North Allegheny and Bethel Park took turns as the No. 1-ranked team in WPIAL Class 6A softball over the past month. But as the teams crossed the finish line of the regular season, Canon-McMillan was first.
The final Post-Gazette regular season rankings are out and Canon-McMillan is the No. 1 team.
The Big Macs weren’t even in the top five two weeks ago, but a strong finish catapulted the team to the top spot. Canon-McMillan tied Bethel Park and Baldwin for the Class 6A Section 1 title, but the Big Macs’ impressive play over the final few weeks was an overriding factor in getting the No. 1 ranking.
Canon-McMillan (12-4) heads into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak and the Big Macs defeated Bethel Park (9-5) and Baldwin (10-4) during the streak.
The WPIAL softball committee meets Thursday and will announce playoff pairings and seedings in the afternoon. It will be interesting to see what team gets the No. 1 seed. The playoffs are set to begin Monday.
Mount Pleasant and Knoch were the only teams to finish the regular season with undefeated records. This is the second consecutive season that Mount Pleasant has been perfect in the regular season. A year ago, the Vikings lost in the WPIAL semifinals.
West Greene is the No. 1 team in Class 1A and the Pioneers will be trying to win their third consecutive WPIAL crown. Of the defending WPIAL champions, West Greene is the only one that is ranked No. 1 heading into the playoffs.
Here are the Post-Gazette’s final WPIAL softball rankings for the regular season:
CLASS 6A
1. Canon-McMillan 12-4
2. North Allegheny 13-5
3. Bethel Park 12-3
4. Baldwin 12-3
5. Hempfield 13-6
CLASS 5A
1. Penn-Trafford 17-1
2. Plum 15-3
3. Hampton 15-2
4. Connellsville 13-6
5. Trinity 13-4
CLASS 4A
1. Mount Pleasant 15-0
2. Elizabeth Forward 14-3
3. Knoch 14-0
4. Yough 12-5
5. Thomas Jefferson 14-3
CLASS 3A
1. Avonworth 17-2
2. Beaver 12-4
3. Burrell 13-2
4. South Allegheny 16-2
5. South Park 12-4
CLASS 2A
1. Chartiers-Houston 15-3
2. Frazier 14-3
3. Neshannock 15-3
4. Laurel 16-2
5. Vincentian 14-1
CLASS 1A
1. West Greene 16-4
2. Leechburg 15-1
3. Union 10-5
4. Springdale 12-3
5. Sewickley Academy 8-3
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: May 9, 2019, 1:04 p.m.
Updated: May 9, 2019, 1:05 p.m.
