Mar 30, 2021 8 min read

Pirates fit to be tied in spring finale

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins played to a 1-1 tie in seven innings in the spring training finale Tuesday for both teams.

Rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes hit his second home run for Pittsburgh. He went 22 for 51 (.431) with 10 extra-base hits this spring. Adam Frazier finished 21 for 43 (.488) in 14 games and Kevin Newman went 20 for 33 (.606). Pirates starter JT Brubaker allowed just one hit in five innings.

Matt Shoemaker made his fourth start for Minnesota, allowing one run on two hits in three innings. Starter Randy Dobnak made his fifth appearance, coming on in the sixth to throw two perfect innings.

The Pirates finished with a 13-14-2 record in the spring season.

Steelers sign 2

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed running back Kalen Ballage and offensive lineman Rashaad Coward to one-year contracts on Tuesday.

Ballage enters his fourth season in the NFL after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Arizona State. He has played in 35 games in his career, with eight starts, and has 201 carries for 629 yards and seven touchdowns. He also has 52 receptions for 285 yards.

Ballage spent two seasons with the Dolphins before signing with the New York Jets in 2020. He was with the Jets for only a portion of the season, and eventually signed with the San Diego Chargers where he rushed for 290 yards and three touchdowns.

Coward spent the last four years with the Chicago Bears, joining them as an undrafted rookie free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft out of Old Dominion.

Coward has played in 30 career games, starting 15, playing mainly at guard, but also has seen some work at tackle. Over the past two years he played in 29 games, starting 10 in 2019 and five in 2020. He started 11 games at right guard, three at left guard and one at right tackle.

Meadows has new racing director

The Meadows Casino, Racetrack and Casino has hired Scott Lishia as its new Director of Racing. As part of his duties Lishia will be responsible for all facets of The Meadows year-round harness racing program and its pari-mutuel operations.

Lishia returns to the horse racing industry after working several years in the private sector. He was in executive positions with the Maryland Jockey Club, operators of Pimlico and Laurel Race Courses, for more than a decade. Lishia’s other racing experience includes work with the Maryland Racing Commission and several years as a racing official at multiple thoroughbred racetracks in New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts.

“I’m excited to return to the horse racing industry and join the outstanding organization here at The Meadows,” he said. “I’m look forward to working with the team and horsemen to help the racing product grow into the future.”

Pending regulatory approvals Lishia will start at The Meadows April 6.

W&J baseball ranked in Top 25

The Washington & Jefferson baseball team has entered the D3Baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 poll at No. 20.

W&J is one of five programs in the Top 25 that is unbeaten in 2021.

W&J was last ranked in the 2020 preseason poll at No. 20 after reaching the 2019 Division III World Series and finishing the 2019 ranked No. 6 in the nation. W&J’s last regular-season ranking came in week four of the 2018 season at No. 11.

The Presidents are off to a 12-0 start with four-game sweeps against PAC foes Bethany, Grove City and Westminster. The Presidents sit in first place in the PAC standings at 9-0.

W&J takes on Geneva for a four-game series this weekend. The Presidents host the Golden Tornadoes for a doubleheader Friday at 1:30 p.m.

High school softball

Macey Roble had quite the day Tuesday for Fort Cherry during the Rangers’ 15-0 four-inning thumping of visiting Aliquippa in a Class 2A Section 1 game.

In the circle, Roble twirled a no-hitter, striking out eight batters. At the plate, as the Rangers’ leadoff hitter, Roble went 2-for-3 and smacked a grand slam. She also scored three runs.

Cadence Fehl-Gariglio had a double and scored twice for Fort Cherry (1-0, 1-0).

• Trinity hit four home runs, including two by Alyssa Rager, and defeated Mt. Lebanon 10-6 in a non-section game, which was the Hillers’ season opener.

Rager went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs. Bailey McCullough, who also went 2-for-3, had the biggest blast for Trinity, a three-run homer. Madison Argo also contributed a home run to the Hillers’ 10-hit attack.

Kristina Bozek had a double for Trinity, backing the winning pitching of Taylor Dunn, who struck out nine.

Iris Barone went 4-for-4 for Mt. Lebanon (2-1).

• West Greene got off to a slow start, then the Pioneers erupted for nine runs in the third inning and went on to a 16-2 thumping of Brownsville in a five-inning non-section game.

The Pioneers (2-0) trailed 1-0 after two innings and did all their scoring in the final three innings. Katie Lampe had a home run and four RBI, Jersey Wise tripled and drove in three runs, as did Ali Goodwin, and London Whipkey smacked two doubles and drove in a pair of runs.

Winning pitcher Kiley Meek allowed only three hits and did not walk a batter. She struck out eight.

• Charleroi pounded out 20 hits, including 11 for extra bases, in two innings and defeated visiting Washington 24-0 in a three-inning Class 2A Section 3 game.

Nine different Cougars drove in at least one run, including Ella Sypolt, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup who went 3-for-3 with four RBI. Sofia Celaschi was 2-for-2 with a home run, triple and three RBI. Riley Jones also had a home run and triple.

Lenna Henderson hit two triples, Jocelyn Polonoli was 3-for-3 with three doubles and McKenna DeUnger doubled and had three RBI. Faith Martin also had a double.

Winning pitcher Kylie Quigley did not allow a hit and struck out eight.

• Cole Whitney had three hits and three runs, Abbey Girman and Lexie Vetter each drove in a pair of runs and South Fayette defeated Upper St. Clair 7-5 in Class 5A Section 4.

Starting pitcher Stephanie Binek and reliever Vetter combined on a 10-hitter as USC (10-1, 0-2) left 13 runners on base. South Fayette improved to 1-0, 3-0.

Alyssa Schmidt belted a three-run homer, Brooke Plunk had two doubles and winning pitcher Emily Buchleitner threw a two-hitter as West Mifflin defeated host Ringgold 12-1 in a Class 4A Section 2 game.

High school baseball

Jake Mele, Ryan Opfer and Jimmy Sadler combined on a six-hitter Tuesday and Chartiers-Houston won its Class 2A Section 4 opener, 5-3, at Burgettstown.

The Bucs (1-0, 2-0) broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the fourth inning and added two more in the fifth.

Chase Bitz drove in two runs and scored another for the Bucs. Sadler had C-H’s lone extra-base hit, a triple. Ryan Parise drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth.

Mele pitched two innings, Opfer followed for three innings and Sadler got the final six outs for a save.

Burgettstown starter Nathan Klodwoski struck out nine over 4 2/3 innings. He also went 3-for-3 with a double and two runs.

• Fort Cherry completed a two-game series sweep of Brentwood, winning 13-1 in six innings in Class 2A Section 4.

After belting six doubles in a 13-3 win Monday, Fort Cherry (2-0, 2-0) had three more. Winning pitcher Ryan Craig, Louis Serafin and Lane Miller had the two-baggers for the Rangers. Craig threw a complete game, striking out eight and walking only one batter.

• West Greene scored seven runs over the first two innings and defeated visiting Jefferson-Morgan 13-5 to gain a split of their two-game series in Class A Section 2.

Winning pitcher Corey Wise went 5 2/3 innings and struck out nine. He was supported by a 13-hit attack. Dalton Lucy led the Pioneers at the plate, going 4-for-5. Hunter Hamilton had a triple and Chase Blake smacked a double.

Bryce Bedilion had a triple for Jefferson-Morgan (1-1, 2-1).

• Charleroi used a four-run second inning to slip past Bentworth 5-3 in a non-section game.

Winning pitcher Ben Shields had a strong outing and struck out five. He helped his cause with a double, the only extra-base hit in the game. Joey Campbell came on in relief and earned a save.

• Dany Gallon drove in three runs and North Allegheny used a pair of four-run innings to beat visiting Canon-McMillan, 9-3.

Andrew Kocan had a double and drove in a pair of runs for Canon-McMillan (1-2).