Five baseball and softball teams from the Pittsburgh area brought home hardware from Penn State University earlier this week after winning PIAA state championship titles.

Indiana goes back-to-back, beats Holy Ghost Prep 6-5 to win 4A baseball title

With a 6-5 win vs. Holy Ghost Prep on Thursday, Indiana became just the fifth baseball team from the WPIAL to win back-to-back state championships.

Indiana (22-4) held a 6-3 lead through 5 innings, holding on in bottom of the 7th to win the game and earn gold at Penn State University’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

Brady Oakes got the win on the mound for Indiana, striking out four batters while Charlie Manzi came into the game in a relief role, striking out five and getting the save.

“It was harder this year,” Indiana coach Dan Petroff said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We got everybody’s best effort every game and that made it more special. This feels like we ran a marathon and now we’re done. We can breathe a little, I guess.”  

Shaler Area with 5A softball title with 10-0 mercy rule win vs. Abington Heights

Shaler Area made it back to the top of the mountain for high school softball in Pennsylvania, beating Abington Heights on Friday with a mercy rule victory at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Softball Park.

Bria Bosiljevac struck out eight batters on the mound for Shaler (24-1), shutting out Abington Heights while only allowing one hit.

Haley Machajewski ended the game in the 5th inning, hitting a walk-off grand slam to claim gold for Shaler.

“It really was everything. It’s full circle since we started,” Machajewski said. “Our freshman year winning silver, to come back and win gold and walk it off, especially as my last hit — this program has given me so much, and that was a great way to give back to it.”

“I’m so excited for them,” Shaler coach Tom Sorce said to the Post-Gazette. “All year, they wanted to get back here and do the job since we lost in 2023. I’m so happy for them.”

Union beats Holy Cross 7-3 to win second straight 1A softball title

Union Area has gone back-to-back and won its second straight PIAA 1A softball championship.

With a 7-3 win against Holy Cross, Union (22-2) are now repeat champions.

The Scotties, who were playing in the 1A title game for a third straight season, scored early and often, jumping out to a 4-0 lead that they never gave back. 

Korynne Shannon had eight strikeouts on the mound for Union, allowing 7 hits in the complete game win. 

Laurel beats Chartiers-Houston 7-1 to win all-WPIAL 2A state title game

It was an all-WPIAL state championship game in Class 2A and Laurel came out on top, beating Chartiers-Houston 7-1 to claim the school’s first softball championship.

Laurel (20-6) gave up a run in the opening inning but rallied from there and never looked back, scoring all 7 of their runs between the third and sixth innings.

“When we lost [in the WPIAL semifinals], we could either feel sorry for ourselves or we could go battle,” Laurel coach Bill Garroway said. “This team, the seniors especially, are very resilient. We still had life. Whoever was in front of us, we were going to battle.”

Riley Balcom got the win on the mound for Laurel, striking out five batters and allowing just four hits.

Hempfield wins 5th PIAA softball championship with 5-4 win over Owen J. Roberts

Hempfield has now won the most PIAA softball championships among all teams in the WPIAL.

With a 5-4 win vs. Owen J. Roberts, Hempfield (25-1) are in a class of their own when it comes to state championships among Pittsburgh-area softball teams.

Hempfield rallied from a 3-0 deficit, scoring five runs between the 4th and 5th innings, hanging on for victory after allowing Owen J. Roberts to draw back within one run in the top of the 7th. 

“It’s super exciting to bring another PIAA title back to Hempfield,” head coach Tina Skelly-Madison said to the Post-Gazette. “It’s an awesome accomplishment.

Julia Carhola struck out seven batters in the win for Hempfield. 

The death of a Haitian woman released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Pittsburgh in February has been ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of 31-year-old Daphy Michel a homicide on Friday. She died three days after she was released from federal custody. 

ICE released Michel in Pittsburgh on Feb. 27, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to KDKA-TV on Friday. She was found on March 1 on the ground at a bus shelter near Station Square. She died after being taken to a hospital. 

“The opinion of the forensic pathologist in this case is that Ms. Michel was a vulnerable adult, suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier when she was released from federal custody on February 27,” a statement released by the medical examiner through the Allegheny County Police Department said on Friday.

The medical examiner’s office ruled Michel’s cause of death as hypothermia, with homicide as the manner of death.

“The ruling by the medical examiner, that is a homicide, means that the death was caused by the action or omission of someone,” Pittsburgh-based immigration attorney Joseph Patrick Murphy told KDKA-TV on Friday. “That means there’s some sort of culpability.”

Murphy, who represents Michel’s family, blames ICE.

“She had mental challenges,” Murphy said. “She was arrested for at one point screaming at imaginary people, and they knew this. They just dumped her in a bus shelter — language barrier, educational barrier, and psychiatric barrier — and left her to fend for herself. The bus shelter, she never figured out how to leave. She sat there for days, and ultimately froze to death.”

Michel was born in Haiti and came into the United States legally, Murphy said. She “effectively’ overstayed her authorized period in the United States as she waited for her asylum case to be decided, Murphy added.

She was arrested in Charleroi, Washington County, Murphy said. She was booked in the Washington County Jail on Sept. 3, 2025, and remained in jail for six months before her case was dismissed. That’s when DHS said ICE took her into custody because it said she was in the country illegally.

She was taken to ICE’s facility on Pittsburgh’s South Side so she could be given an ankle monitor before her release. In a statement to KDKA-TV, DHS Acting Secretary Lauren Bis said, in part, that ICE had “nothing” to do with the woman’s death, adding that she was released from ICE custody after being issued an ankle monitor.

“She was released with all of her belongings, including a fully charged phone, in sunny weather in the middle of Pittsburgh, where public transport is readily available,” Bis’ statement said. “All illegal aliens who are processed have access to phones to call family, friends, and attorneys.”

On the day Michel was released, records show Pittsburgh’s official high was 55 degrees, with a low of 25 degrees. On the day she died, records show the high was 36 degrees, with a low of 19 degrees.

“They could have put her in an ICE car and driven right back down to Washington County and dropped her off, and they don’t need to do that with every detainee,” Murphy said. “But it was known to them that she was screaming at imaginary people and then sent for six months doing multiple psychiatric examinations.”

He called what happened to her “reckless.” From his office high up in a Pittsburgh office tower, he can see the street corner next to where Michel was found. 

“It makes it more painful for me, because it’s a reminder right there of what happened to my friend,” he said, explaining it’s how he refers to people within the community he serves. 

Murphy said Michel’s brother plans to hire him to file a lawsuit.

Both Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Rep. Summer Lee put out statements Friday saying Michel’s death was avoidable. They called for accountability, with Lee saying ICE must answer for the woman’s death.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates continue shuffling around parts of their bullpen, as they search for the right collection of players moving forward.

The Pirates are optioning right-handed relief pitcher Brandan Bidois to Triple-A Indianapolis, as they are recalling right-handed pitcher Antwone Kelly ahead of their series opener vs. the Miami Marlins at PNC Park on June 12, per Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Bidois had spent the past month with the Pirates, becoming the first Australian player to feature for the franchise, and was an integral part of their bullpen.

The Pirates now hope that Bidois finds his best stuff back in the minors and eventually convinces them he deserves a major league roster spot in the future.

What the Pirates Bullpen Looks Like Now

The Pirates have five right-handed pitchers in Wilber Dotel, Kelly, Carmen Mlodzinski, Yohan Ramírez and Dennis Santana, plus three left-handed pitchers in Mason Montgomery, Evan Sisk and Gregory Soto.

Dotel and Mlodzinski have worked in bulk roles since moving to the bullpen and Kelly will likely do the same, providing length and rest for the starting rotation.

All three pitchers have been starters, with Dotel and Kelly doing so for the majority of their time in the minor leagues and Mlodzinski spending the first two months in the rotation before Jared Jones came back off the 60-day injured list.

Expect all three pitchers to follow a starting pitcher in a game, like Mlodzinski coming in for the last two Jones’ starts.

Ramírez is another middle reliever option, while Santana and the three southpaws work in high-leverage situations.

Bidois’ Tenure with the Pirates

The Pirates recalled Bidois on May 12 and optioned right-handed relief pitcher Cam Sanders to Triple-A.

He earned a spot on the 40-man roster, with the Pirates protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft, after a strong season in the minor leagues, where he had a streak of setting down 64 consecutive batters from July 29 to Sept. 14.

Bidois was on the taxi squad prior and eventually made his MLB debut on May 13, where he gave up a solo home run in an inning of work in the 10-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park.

He posted a 4.05 ERA over 12 outings and 13.1 innings pitched for the Pirates, with a 16 strikeouts to 11 walks, a .224 batting average allowed (BAA) and a 1.65 WHIP.

Bidois pitched twice vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers at PNC Park, the most recent series for the Pirates.

He gave up four runs over 0.2 innings , with two hits and three walks, as he and Dotel gave up 10 runs in the seventh inning of a 12-3 loss in the series opener on June 9, then allowed a run in the eighth inning of the 8-6 loss in the series finale on June 11.

Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates!

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