Following a couple of delays this week, first with the Easter holiday and then with some frigid weather Tuesday, all four three-game section series in Class 6A will finally conclude Friday.
Brooms will be the weapon on choice for four district teams.
In Section 1, Central Catholic goes for a sweep when it visits North Hills at 4 p.m.
A Vikings victory would improve them to 5-1 atop the section.
Central Catholic has outscored the Indians in the two earlier games this week by a combined total of 25-2.
Also in Section 1, Butler visits North Allegheny for a second straight day with first pitch slated for 7 p.m.
The Golden Tornado try to make it three straight after beating the Tigers in the first two games by scores of 1-0 and 5-3.
In Section 2-6A, Norwin hosts Canon-McMillan at 4 p.m.
The Big Macs won the opener at home on Wednesday, 8-0, then defeated the Knights on Thursday, 4-1.
The other section 2 series has Hempfield looking to sweep its three-game set when it visits Mt. Lebanon at 4:15 p.m.
After being swept by rival Norwin a week ago, the Spartans look to even their section record at 3-3 if they can pick up another win over the Blue Devils in the South Hills.
Hempfield has outscored Mt. Lebanon in the two wins combined thus far, 19-5.
Wild, wild west
Friday is a busy day around the district softball fields.
One of the top games of the day is a Class 5A showdown in the western hills of Pittsburgh.
The game is not set a high noon, but instead Montour visits West Allegheny at 4 p.m.
The teams are undefeated in section play and a combined 11-1 this season with the lone loss coming to a team from Tennessee.
The Spartans are 4-0 in Section 3-5A and 6-1 overall with six consecutive victories.
The Indians are 3-0 in the section and 5-0 this season.
Both teams have shined on offense with Montour averaging 10 runs per game and West Allegheny scoring 8.8 runs per contest.
The teams have already opened up a two-game gap over third-place Moon (2-2).
New streak
The longest winning streak in WPIAL softball history is now over.
After winning its first five games this season to extend the three-year old streak to 57 wins in a row, Neshannock saw its record string of victories end Thursday against Shenango.
Now Neshannock looks to begin a new win streak Friday when it visits Laurel at 5 p.m. in a game you can see on Trib HSSN.
Victory No. 54 in that historic win streak came last month when the Lancers edged the Spartans, 4-3.
In that game, the Lancers scored single runs in the first four innings before holding off a rally that saw the Spartans score twice in the sixth inning and one more in the seventh.
Neshannock currently is tied with Laurel and Shenango for first place in Section 1-2A.
Friday on Trib HSSN
There are six broadcasts you can watch or listen to at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the 10th day of April.
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Central Catholic at North Hills at 4 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Frazier at Yough at 4 p.m. on MVI Live at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Softball Video Stream – North Hills at New Castle at 4 p.m. on Lawrence County Sports Net at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Softball Video Stream – Knoch at Derry at 4 p.m. on the Westmoreland County Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Softball Video Stream – Laurel at Neshannock at 5 p.m. on Lawrence County Sports Net at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Softball Video Stream – Carlynton at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at 5:15 p.m. on the OLSH Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com