In Thursday’s installment of “On Sports,” pinch-hitting for “First Call,” we take a look at the latest postseason results by the Penguins’ affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL and Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL. Plus, a look at the travel mileage that the Steelers will undertake for the 2026 campaign. Wrapping up, is Pitt baseball, on the verge of its most successful season in over a decade, NCAA Tournament-bound?

Calder Cup, Kelly Cup

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said Tuesday that he’d be closely monitoring the club’s minor-league affiliates through their respective postseason journeys.

Most recently, it was a mixed bag for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers.

On the positive side, the Penguins took Game 1 of their Atlantic Division Finals showdown versus the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Bill Zonnon, the Penguins’ first-round (No. 22 overall) draft pick in 2025, who joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout contract only days prior, scored a goal in his professional debut.

That contribution from the 19-year-old was complemented by 24 saves from Sergei Murashov in a 2-0 Penguins shutout.

The Penguins and Thunderbirds next meet Thursday evening. Whomever wins the best-of-five series advances to the Eastern Conference Finals, the last stop before the Calder Cup.

By contrast, the Nailers fell in Game 4 of their Kelly Cup playoffs series against the Maine Mariners, who triumphed in double overtime, 2-1, to even the series. Brayden Edwards scored the lone goal for the Nailers in the losing effort.

Things didn’t get any better for the Nailers in Game 5 of their North Division Final showdown, as Maine won, 5-2, to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Steelers’ travel mileage

The Steelers will undoubtedly be logging some major airborne miles in Week 7 of the upcoming 2026 campaign, as the team will travel to Paris to face New Orleans for the NFL’s first game held in the City of Light.

But in the long run, the Steelers will undergo one of the NFL’s lighter travel schedules by sheer mileage.

Per Bill Speros of Bookies, the Steelers are expected to travel 14,183 miles this upcoming season, ranking 26th in the league.

By contrast, the San Francisco 49ers are anticipated to cover 38,105 miles through the air, followed by the Los Angeles Rams (34,847).

Pitt’s NCAA Tourney hopes

Pitt’s baseball team (29-21, 10-17 ACC) is preparing to host Notre Dame for a three-game weekend series that’ll conclude the regular season.

From there, the Panthers will await their ACC Tournament seeding.

One win over the weekend would get Pitt to 30, securing for the Panthers their best season in eight years under coach Mike Bell and overall since 2013, when they won 42.

While Pitt hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1995, the Panthers appear to have a legitimate shot this season, with some additional work against Notre Dame and in the upcoming league tournament probably required to get them off the bubble.

USA Today on Tuesday listed the Panthers as one of the first four teams out of the field, along with Purdue, Mercer and Louisiana-Lafayette.

But sure to be viewed favorably on the resume for Pitt are wins this season over No. 3 Georgia Tech and No. 12 West Virginia, along with a three-game sweep of No. 10 Virginia.

That said, the Panthers have suffered some frustrating losses.

Before beating Penn State at home May 12, they’d lost seven straight to No. 2 UNC, No. 14 Florida State and Kent State.

As of Wednesday evening, Pitt sat in 13th place within a competitive ACC.

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