Sports category, Page 609
Bullpen High: Hempfield baseball produces quartet of high-end college relievers
Phil Fox, Christian Zilli, Jake Kramer and Brandon Coughlin were the top four pitchers on the Hempfield baseball team that reached the WPIAL Class 6A championship game in 2021. With their right arms, the Spartans had speed and craftiness. With their big-game guts, they had fearless winners. These days, the...
Penguins’ road to playoffs remains crowded with 6 games remaining
Thursday night’s 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals certainly helped the Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff cause, even if they didn’t move up in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings. Work remains if they are to earn a spot in the field for the Stanley Cup postseason. The Penguins have won three straight...
As he potentially saves season, Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic knows to ‘take the bad with the good’
Alex Nedeljkovic wasn’t just mad. He was vulgar. By late February, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ struggles had virtually morphed the team’s remaining games on the 2023-24 regular season schedule into cliched “must-wins.” And Feb. 20, Nedeljkovic and the Penguins failed to muster what was needed in a 5-4 overtime loss at...
Sidney Crosby selected as Penguins’ nominee for Masterton Trophy
Forward Sidney Crosby was selected as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The award recognizes “the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” In his...
First Call: Pair of logical Steelers UFA targets with local ties go elsewhere; muddy playoff picture for PenguinsVideo
In Friday’s “First Call,” a pair of logical free-agent targets for the Pittsburgh Steelers with local ties are going elsewhere. We examine the state of the NHL’s Eastern Conference and the Penguins’ place in it heading into a crucial weekend. And the Pirates aren’t the only team going into the...
Minor league teammates of Pirates’ Jared Jones rooting hard for his success
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie pitcher Jared Jones took Major League Baseball by storm last week in his big league debut, earning the win and striking out 10 Miami Marlins, a total few have matched in their first start, on March 30. Jones had plenty of friends and family in attendance at...
Pirates farm report for April 4, 2024: Nick Gonzales lifts Indy past Memphis
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 2-3) beat Memphis (Cardinals ), 7-5. 2B Nick Gonzales (.375) went 2 for 5 with a double and two RBIs. 3B Malcom Nunez (.300) was 2 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. CF Gilberto Celestino (.350) went 1 for 5 with a double and a pair...
Seton Hall scores final 9 points to win NIT championship by 2
INDIANAPOLIS — Dre Davis scored on a layup with 16 seconds left Thursday night to cap Seton Hall’s decisive late run, giving the Pirates a 79-77 victory over Indiana State and their first NIT championship since 1953. Seton Hall (25-12) scored the final nine points in a battle between two...
ACC wants March Madness success to translate into more NCAA Tournament bids
GLENDALE, Ariz. — No one expected N.C. State to be in the Final Four after needing a miracle run through the ACC Tournament to even make the NCAA Tournament. It’s no surprise, however, to see the ACC here based on recent history. The league has been in transition with the...
Alex Nedeljkovic, Penguins improve playoff hopes by beating Capitals
Meetings between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals typically carry significant ramifications. Thursday’s entanglement between the longtime rivals – the 247th regular season game all-time between the two outfits – was no different. Fortified by goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, the Penguins claimed a 4-1 victory at Capital One Arena in Washington...
Jim Leyland on home opener 1st pitch, Hall of Fame election and Pirates’ hot start
For any MLB manager, Opening Days are always memorable. For Jim Leyland, the first of his MLB career with the Pittsburgh Pirates was impossible to forget. As was the opponent, the fabled 1986 Mets. “You realized real quick these were the big boys,” Leyland told me Thursday on 105.9 FM....
Akshay Bhatia opens with a 63 to lead Texas Open by 3. Rory McIlroy is 6 backVideo
SAN ANTONIO — Akshay Bhatia rode the rare experience of knowing a PGA Tour course with a sublime day with his irons for a 9-under-par 63 on Thursday, giving him a three-shot lead in the Valero Texas Open and taking a small step toward a potential trip to the Masters....
Steelers sign tight end/H-back MyCole PruittVideo
The Pittsburgh Steelers continued to add pieces to their offensive skill group in free agency, signing tight end/H-back MyCole Pruitt. Pruitt is a 10-year NFL veteran who has been acquired by a team whose plays have been called by Arthur Smith for a third time. Smith was the Tennessee Titans’...
Masters ’24: Competing tours converge on Augusta National chasing the same prizeVideo
Jon Rahm went from wearing a Masters green jacket in April to an LIV Golf black letterman’s jacket in December. Those two images — one in Butler Cabin with Scottie Scheffler, the other in a New York studio with Greg Norman — illustrate the great divide in golf that has...
Martin Perez celebrates birthday with quality start as Pirates beat Nationals to win series
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Martin Perez celebrated his birthday by giving the Pittsburgh Pirates the perfect present following their first loss of the season: a quality start. The 33-year-old left-hander kept the Washington Nationals in check for 62⁄3 innings, striking out six and holding them to two runs as the Pirates...
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, UConn’s Paige Bueckers cross paths in Final Four
CLEVELAND — Their memories are blurry. Of AAU tournaments and Team USA practices. Of gold medals and deep 3s. Of the girl with the brown ponytail with the unlimited range who always seemed to know what was coming next and the blonde who never got rattled with the ball in...
Final Four serves up usual menu of fun stories — and UConn looks to snuff out all of them
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Final Four this week delivers the last entry in college basketball’s heartwarming yearbook, an annual assortment of legendary longshots, coaches looking for hugs and magic oozing from every corner of the bracket. Only problem with the 2024 version: UConn doesn’t believe in magic. The only thing...
‘It’s important for us’: Home opener battery of Jared Jones, Henry Davis paints Pirates’ future
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With 22-year-old right-hander Jared Jones on the mound and 24-year-old Henry Davis expected to be behind the plate for the home opener Friday at PNC Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates are giving a glimpse of their future to fans. Where Jones is almost half the age of Rich...
Pitt Take 5: Pat Narduzzi hopes Saturday scrimmage upstages next week’s Blue-Gold Game
The Big Blitz dance, jazz and rock band won’t be performing at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. Bad AZZ BBQ won’t be cooking smoked ribs on the street. ESPN’s Louis Riddick won’t be helping to launch a new Pitt apparel line for his alma mater. ACC Network cameras will be shut...
Derry, Lower Burrell, Trafford, Yough join District 31 Legion
District 31 American Legion baseball doesn’t start until May 20, but the league has made offseason noise by expanding to 14 teams. Jason Bush, who serves as the District 31 president and Region 7 director, believes the league is the largest in the state. “We were actually in talks with...
Highly touted CB Nate Wiggins, Christian McCaffrey’s brother among Steelers draft visits
One of the top cornerbacks available plus the brother of one of the NFL’s most recognizable players were among those hosted by the Pittsburgh Steelers for official pre-draft visits Thursday. Clemson’s Nate Wiggins is the type of rangy (6-foot-1, 173 pounds) cornerback the Steelers have traditionally coveted, and he’s projected...
Derek Shelton ‘excited’ to catch Jim Leyland’s ceremonial 1st pitch at Pirates’ home opener
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Derek Shelton broke into a big smile and laughed when asked what it means to the Pittsburgh Pirates manager that Jim Leyland will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the home opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday at PNC Park. Then Shelton quickly added...
Masters ’24: Capsules of 10 key players at Augusta NationalVideo
A capsule look at 10 key players for the Masters, to be played April 11-14 (listed in predicted order of finish): SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER Age: 27. Country: United States. World ranking: 1. Worldwide victories: 9. Majors: Masters (2022). Masters appearances: 4. Masters memory: Having such a large lead that he could...
South Carolina’s Dawn Staley is the AP Coach of the Year for the 2nd time
Dawn Staley did a masterful job guiding a young South Carolina team back to the Final Four with an undefeated record for the second straight season. Staley was honored Thursday as The Associated Press women’s college basketball Coach of the Year for the second time. She received 27 votes from...
Penn State QB Drew Allar comfortable in new offensive scheme
Drew Allar is in the midst of a crucial offseason ahead of a potentially career-defining season. Penn State’s quarterback hopes to lead the Nittany Lions to a College Football Playoff berth and Big Ten title charge in 2024. The groundwork for that push is being laid now, in spring camp....
