Ray Fisher stories, Page 39
Strong start in section, tournament play helps Hampton volleyball vault to No. 1 ranking
Hampton opened its section schedule in girls volleyball with a pair of impressive victories, blanking Highlands and Knoch by 3-0 scores in early September. The Talbots also participated in two tournaments, placing second to Pine-Richland at Mt. Lebanon and dropping a 25-23 decision to South Fayette in the semifinal round...
Bethel Park honors Athletic Hall of Fame inductees
Five decades covering a span of 41 years were represented at this year’s Bethel Park Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The 2020 Hall of Fame class was announced Sept. 17 before the Gateway-Bethel Park nonconference football game at Black Hawk Stadium. The inductees consist of Alan Smith (1969), Doug...
Trio of returning letter winners among Bethel Park golfers gaining experience
Adam Triscila, coach of the Bethel Park girls golf program, offered an open invitation. “Our team needs golfers,” he said. “If any young ladies have an interest in golf and would consider playing for us next fall, please contact me (Triscila).” Meanwhile, this season, Triscila welcomed three letter winners back...
Despite roster turnover, Sewickley Academy girls soccer chasing another playoff berth
Sewickley Academy is a fixture in the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs. The Panthers have advanced to the postseason 12 of the past 13 years, including 11 consecutive times from 2007-17. During that span, the SA girls captured four section championships, with the latest coming in 2017. The Panthers qualified for...
Quaker Valley girls soccer poised for postseason return
Quaker Valley’s soccer teams were absent from the WPIAL playoffs last season because of coronavirus protocols. After a covid-19 outbreak in the district last fall, QV’s athletic seasons were shut down. The QV girls finished fourth in Section 1-2A after going 3-5-2 in league play and 3-7-2 overall. The Quakers...
Veteran lineup returns for WPIAL field hockey runner-up Fox Chapel
Fox Chapel was a WPIAL finalist in field hockey in 2020. The Foxes lost 2-1 to undefeated defending champion Penn-Trafford in the Class 2A final Nov. 2 at a chilly Burk Stadium in Fox Chapel. The Fox Chapel girls were vying for a seventh WPIAL championship in school history; they...
Kiski Area cross country teams set goal of improving as season progresses
Kiski Area coach Tom Berzonsky advocates a fundamental approach to the 2021 cross country season for his runners. Improvement is the key word. “Our top goal is to consistently improve throughout the season,” said Berzonsky, now in his third decade as the Cavaliers’ coach. “Our girls team returns six of...
Thomas Jefferson youth baseball clinic a hit
Officials initially discussed holding the inaugural Thomas Jefferson youth baseball clinic in the spring. However, due to covid restrictions the event was pushed back to a later date — Aug. 29. And it proved to be a thundering hit. The inaugural day-long clinic took place at Andrew Reilly Memorial Park...
Sewickley Academy boys soccer aims to maintain winning standard under new coach
Sewickley Academy experienced a productive season in boys soccer a year ago, advancing to the WPIAL semifinals and finishing 10-2-1 overall. The Panthers, now led by first-year coach Alessandro Moreira, are looking to build off last year’s regular-season success. “My expectations are to make the playoffs and try to win...
After untimely end to last season, Quaker Valley boys soccer driven to reign again
Quaker Valley boys soccer is synonymous with success. As is second-year coach J.J. Veshio, a longtime assistant in the program. Veshio guided then-defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champ Quaker Valley to an 11-1-1 record last season, as the Quakers outscored the opposition 114-8 and had three double-digit scorers. Unfortunately,...
New look Franklin Regional girls volleyball maintains lofty expectations
A new chapter in the Franklin Regional girls volleyball program will be written in 2021 following a season unlike any other. Franklin Regional won its first WPIAL championship in a pandemic-riddled 2020 season and reached the PIAA finals for the first time. Thanks to an abundance of talent, the Panthers...
Strong core looks to keep ball rolling for Hampton girls soccer
The Talbots are hoping for more of the same in 2021. Hampton has made the playoffs in girls soccer for five straight years and advanced to the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals last fall. During the pandemic-riddled 2020 season, Hampton won its first section title since 2008 and finished 12-3 overall....
Hampton boys cross country under the radar, on the upswing
Hampton’s top three competitors at last year’s WPIAL Class 2A cross country finals were Nathan Garrett, Dale Hall and Michael Belch. All three are back this season. “They have done some good work this summer,” coach Dean Longwell said. “Michael started the (2020) season injured and is coming into this...
Bethel Park QB Max Blanc plans for college career at Youngstown State
Max Blanc is a student of the game, particularly at the quarterback position. Blanc is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound strong-armed signal caller at Bethel Park who also plays linebacker. He studies, learns, then executes the Black Hawks’ game-plan to the best of his intellectual abilities. “His football IQ is better than...
Bethel Park boys soccer eyes WPIAL playoff berth
Small steps. The Bethel Park boys soccer team isn’t reaching for the sky this season. More on point, the Black Hawks would like to return to the WPIAL playoffs after sitting out the postseason the past four years. “Our goal is to make the playoffs,” said fourth-year coach Doug Fink,...
West Mifflin to rely on punishing ground attack
There are various ways to describe the West Mifflin football team. One would be that the Titans are young and big. Or, on the other hand, they could be categorized as “big but young.” “To be honest, we played a lot of young guys last year,” coach Rod Steele said....
Cupboard anything but bare for powerful Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson repeated as WPIAL and state titlists in Class 4A last season, finishing 10-1 overall. The Jaguars built on their championship culture, winning their 10th WPIAL title and record-setting fifth PIAA crown. And guess what? There were 18 sophomores and 24 freshmen on the 71-player varsity roster a year...
Baldwin graduates look ahead to promising college volleyball seasons
Three key senior members of the 2019 Baldwin girls volleyball team — outside hitter Allison Murray, middle hitter Ally Schenk and right-side hitter Riley Lenard-Haley — have continued their careers at the next level. After finishing as a back-to-back section champion and WPIAL runner-up in 2016 and 2018, Baldwin was...
South Hills notes: Thomas Jefferson grads team up at Duquesne
Notebook items from around the South Hills: Thomas Jefferson • TJ is 60-5 overall and 41-2 in regular-season play over the past five football seasons, including one 10-0 and two 9-0 records. The Jaguars have won 19 of 22 playoff games, along with four WPIAL and two PIAA titles, and...
Thomas Jefferson grad Lexi Dadig set to play basketball at next level
Lexi Dadig graduated with honors from Thomas Jefferson this spring. A quick, sharpshooting senior guard on the girls basketball team in 2020-21, Dadig plans to extend her playing days at the next level. The 5-foot-5 Dadig will continue her hoops career and education at Saint Vincent, which won the Presidents’...
Bethel Park football to feature deep group of receivers, linemen
A quick dose of Bethel Park football, by the numbers: • There are three quarterbacks listed on this year’s 70-player team roster — senior Max Blanc, a Youngstown State recruit, junior John Barr and freshman Jack Bruckner. “Max will be our leader on offense. We expect great things from him,”...
Defense, passing game to lead Brentwood
There’s a significant number of new faces in the Brentwood lineup this season. But first, returning starters include seniors Jase Keib (QB/DB), Lamarr Williams (WR/LB), Mitchell Fox (WR/DB), Jack Wisenauer (OL/LB), Alec Troy (OL/LB), Tate Jones (RB/NG) and junior Jason Redlinger (FB/DL). “As always, we expect to make the the...
Seton LaSalle looking for stability, improvement after coaching shuffle
Interim coach Chris Siegle is hoping to restore stability to the Seton LaSalle football program. The senior athletes on the 2021 squad have had four head coaches in their varsity careers, starting with Rob Carter in 2018, followed by Mike Zmijanac the past two seasons. Mauro Monz was hired to...
Bethel Park aims to rebound from rare winless season
Bethel Park has been a perennial WPIAL playoff contender on the gridiron. The 2020 season was an aberration. The Black Hawks, coming off 18 consecutive WPIAL playoff appearances and eight winning seasons in a row, did not win a game last fall and finished 0-7. They expect to turn things...
Fox Chapel teen a rising star in climbing world
Gavin Youkers just keeps climbing off the charts. Youkers began rock climbing four years ago at the age of 9 while at Climb North in Wildwood. It was there that his love of climbing was launched by his coach, Justin Mech, and his teammates. “It was fun,” Youkers said. “We...
