May 15, 2025 3 min read

John Woodward came on in relief and struck out 11 over 5 2/3rds innings pitched to help Jefferson-Morgan top Winchester Thurston, 11-4, in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

Woodwards also singled and drove in two runs. Brayden Ellsworth had a pair of hits and RBI and Joe Bair drove in three runs for the Rockets (14-3).

Sam Tarr and Benji Smuckler had two hits apiece for Winchester Thurston (11-7).

Waynesburg 6, Freeport 2

Tyler Groves struck out 11 in a complete game on the mound and went 2-for-3 with a triple to lead Waynesburg (16-3) to a 6-2 win over Freeport (13-7) in the Class 3A first round.

The Yellowjackets scored twice in the first inning, but Groves shut them down the rest of the way. Waynesburg scored four runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Jake Stephenson, a two-run single by Grant Pak and an RBI single by CJ Corwin to take the lead.

Laurel 4, Fort Cherry 3

A comeback effort fell short for Fort Cherry (13-6) in a 4-3 loss to Laurel (9-10) in the Class 2A first round.

The Rangers scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to get the deficit to one run and got the tying and go-ahead runners on in the seventh, but Conner Mackrell got Matt Sieg to ground out to nail down a save.

Burrell 10, Charleroi 9

Burrell (13-8) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, rallying to win a back-and-forth Class 3A first round game, 10-9, over Charleroi (10-7).

An RBI single by Ryan Bates and a sacrifice fly by Ryan Wass gave the Bucs the lead in the sixth.

Charleroi trailed, 7-4, after three innings, but scored three times in the fourth and twice in the fifth to take the lead. Brock Henderson had an RBI triple in the fourth and singled in a run in the fifth. Henderson finished with three hits.

Shenango 1, Chartiers-Houston 0

Chartiers-Houston (15-5) dropped a pitchers duel, 1-0, to Shenango (7-10) in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.

Brady Robaugh pitched six innings and allowed one run with two strikeouts for the Bucs, but Shenango’s Joey Campoli had 10 strikeouts in a complete game shutout.

The lone run of the game came on an RBI groundout by Matt Fry.

Riverview 6, California 2

Johnny Bertucci pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts and Eli DeVita hit a three-run homer to power Riverview (13-6) past California, 6-2, in a Class 2A first round game.

Caden Monticelli pitched well for California, but the Trojans (8-10) yielded six unearned runs. He had three strikeouts over six innings. Ricky Lawson doubled for California.

In other games: Peters Township defeated Baldwin, 5-4. The game was continued Thursday after being suspended due to weather Wednesday night.