Early agate
ON THIS DATE
April 26
1971 – Washington’s John Reihner breaks the WPIAL record in the discus – which he set only 12 days earlier – with a throw of 184-1 in a dual meet win over Baldwin that capped an undefeated season for the Little Presidents. Reihner’s toss breaks his old record by 13 inches.
1983 – The Pittsburgh Steelers select Texas Tech defensive tackle Gabe Rivera in the first round of the NFL draft.
1983 – Larry McWilliams pitches a one-hitter, allowing only a fifth-inning single by Fred Brenly, as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the San Francisco Giants 3-0 at Three Rivers Stadium. McWilliams strikes out eight, walks five and is aided by three double plays.
1992 – The Pittsburgh Steelers select Miami (Fla.) offensive tackle Leon Searcy with the 11th pick in the NFL draft.
1995 – The Montreal Expos defeat Pittsburgh 6-2 in the Pirates’ home opener that turns ugly in an error-filled fifth inning. A crowd of 34,841 jeers Pirates player representative Jay Bell. Then, with the Expos up 2-1 in the fifth, Roberto Kelly’s infield single is thrown away by Pittsburgh third baseman Jeff King, then by right fielder Orlando Merced, allowing three runs to score. The fans boo, then toss wooden sticks from free souvenir pennants, causing a 17-minute delay.
2003 – The Pittsburgh Steelers send three draft picks to Kansas City in exchange for moving up 11 spots in the first round of the NFL draft. The Steelers select USC safety Troy Polamalu.
2005 – Carmichaels left-hander Jared Lapkowicz pitches the Mikes to a 10-0 victory over Geibel to win his WPIAL-record 32nd game.
2012 – The Pittsburgh Steelers selected guard David DeCastro of Stanford with their first-round pick (No. 24 overall) in the NFL draft.
2012 – Matt Chambers pitches a complete game, and Bevin Bedillion drives in the game-winning run in the last inning, as McGuffey rallies for a 4-3 victory over West Mifflin. The win ends a 51-game section losing streak for McGuffey baseball. The last section win for the Highlanders was April 26, 2008.
2016 – Andrew McCutchen hits three home runs and drove in five to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-4.
2018 – Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel score in a 4:49 span to help the Pittsburgh Penguins rally to beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in Game 1 of a second-round playoff series.
2018 – Down to its last strike, Monessen’s girl softball team gets a stunning two-run homer from Cara Wheeler in the top of the seventh inning to beat West Greene, 2-1. It is the first win for the Greyhounds over the defending Class A state champions since 2014.