Sports briefs
South Fayette w
ins
South Fayette, the No. 12 seed, upset No. 5 seed North Hills, 6-5, on Monday in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A softball playoffs at Montour High School.
The Lions (11-9) move to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, where they will play West Allegheny, an 18-3 winner over Fox Chapel. The time and site have yet to be determined.
South Fayette scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 6-3 lead. The Lions loaded the bases on three singles before scoring on a wild pitch. Addie Vierra knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly and Charlotte Dziki drove in the sixth run on a fielder’s choice.
The Indians (14-4) scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to one, but South Fayette pitcher Emma Earley sent North Hills down in order in the seventh to preserve the victory.
Maddie Cavenaugh led off with a solo home run on the first pitch she saw to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. They added two more on Liv Bonacci’s two-run blast for a 3-0 advantage.
The Indians scored one run in the fourth and two in the fifth for a 3-3 tie after five.
Martha Stewart is SI swimsuit cover
At 81, Martha Stewart isn’t slowing down and some might say she’s heating up. Stewart has been chosen as one of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit cover models, the magazine announced Monday.
She’s the oldest model to grace the cover of the annual swimsuit issue, surpassing Maye Musk who posed for the special issue in 2022 at 74.
In horse racing
Kentucky Derby winner Mage is facing a fresh set of horses in the Preakness in a situation not seen in more than half a century, and he’s the early favorite to beat them.
Mage was installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite at the post position draw Monday. He’s the only horse in the field of eight set to take part in the second race of the Triple Crown two weeks after running in the Derby.
It’s the first Preakness since 1969 with just one Derby horse. Majestic Prince won each of those races 54 years ago, a feat Mage will try to duplicate.
Mage will face seven fresh horses in an attempt to keep open the possibility of the first Triple Crown winner since Justify in 2018. He drew the No. 3 post for the 1 3/16-mile, $1.65 million race.
In the NFL
Matt Ryan has joined CBS as an analyst, though he’s not giving up on landing with another team as a quarterback.
CBS announced Monday that Ryan, a four-time Pro Bowler and the 2016 NFL MVP with the Atlanta Falcons, will serve as a studio and game analyst across multiple platforms for the upcoming season.
The 37-year-old Ryan is coming off a disappointing season with the Indianapolis Colts, who acquired him in a trade last year after he spent 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.
In hockey
The United States had to fight hard to overcome Germany 3-2 for a third victory in three games at the ice hockey world championship Monday.
Canada had to dig even deeper to prevail against Slovakia 2-1 in a shootout.
Matt Coronatto, Sean Farrell and Ronnie Attard each scored for the Americans and T.J. Tynan had two assists at Nokia Arena. Goaltender Casey DeSmith made 30 saves.