Apr 8, 2022 3 min read

ON THIS DATE

April 9

1956 – Stan Majesky of West Bethlehem throws one of the best games ever pitched by a local high school baseball player. Majesky strikes out 27 batters in a 13-inning complete game as West Beth defeats visiting Waynesburg, 1-0. Majesky allows six hits. West Beth scores the winning run on an error in the 13th inning.

1959 – Pitcher Chuck Giuffrida strikes out 20 batters and throws a three-hitter as Donora defeats Monongahela 8-3 in the Section 16 baseball opener.

1962 — Arnold Palmer wins a three-way playoff, beating Gary Player and Dow Finsterwald in the Masters.

1963 – Bob Bailey hits his first major league home run to help the Pittsburgh Pirates win their home opener, 3-2 over the Milwaukee Braves.

1984 – The Washington High School boys basketball team, the PIAA Class AA champion, is named the Observer-Reporter’s Sports Headliner.

1985 – Chartiers-Houston’s Michelle Bazzoli and Becki Burlingham of Immaculate Conception are named co-Most Valuable Players of the Observer-Reporter Washington-Greene Girls Basketball All-Star team.

1988 – Peters Township High School freshman Kathy Knabb wins the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, and Ringgold sophomore Rae Tartt wins the 100- and 200-meter dashes for the second consecutive year, at the Washington County Coaches Girls Track Meet held at Trinity.

1989 – Phil Bourque scores two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the New York Rangers 4-3 to sweep the Patrick Division semifinal series. It’s Pittsburgh’s first playoff series victory in 10 years.

1993 – The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers 10-4 for their 16th straight win to break the NHL record of 15 held by the New York Islanders.

2007 – Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby finishes with 120 points to become the youngest player to win the Art Ross Trophy. Crosby, 19, betters the mark set by Wayne Gretzky, who was 20 years and three months old when he recorded 164 points for his first Art Ross in 1980-81. Crosby had 36 goals and 84 assists.

2012 – The Canon-McMillan wrestling team, which went undefeated and won two PIAA championships, is named the Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner.

April 10

1952 – Manueal Pihakis of Canonsburg and Waynesburg College’s Ray Carlson qualify for the final United States Olympic Wrestling Trials to be held in Ames, Iowa. Pihakis (114.5 pounds) and Carlson (174.5) were weight class winners at the district qualifier held in Pittsburgh.

1988 – The Waynesburg College basketball team, which had a 32-3 record, advanced to the NAIA Final Four and was ranked a high as No. 2 in the nation, is named the Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner.

1988 – Trinity High School’s Karen Donley, who averaged 20.7 points per game and set the school’s single-game scoring record with 37 points against Erie McDowell, is named the Observer-Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

1993 – The Pittsburgh Penguins get a shorthanded goal from Rick Tocchet and go on to defeat the New York Rangers 4-2 to extend their NHL record winning streak to 17 games.

1995 – Larry DiIanni, a former coach at Sto-Rox, is hired as head football coach at Canon-McMillan High School.

2007 – Roger Goodell cracks down on the player misconduct that plagued his first seven months as NFL commissioner, suspending Tennessee’s Adam “Pacman” Jones for the 2007 season and Cincinnati’s Chris Henry for eight games.

2010 – Beth-Center senior Megan Sowers is named the Observer-Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

2012 – Duquesne hires Jim Ferry as its head basketball coach. Ferry spent the last 10 seasons as the head coach at Long Island.