CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Wildfires burning in Canada affected the air quality in much of the United States.

“Until 2023, wildfires hadn’t been as much of an issue in West Virginia or even generally on the East Coast as we’re seeing now in 2025,” said Renu Chakrabarty, assistant director, air monitoring & air toxics for the West Virginia EPA. “We’re seeing another round of wildfires coming through and impacts from wildfires.”

Smoke made its way into our region — triggering an air quality alert on Thursday.

“We just wanted to make sure that folks who may have some health sensitivities–children, elderly, heart or lung conditions — were aware of what was going on so they could take precautions if they thought it was warranted,” Chakrabarty said.

The EPA has different time averaging periods for different pollutants.

In this case, particulate matter is what led to the haze.

The Air Quality Index monitored by the EPA looks at the hourly data for the pollutant.

“We were concerned that some of the hours in the day maybe go over the standard on an hourly basis,” Chakrabarty said. “We actually did not see that. We did come close.”

The West Virginia APA also checks data and forecasts from the National Weather Service to better inform what they see on their own monitors.

Copyright 2025 WSAZ. All rights reserved.

ST. MARYS, W.Va. (WTAP) – The Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis football game is almost here.

Six West Virginia cheerleaders were picked to cheer during the football game.

These girls are representing St. Marys High School, Tyler Consolidated High School, and Wirt County High School.

They have all graduated and will be cheering for the last time.

Savannah Keife from St. Marys said she is excited to cheer at the game.

“Being able to cheer one last time. It’s just I didn’t think it would happen, so I’m so very glad it’s happening, and I think everyone should come out Friday night and at least come here to support, like the football players and the cheerleaders and everyone’s who got everyone who is battling cystic fibrosis. And if you can’t do anything else, at least be here to support the game,” said Keife.

Their coach, Becca Mathews, is familiar with Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis.

She performed as a cheerleader in 2019 with girls from West Virginia and Ohio.

Mathews said it will be a night to remember.

“It’s a great feeling. I personally cheered this event myself and it’s one of my favorite memories as a cheerleader, so I know it’s gonna be one of theirs. It’s a great feeling just coming out one last time and just to coach it is amazing,” said Mathews.

All of the proceeds from the game will go towards Cystic Fibrosis research and helping local families affected by Cystic Fibrosis.

Ava Mongold from Tyler Consolidated said she is excited to support a good cause.

“It’s just an honor, honestly, all of us being here and supporting it. It just makes me feel good. Makes others with this diagnosis probably feel good too, and just help everyone out,” said Mongold.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at St. Marys High School’s football stadium.

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Copyright 2025 WTAP. All rights reserved.

When West Virginia hit its lowest point of the season, utility player Armani Guzman was just getting started.

A blowout loss to Arizona in the Big 12 tournament semifinals sent regular-season champion West Virginia to its ninth loss in 13 games — a momentum-killing stretch at the worst possible time heading into the NCAA tournament.

Nearly forgotten from that game was a pair of late singles by Guzman in a pinch-hitting role. First-year coach Steve Sabins noticed, promoting the sophomore to a starting spot in the regional.

It was the spark the Mountaineers sorely needed.

Batting last in the lineup, Guzman went 8 for 12 with six RBIs in three games and was named regional MVP. The Mountaineers (44-14) beat host Clemson once and Kentucky twice to advance to their second straight super regional starting Saturday at No. 6 national seed LSU (46-15).

“I bet there’s never been a nine-hole hitter been a tournament MVP,” Sabins said. “What he did was epic.”

Guzman had shown a flash of stardom earlier this season. In an April 1 game at Ohio State, he reached over the right-field wall to take away a home run, then threw out a runner at first base for a double play. He is West Virginia’s third-best hitter with a .337 average and leads the Mountaineers with 16 stolen bases.

But from April 11 to May 22, Guzman was used sparingly as a defensive replacement and went just 1 for 8 at the plate.

Guzman stayed patient until his turn came up again.

“His mentality has been so spot on,” Sabins said. “You want to talk about a confident guy that’s not arrogant. He is in such a strong place competing right now that he knows he’ll have success.”

Making his first start in nearly a month, Guzman hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the ninth inning of a 4-3 win over Kentucky in the regional opener. In the clinching 13-12 win over the Wildcats on Sunday, the Mountaineers overcame deficits of 6-1 and 12-7. Guzman went 4 for 5 and his single in the eighth inning drove in the go-ahead run.

“I was a guy who didn’t play the last month and a half, and I’m here in this position,” he said. “I think it’s a big confidence boost to each guy. The confidence that we have in each other is huge.”

Being used on defense in the outfield and at third base while often being inserted as a pinch hitter during the season, “I just try to be an athlete,” Guzman said. “Sabs talks about it all the time. His job is to place us where he thinks we best fit. My job is to play the game. So that’s all I do.”

Clutch all around

As good as Guzman played, West Virginia needed all the gutsy individual performances it could get in the regional.

“That’s just the type of group we are,” said catcher Logan Sauve, who went 5 for 15 in the series. “We all stuck for each other and played for each other and wished for the kid behind us to do better than what we just did.”

Griffin Kirn threw 117 pitches over seven innings in the opener, then returned two days later to pitch the ninth inning in relief and earn the save in the clinching win.

Utility player Ben Lumsden, a starter a year ago who managed just four hits previously this season, started in place of veteran Grant Hussey at first base and had a breakout series in his home state with three hits and five RBIs.

Lumsden and Guzman “bought into the fact that regardless of results, the only path forward is to work,” Sabins said.

Getting refocused

As a rookie head coach, Sabins, who took over for the retired Randy Mazey, saw new experiences throughout the season.

West Virginia opened with 13 straight wins, captured its first outright Big 12 regular-season championship and set a school record for wins.

But the final month of the season, when the losses were piling up, was mystifying. So team and individual meetings were held. Videos were reviewed. Highlight films were emphasized.

“We threw things into a fire and started over,” Sabins said.

He even tried to figure out different ways to conduct practices.

“You try to keep it light and intense at the same time, and you try to push the right buttons every step of the way,” Sabins said.

Road confidence

West Virginia’s 24-5 road record is the best among teams in the super regionals.

At Clemson, the visitors’ bullpen is pinned in the left-field corner just a feet away from fans, and West Virginia’s pitchers heard relentless banter from the stands.

“I was thankful we played at Clemson because I thought that environment at Clemson was loud and pretty raucous,” Sabins said. “You had those kids in the bullpen that were like touching our guys warming up. So I think our guys will be prepared in that avenue.

“Our team will go into anybody that we play for the remainder of the season believing that we can win the game if we play good baseball.”