Connellsville wins stunner
Falcons deny Hempfield share of title
Hempfield had an opportunity to claim a share of the Section 2 title when it traveled to Connellville for its regular-season finale.
Instead the Falcons came away with an improbable victory and an additional surprise.
Brady Bonadio delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Falcons a 6-5 victory against the Spartans.
The loss dropped the Class 5A No. 5 Spartans (12-8, 7-3) into second-place tie with Plum (12-6, 7-3) and handed Norwin (13-3, 8-2) the section title.
Additionally, the win moved Connellsville (7-8, 4-6) into a tie for fourth place with Penn-Trafford and earned the Falcons a WPIAL playoff berth.
Other baseball games
Greensburg Central Catholic pitchers Neal McDermott and Antonio Cavallo combined on a no-hitter as the Centurions slipped past Jeannette (10-5, 8-3), 3-1, in a key Class 1A Section 2 matchup. Greensburg Central Catholic (9-2, 9-1) plays Jefferson-Morgan (8-5, 8-1) in a home-and-home series Tuesday and Wednesday that will determine the section title.
Serra Catholic (17-1, 13-1) avenged its only loss in a big way — and locked up the Class 2A Section 3 title in the process — with a 13-0 home victory against No. 2 Brentwood. Ben Vinsesky pitched a one-hitter as the No. 3 Eagles posted their third consecutive shutout and ninth this season.
Blackhawk ( 18-0, 130) remained the sole unbeaten team in the WPIAL, but the Class 4A No. 1 Cougars didn’t have an easy time of it as they were pushed around a bit before they pulled out an 11-6 home win against Beaver (6-11, 4-9) in Section 2. Michael Turconi went 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the win.
Junior pitcher Justin Meis hurled a no-hitter as he struck out six and walked one, while Chris Lee took care of the offense with a two-run homer to help Bethel Park (11-7, 7-4) to a 4-0 road victory against Baldwin (8-8, 4-7) in Class 6A Section 3.
Sophomore pitcher Will Bednar tossed a one-hitter, striking out nine and walking just one as Mars (11-5, 10-2) locked up a share of first in Class 5A, Section. 1 with a 1-0 victory against Hampton (11-5, 8-3). The Planets, however, will advance to the WPIAL playoffs as a lower seed than co-champion, North Hills (15-3, 10-2). That’s because the Indians won both regular-season meetings between the teams.
Latrobe (16-2, 14-0) put the finishing touches on its first outright section championship since 2003 and first overall since a four-way tie for Class 4A Section 1 in 2004 as the Wildcats pulled out a 1-0 victory against secondplace Franklin Regional (115, 10-4). Jared Kollar pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout for the Wildcats.
Softball
Albert Gallatin freshman Annalia Paoli continued to manhandle area pitching as the Pitt recruit smacked a two-run walk-off home run — her WPIAL-leading 11th of the season — in the bottom of the eighth inning to provide the Class 5A No. 4 Colonials (15-3) a 6-4 victory against Waynesburg (8-8).
Morgan Prouty smacked a bases-loaded walk-off single with nobody out in the eighth inning to help Class 6 A No. 4 Seneca Valley (153) to a 3-2 victory against Class 2A No. 4 Seton-La
Salle. (10-3).