Early agate
ON THIS DATE
May 17
1958 – Bethlehem Joint, paced by Joe Niverth’s 17 points, wins the team title at the WPIAL Class B Track & Field Championships held at Mt. Lebanon. Niverth wins the 100-yard dash and places second in the broad jump and 440-yard dash. West Greene’s mile relay team of Zinn Gorby, Ray King, Marvin Watson and Jim Rinehart sets the WPIAL record with a time of 3:37.2.
1962 – Bill Laughlin resigns as Washington High School’s basketball coach. Laughlin, a former player at Washington & Jefferson College, was Wash High’s coach for 16 years and coached the Little Presidents to 10 consecutive section titles, a WPIAL-record 76 consecutive section victories and two WPIAL championship games. His record was 262-94.
1963 – California State College defeats Delaware Valley 10-1 and 4-0 at Shippensburg to win the NAIA District 30 baseball championship. Bruce Dal Canton pitches a one-hit shutout in the second game.
1963 – Pittsburgh’s Bruno Sammartino wins the World Wide Wrestling Federation championship for the first time, beating Buddy Rogers in 48 seconds at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1969 – The California State College baseball team wins the NAIA District 18 championship the hard way — by winning three games in one day. The Vulcans beat defending champion Indiana 5-4, then beat Point Park twice, 2-1 and 10-2. In the final, Chuck Broadwater pitches a six-hitter and Don Roberts has four hits, including a two-run homer.
1973 – Washington’s Guy Montecalvo wins the Most Valuable Performer award at the WPIAL Class A Track & Field Championships at Baldwin. Montecalvo wins the 200-yard dash, places second in the 100 and anchors Wash High’s winning 880 relay team.
1977 – Trinity’s girls track team finishes in second place at the WPIAL Track & Field Championships at Richland. Gina Piatt leads the Hillers by winning her second straight discus title and also wins the shot put with a school-record throw of 43-9.
1979 – Penn State University announces it will leave the Eastern 8 Conference at the end of the 1980-81 basketball season.
1979 – Dave Kingman of the Cubs hits three home runs and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies hit two, and Philadelphia beat Chicago 23-22 in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. Bill Buckner had a grand slam and seven RBIs for Chicago. The game included 11 home runs and 50 hits.
1984 – Peters Township’s Rod Elliott wins the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes and is the lone triple winner at the WPIAL Boys Class AAA Track & Field Championships in Latrobe.
1988 – Waynesburg’s Carlos Gibbs wins the 3,200-meter run in 9:44.8 and teammate Tim Boyd clears 13-0 to win the pole vault at the WPIAL Class Track & Field Championships at South Side Beaver High School.
1992 – Jaromir Jagr scores nine minutes into overtime, giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Wales Conference finals.
1997 – Danielle Penner tosses her third consecutive shutout, allowing only one hit and striking out eight, as California University defeats second-ranked Cal-Davis, 1-0, in the NCAA Division II softball tournament in Salem, Va. The win moves Cal into the championship round.
2005 – Chartiers-Houston’s Brianna Liebold sets a WPIAL record by winning the triple jump with a leap of 37-11 at the Class AA Track & Field championships at South Side Beaver High School. Liebold also wins gold in the long jump.
2005 – California’s Zack Jenny tosses a four-hit shutout, striking out 12, as the Trojans beat Fort Cherry 8-0 in a WPIAL Class A baseball playoff game at Peterswood Park.
2007 – Amanda Baughman strikes out 12 and a single by Megan Walker drives in Alex Lopez with the game’s only run as Washington defeats Mohawk in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA softball playoffs.
2012 – Washington’s Dustin Fuller wins three individual events (110-meter high hurdles, 300 hurdles, 400 dash) and anchors the Prexies’ winning 1600 relay team to become the first boy to win four gold medals at the WPIAL Track & Field Championships.
2013 – Sidney Crosby has his second career playoff hat trick as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference smifinals.