A year ago, history was made when five teams ended up tied for the Section 3-3A baseball championship.
While the odds of a repeat are very slim, coming into this week, six teams in Section 2-5A were separated by only two games.
Following Monday’s action, things are tighter heading into the three section series finales.
Moon is alone in first place at 5-2, South Fayette is second at 6-3, and four teams sit tied for third with four section losses.
Bethel Park is 5-4, while Peters Township, Trinity and Upper St. Clair are all 3-4.
The Tuesday schedule has Moon hosting Bethel Park and South Fayette home to Trinity at 4 p.m., while Peters Township hosts Upper St. Clair at 7 p.m.
Let’s try again
After being chilled out Monday, the big district 6A showdown is now set for Tuesday afternoon as first place or a share thereof is up for grabs when Seneca Valley visits Hempfield at 4 p.m.
They have been the two dominant programs this decade in WPIAL Class 6A softball.
Their success has continued in 2026 as they are a combined 21-2 this spring entering their second meeting of this season.
The Raiders are in second place with a section mark of 8-1, 10-1 overall with six straight wins.
The Spartans are alone in first place with a 9-0 section record. The 2025 champions are 11-1 and winners of nine in a row with seven of those victories via the mercy rule.
In the first meeting, Hempfield rallied from an early deficit to win at Seneca Valley, 5-2.
These programs have split their last four WPIAL Class 6A softball crowns with the Spartans winning in 2023 and 2025 while the Raiders claiming district gold in 2022 and 2024.
Matchups in the middle
While a lot of eyeballs gravitate to the top of the district boys volleyball standings, there are a couple of Class 3A matches set for Tuesday between teams trying to secure a playoff berth and climb the ladder in their respective sections.
In Section 1-3A, North Allegheny has built at least a two-game lead over the rest of the pack.
The other four teams in the section are separated by only two games with Seneca Valley at 3-2, Butler at 2-2, Pine-Richland at 2-3 and even Moon still in the hunt at 0-4.
On Tuesday, Butler hosts Pine-Richland.
The winner of the Golden Tornado-Rams match clinches a playoff berth if Moon falls to North Allegheny in the battle of the Tigers.
In Section 2-3A, Gateway is in first place at 5-0, one game ahead of second-place Fox Chapel with a 4-1 section mark.
The battle for third place in the section takes place Tuesday when North Hills visits Central Catholic.
The Indians are 2-2 in the section while the Vikings are 2-3.
Doubling up
With the district boys singles tennis championship in the rearview mirror, the WPIAL boys doubles tennis championships begin Tuesday and conclude Wednesday.
The first round, quarterfinals and semifinals matches will take place Tuesday with the consolation and championship finals slated for Wednesday at North Allegheny.
Logan Memije of Gateway returns as one-half of the WPIAL Class 3A doubles champions from a year ago as he and new partner Troy Boden are the No. 4 seed.
The 2025 WPIAL 2A champion duo is back in full as Jonah Jasek and Steven Duing of South Park are the top seed.
Class 3A
First round, 11 a.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny
No. 1 Ashwin Sudhaker/Matt Kampi (North Allegheny) vs. No. 16 Grant Gardiner/Eli McKeever (Latrobe)
No. 8 Thomas Luther/Brendan Huang (Shady Side Academy) vs. No. 9 Harshal Pallerla/Ani Garimella (South Fayette)
No. 4 Logan Memije/Troy Boden (Gateway) vs. No. 13 Gavin Hughes/Caden Smith (Bethel Park)
No. 5 Frank Siegel/Grant Fenton (Fox Chapel) vs. No. 12 Prem Nadesan/Arnesh Paura (Franklin Regional)
No. 2 Luca Ritovoi/Noah Klaber (Mt. Lebanon) vs. No. 15 Ryan Moore/Arav Amin (Pine-Richland)
No. 7 Colin Stalnaker/Sanshiro Ogawa (Franklin Regional) vs. No. 10 Cal Johnson/Jaxon Hittle (Mars)
No. 3 Shivum Telang/Ronit Ginde (North Allegheny) vs. No. 14 Rocco Didomenico/Harrison Soose (Fox Chapel)
No. 6 Carter Lichtman/Myles Owens (Upper St. Clair) vs. No. 11 Kiran Tevar/Sam Kamin (Shady Side Academy)
Class 2A
First round, 11 a.m. Tuesday at Bethel Park
No. 1 Jonah Jasek/Steven Duing (South Park) vs. No. 16 Michael Dubetsky/Evan Riffer (Indiana)
No. 8 Jake Sinclair/Paddy McCabe (North Catholic) vs. No. 9 Silas Morris/Tommy Shrum (Greensburg Salem)
No. 4 Alex Weber/Kenny Splane (North Catholic) vs. No. 13 Mike Lanigan/Will Brown (Blackhawk)
No. 5 Cody Clayton/Hunter Hazlewood (Central Valley) vs. No. 12 Grant Goodman/Matthew DeAndrea (South Park)
No. 2 Ravi Stanger/Soham Maiti (Winchester Thurston) vs. No. 15 Randen Eury/Beckett Wargo (Keystone Oaks)
No. 7 Jonah Camardese/Tray Varga (Montour) vs. No. 10 Patrick Connors/Sutton Hoehl (Quaker Valley)
No. 3 Sean Perez/Aiden Desanzo (Beaver) vs. No. 14 Dom Ditano/Carter Hawes (Quaker Valley)
No. 6 Syed Najih Haider/Bodhan Hula (Winchester Thurston) vs. No. 11 Ben Crefeld/Max Sprinkler (Blackhawk)
Tuesday on Trib HSSN
There are eight broadcasts and two podcasts you can watch or listen to at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the 21st day of April.
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Fort Cherry at Chartiers-Houston at 7 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Hempfield at Canon-McMillan at 4 p.m. on WJPA-AM 1450 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Armstrong at Franklin Regional at 4 p.m. on the Westmoreland County Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – West Allegheny at New Castle at 4 p.m. on Lawrence County Sports Net at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – West Mifflin at Laurel Highlands at 4 p.m. on WMBS-AM 590, WMBS-FM 101.1 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Shenango at Neshannock at 6 p.m. on Lawrence County Sports Net at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – South Side at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at 5:30 p.m. on the OLSH Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Frazier at California at 4:30 p.m. on MVI Live at TribHSSN.TribLive.com