time at 7:30 p.m. A match will be held. The game can be watched on Trib HSSN.
Both the Tigers and Spartans have only one loss this season, with Hempfield having a 4-1 record and NA having a 3-1 sectional record.
This will be the second and final meeting of the year between the two diamond powerhouses.
Spartans junior Allie Cervola hit her first pitch over the fence in the bottom of the first inning, giving Hempfield a lead it would never relinquish. Junior pitcher Riley Miller allowed five hits, one walk and five strikeouts as Hempfield blanked NA 6-0.
Wednesday's other big game is a rematch of the WPIAL Class 3A semifinal from a year ago when Burrell visited Avonworth.
The Bucs currently sit first in Section 1-3A with a 4-0 record and 6-2 overall.
They hold a one-game lead in the loss column over both Deer Lakes and Avonworth.
The defending district champion Antelopes are 1-1 in the section and 3-3 overall.
A year ago, Avonworth won all two games against Burrell in the regular season and defeated the Bucs 3-0 in the district semifinals. Alivia Lanzi, a junior pitcher at the time, allowed just one hit and had five strikeouts in a shutout victory.
more softball
Fayette County bragging rights will be at stake Wednesday when Uniontown visits Albert Gallatin.
The Red Raiders are tied for first in Section 2-4A with Elizabeth Forward at 4-0 in the section and 4-1 overall.
The Colonials are tied for third place with Belle Vernon with a sectional record of 1-3 and an overall record of 1-4.
In the big Class 2A game, Serra Catholic (4-1) will take on Greensburg Central Catholic (2-1) in Game 2 for the top spot.
The Eagles lead the section with a 3-0 record, one game ahead of both the Centurions and Apollo Ridge teams, which are 2-1.
squeezed in the middle
Several additional WPIAL baseball games are scheduled for Wednesday, including a midfield battle in Section 4-3A.
Waynesburg is alone in first place with a 4-0 record, while Mount Pleasant is 3-1 and four teams are tied with a sectional record of 2-2.
Two of those four teams will clash at Cougar Mountain, with defending section champion Yeo (3-2, 3-5) taking on the Southmoreland team (2-3, 2-5).
The teams met on Tuesday, with the Cougars defeating the Scotties 10-0.
Doubles qualifying
Wednesday is the final day for the WPIAL boys tennis doubles division, with the top three teams from each Class 2A section tournament and the top four teams from each Class 3A section qualifying for next week's WPIAL doubles championship.
If the weather is good. Sections will be held at:
Section 1-3A in the Franklin area
Section 2-3A North Allegheny
Section 3-3A Fox Chapel
Section 4-4A (Bethel Park)
Section 1-2A Valley
Section 2-2A Thomas Jefferson
Section 3-2A Hampton Community Park
Section 4-2A at Beaver
Section 5-2A, at Nichols Court at Sewickley Academy.
