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D6 wraps up challenging season

This past week, District 6 finished up the final championship games in baseball and softball of its scholastic year. Anyone reading this before 2020 would probably wonder why that would be the lead of a column, much less even mentioned, as playing out the schedule and awarding championships to deserving teams has always taken for granted. But after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the PIAA basketball championships during the 2019-2020 winter season and the entire spring high school sports slate last year, everything this year felt like it could be taken away at any ...

Mistake by Bucs’ Craig magnified

Notes and observations from the area sports world as June begins: n With suspect starting pitching and a lack of offensive firepower, the Pittsburgh Pirates are where everybody thought they’d be — at the bottom of the National League Central Division standings. After a surprising 12-11 start, the Pirates lost 21 of their next 29 games entering Monday night’s matchup with the Royals in Kansas City. n The Keystone Cops-like mix-up during last week’s loss to the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park was, to be sure, an egregious mistake on the part of Pirates first baseman Will Craig, who ...

Shot clock may benefit HS hoops

Earlier this week, the National Federation of State High School Associations Basketball Rules Committee voted to allow a 35-second shot clock in high school basketball beginning in the 2022-2023 season. It’s now up to each individual state to decide whether to go forward with it. The next PIAA board meeting is scheduled for May 26, and it isn’t yet clear whether it will immediately be a topic of conversation with the looming state track and field championships and high school baseball, softball, boys volleyball and boys tennis postseasons about to begin. But the topic is ...

NASCAR starting to allow access a year after restart

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kevin Harvick crossed the finish line at Darlington Raceway a year ago and was struck by the stillness and silence of the empty grandstands. NASCAR was one of the first major sports to resume competition early in the pandemic, setting its own path in a strange new world of health screenings, temperature checks and empty race tracks. “I didn’t think it was going to be that much different, and then we won the race and it is dead silent out here,” said Harvick, who paused to take in the eerie silence that day. “It’s weird. There’s nobody up there.” ...

Guthrie paved the way, still hoping more will follow

All these years after her history making run at the Indianapolis 500, Janet Guthrie is still deluged with letters from around the globe. “I just got a piece of fan mail from Australia,” she said Friday. “I’ve got a stack of fan mail about 3 feet high that I haven’t been able to respond to.” And how about the news that Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank is set to portray her in a movie! Swank called Guthrie “an incredible true story about female empowerment and going after your dreams,” saying she “can’t wait to bring her inspiring life to the ...

Can’t wait to see where Oweh lands

One of the most intriguing NFL prospects that Penn State has ever had is on the clock. We’re not talking about Micah Parsons, who is projected as a high pick as a game-changing linebacker. Also predicted to go in the first round is defensive end Jayson Oweh. If you can’t recall what Oweh did to merit this kind of consideration, you’re not alone. He didn’t register a single sack last season, when the Nittany Lions stumbled to an 0-5 start and the edges of their defense were exploited (you’ll recall Ohio State opening the game with a 62-yard run right around Oweh). Oweh ...