In the eight-season history of WPIAL Class 5A baseball, the regular season races and the district playoffs have been very competitive because of the depth of talented programs in that class.
Last year, two of the four 5A sections were decided by one game while Section 3 had co-champions.
Heading into the second to the last week of section series play, the races in 5A are white hot.
In Section 1, one game separates the top four teams, three games separate the top six teams in Section 2, there is a two-game difference between four teams fighting for second place in Section 3, and one game is the difference between the top three teams in Section 4.
This week will clear things up in each 5A section race, or will muddy the water even more heading into the final week.
Here are the key Class 5A section series starting Monday.
• In Section 1-5A, first-place Plum (7-1) is home to Franklin Regional (6-2), Latrobe (6-2) travels to Armstrong (2-8) and Penn-Trafford (6-2) hosts Kiski Area (3-5).
• In Section 2-5A, the battle of the cats begins at Boyce-Mayview when Upper St. Clair (4-4) welcomes Moon (6-2), Bethel Park (5-5) is home to Chartiers Valley (2-6) and desperate times for Washington County foes when Peters Township (3-5) visits Trinity (3-5).
• In Section 3-5A, West Allegheny (4-2) is alone in second place as it hosts Mars (2-4), and New Castle (2-4) is at Shaler (0-6).
• In Section 4-5A, a big showdown begins with first-place ramifications as Baldwin (7-1) entertains Montour (6-2), Thomas Jefferson (7-1) visits McKeesport (0-8) and, in a battle for fourth place, Connellsville (2-6) travels to Gateway (2-6).
Class 4A frays for first
First place is at stake in a couple of Class 4A section series this week.
In Section 2-4A, first-place West Mifflin is home to 2025 district runner-up Elizabeth Forward on Monday.
The Titans are a perfect 8-0 in the section and 12-3 for the season. They have won 11 of their last 12 games.
The Warriors are in second place at 7-1 in section and 9-4 this year. EF has won three of its last four games after suffering through a three-game losing skid.
In Section 3-4A, Valley and Indiana are deadlocked with 7-1 section records heading into their section series, which begins at White Township Park in Indiana on Monday.
The Vikings are 12-4 this season and have won seven straight section games since falling to Derry last month, 5-4.
The Little Indians are 11-2 overall and had won four straight before losing their first section game in two years when they were shut out by Knoch last week.
Key softball matchups
There are several district softball games Monday with section play winding down. Some of those contests carry playoff implications.
• In Class 6A, Mt. Lebanon visits Pine-Richland to finish out the section schedule for both teams.
The Blue Devils are 4-9 in 6A, however a victory puts them into the postseason. Even if they lose, they qualify if North Allegheny loses to Canon-McMillan on Tuesday.
The Rams are tied for fourth place with a 5-8 record. Pine-Richland has clinched a district playoff berth.
• Penn-Trafford (10-1) visits Gateway (3-8).
A Warriors victory gives them the Section 2-5A championship outright. A loss and P-T shares the crown with Armstrong.
• The Section 3-5A championship is up for grabs Monday when West Allegheny visits Montour.
The Indians are 6-2 in the section and win the title outright with a win.
The Spartans are 6-3 and will earn at least a share of the section championship with a victory. A loss drops Montour into a tie for second place with South Fayette.
• Knoch and Indiana are tied for first place with 10-1 records in Section 1-4A heading into their final section game.
The Knights visits Highlands (1-9) while the Little Indians travel to Derry (7-3).
• Carmichaels (8-1) can win the Section 2-A championship outright with a victory Monday at Avella (0-8).
• The winner of the Ellis School (0-5) at Leechburg (1-6) clinches a playoff berth in Section 3-A.
If the Tigers win, they are in and can eliminate Leechburg with a win against either Jeannette on Thursday or Monessen on Friday.
If the Blue Devils win, they maintain the longest WPIAL softball playoff streak at a record 39 years and forces Ellis School to win both its remaining games to qualify for the playoffs.
2A boys team tennis playoff openers
The 2026 WPIAL boys team tennis playoffs begin Monday with one Class 3A preliminary round match and eight Class 2A first-round contests.
In 3A, the Woodland Hills Wolverines visit the Latrobe Wildcats for the No. 16 seed.
The winner on Tuesday will visit top-seeded North Allegheny.
Here are the eight opening round matches in the Class 2A playoffs.
No. 16 Carlynton Cougars at No. 1 Blackhawk Cougars
No. 9 Greensburg Salem Golden Lions vs. No. 8 Montour Spartans at Chartiers Valley
No. 13 Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles vs. No. 4 Winchester Thurston Bears at Murrysville Racquet Club
No. 12 Valley Vikings at No. 5 Quaker Valley Quakers
No. 15 Ellwood City Wolverines vs. No. 2 North Catholic Trojans at Cranberry Community Park
No. 10 Hampton Talbots at No. 7 Beaver Bobcats
No. 14 West Allegheny Indians at No. 3 South Park Eagles
No. 11 Central Valley Wildcats at No. 6 Indiana Little Indians
All nine matches begin at 3:30 p.m.
Monday on Trib HSSN
There are eight broadcasts and two podcasts you can watch or listen to at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the 27th day of April.
Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast with the WPIAL Softball Player of the Week on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast with the WPIAL Diamond Team of the Week on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Softball Video Stream – West Allegheny at Montour at 4 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Moon at Upper St. Clair at 7 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Elizabeth Forward at West Mifflin at 7 p.m. on MVI Live at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Laurel Highlands at Uniontown at 7 p.m. on WMBS-AM 590, WMBS-FM 101.1 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Ellwood City at Mohawk at 4:30 p.m. on Lawrence County Sports Net at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – Laurel at Shenango at 4 p.m. on Lawrence County Sports Net at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Baseball Video Stream – California at Fort Cherry at 4 p.m. on WJPA-AM 1450 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
WPIAL Girls Lacrosse Audio Stream – Pine-Richland at North Allegheny at 7 p.m. on the North Allegheny Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com