{"id":638179,"date":"2026-03-23T01:55:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T01:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/638179\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T01:55:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T01:55:12","slug":"what-to-watch-for-in-wpial-sports-for-march-23-2026-baseball-section-series-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/638179\/","title":{"rendered":"What to watch for in WPIAL sports for March 23, 2026: Baseball section series begin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By: <a href=\"https:\/\/tribhssn.triblive.com\/author\/don-rebel\/\" title=\"Posts by Don Rebel\" rel=\"author nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Don Rebel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sunday, March 22, 2026  |  9:13 PM<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"photo-id_393892\" class=\"img-fluid figure-img t\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9412486_web1_ptr-WPIAL5Abase13-052825.jpg\" alt=\"9412486_web1_ptr-WPIAL5Abase13-052825\" title=\"9412486_web1_ptr-WPIAL5Abase13-052825\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Shaler baseball team celebrates with fans after defeating Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at EQT Park. (Christopher Horner | TribLive)<\/p>\n<p>Monday marks the start of section series play in WPIAL baseball.<\/p>\n<p>With the exception of Class 6A, 13 sections from Class A to 5A are slated to begin section play this week.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, it is spring, and it is still March, so weather is a major factor.<\/p>\n<p>With rain in the forecast, the chances of playing increase when there is turf involved.<\/p>\n<p>One of the district games slated for turf, at least infield turf, pits defending Class 5A champion Shaler (0-1) opening Section 3-5A play on the road against Fox Chapel (0-1).<\/p>\n<p>The Titans were co-champions with Pine-Richland last year in the section, and then they beat the Rams in the WPIAL Class 5A finals.<\/p>\n<p>However, coach Brian Junker resigned, then later took the job as head baseball coach at Hampton.<\/p>\n<p>Taking over for the reigning champs was recent Titans assistant coach Ben Yeckel.<\/p>\n<p>A year ago, the Foxes finished in third place behind Pine-Richland and Shaler, and won 15 of their 20 regular season games.<\/p>\n<p>However, the end of the 2025 campaign was a bitter one for No. 8 Fox Chapel as it lost to No. 9 Latrobe, 2-1.<\/p>\n<p>Home openers for champs<\/p>\n<p>Two WPIAL baseball champions from last spring are set to begin the long journey toward a repeat with section openers at home.<\/p>\n<p>The surprise of the 2025 WPIAL baseball postseason was Freedom\u2019s title run in Class 2A.<\/p>\n<p>The Bulldogs finished in third place in Section 2 last season, but when the dust cleared on the district postseason, they were raising their first diamond championship.<\/p>\n<p>Freedom (0-2) is scheduled to open section play Monday at home against Northgate (0-0).<\/p>\n<p>Another district winner from a year ago was Serra Catholic in Class A.<\/p>\n<p>The Eagles had to play the 2025 season on the road while renovations were going on at Boston Field in Elizabeth.<\/p>\n<p>Serra Catholic (2-0) hosts Monessen (0-0) in a Section 3-A lid lifter on the turf field Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Nonsection winners meet<\/p>\n<p>While they will wait until next week to open section play, two other 2025 WPIAL champions are set to collide in a nonsection contest Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Class 6A winner Seneca Valley (3-0) are scheduled to visit defending Class 3A champion Riverside (0-2) on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The two teams were a combined 39-9 last spring with Seneca Valley reaching the PIAA quarterfinals in 6A while Riverside won twice with district and state gold.<\/p>\n<p>The two teams played last season in March with the Panthers beating the Raiders, 8-1.<\/p>\n<p>Softball openers<\/p>\n<p>Weather permitting, section play for district softball is also set to begin in Class 6A, 5A, 4A, 2A and two section games in Class A.<\/p>\n<p>Three 2025 champs are set to open section play Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Following the death of legendary Hempfield coach Bob Kalp last week, the Spartans (2-1) open up Class 6A play with heavy hearts as they host Pine-Richland (1-1).<\/p>\n<p>Shaler in 5A and Hampton in 4A open their title defense on the road in section openers.<\/p>\n<p>The Titans (2-0) visit Fox Chapel (2-0) in a Section 1-5A opener, while the Talbots (1-0) travel to Blackhawk (0-0) for their first Section 3-4A contest of the new season<\/p>\n<p>Monday on Trib HSSN<\/p>\n<p>There are two broadcasts and two podcasts you can watch or listen to at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the 23rd day of March.<\/p>\n<p>Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast with a recap of the 2026 PIAA boys and girls basketball championship games on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com<\/p>\n<p>Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast featuring WPIAL basketball Team of the Week on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com <\/p>\n<p>WPIAL Baseball Video Stream \u2013 Ringgold at Elizabeth Forward at 4:30 p.m. on MVI Live at 4:30 p.m. at TribHSSN.TribLive.com<\/p>\n<p>WPIAL Softball Video Stream \u2013 Ringgold at Laurel Highlands at 4 p.m. on WMBS-AM 590, WMBS-FM 101.1 at TribHSSN.TribLive.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By: Don Rebel Sunday, March 22, 2026 | 9:13 PM The Shaler baseball team celebrates with fans 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