High School category, Page 453
Trib HSSN softball player of the week for May 21, 2023
Shaler senior Bethany Rodman is a three-year starter who has and continues to contribute mightily to the Titans softball program. This year in particular, you could say Rodman is a perfect leader. She has been called the heart and soul of a Titans team that is 18-0 heading into the...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Big 56 honors baseball, softball players
The Big 56 Conference, a website that recognizes accomplishments of teams and athletes in the WPIAL’s largest classification, announced its all-section teams. Local first-team players picked in Class 6A Section 2 baseball included junior Keegan Carr and senior Justin Weaver of Norwin and junior Carson Shuglie of Hempfield. Class 5A...
Westmoreland WPIAL baseball capsules: Games for Monday, May 22, 2023
WPIAL baseball playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals 1-Pine-Richland (14-6) vs. 8-Hempfield (11-9) 6:30 p.m. Monday at Plum Winner plays: Winner of 4-Seneca Valley (16-4) vs. 5- Mt. Lebanon (10-10) in semifinals 7 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny Players to watch: Carson Shuglie, Hempfield; Owen Henne, Pine-Richland Extra bases: The Spartans are...
A-K Valley WPIAL baseball playoff capsules: Games for Monday, May 22, 2023
WPIAL baseball playoffs Class 5A Quarterfinals 1-Shaler (16-4) vs. 8-Fox Chapel (13-8) 4 p.m. Monday at Plum Winner plays: Winner of 4-Plum (13-7)/5-South Fayette (16-4) in semifinals at 4 p.m. Tuesday at North Allegheny Players to watch: Miguel Hugas, Shaler; Jeremy Haigh, Fox Chapel Extra bases: Shaler earned a first-round...
Undefeated softball team highlights super spring at Shaler
Tom Sorce’s five-year plan is coming to fruition. The Shaler softball coach wanted to rebuild the program by starting from the youth program up. The Titans asked several former collegiate players to come and work with the middle school program. Not everyone was able to say yes — six or...
Doubles, team success highlight banner year for Chartiers Valley boys tennis
“Chalk” is a term used in a tournament when all the favorites advance in each round. The WPIAL tennis committee has a history of being spot on, with very few upsets in the singles, doubles and team tennis postseason. Then along came the 2023 Chartiers Valley boys tennis program with...
Defending girls lacrosse champion Chartiers Valley relished being the hunted
A year ago, the Chartiers Valley girls lacrosse team finished in third place in its section, but put together a golden run in the WPIAL playoffs to win a district championship. However, when teams win any kind of title, whether it was expected or not, they quickly go from being...
Led by record-setting performances, Quaker Valley girls defend WPIAL team track title
It wasn’t even close. The Quaker Valley girls track and field team easily defended its WPIAL Class 2A championship in this year’s finals May 9 at Peters Township. The QV girls cruised past Winchester Thurston, 92-57, Knoch, 100-50, and Derry, 100.5-49.5, to claim their second straight WPIAL title and ninth...
Quaker Valley boys lacrosse heats up at right time to earn playoff berth
Quaker Valley’s boys lacrosse team found success by winning at an important time of year. The Quakers won four in a row down the season’s home stretch and six of seven after April 14 to clinch a WPIAL playoff berth. QV took a 10-4 record into its first-round matchup May...
Penn-Trafford’s Matt Sarnowski qualifies for PIAA championships
Penn-Trafford junior Matt Sarnowski picked a great time to soar up the state track and field rankings. Sarnowski, who was part of the Warriors’ 2021 WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A championship football team, is headed back to a PIAA championship event — in track and field. Sarnowski finished second in...
Penn Hills youth team wins street hockey national championship
Bradley Mazza’s trip to New Jersey provided some extra nerves. The Penn Hills Arsenal Penguins A team found itself in an unfamiliar position during the National Street Hockey Association tournament hosted by the Gloucester Township Hockey Alliance. Penn Hills was in overtime, fighting for a championship against the Marlton Chiefs....
Penn Hills notebook: Drew Schifino plans basketball camp
Drew Schifino enjoys that his family’s name has deep ties within the Penn Hills community. Schifino, who is the Indians’ all-time leading scorer with 2,320 points, went on to play at West Virginia collegiately and overseas professionally. Now, Schifino is prepping to watch his nephew, Indiana product Jalen Hood-Schifino, prep...
Pine-Richland notebook: Spring sports teams win playoff openers
It was a successful first week of the postseason for the Pine-Richland spring sports teams. The Rams softball and boys and girls lacrosse teams all scored victories in their first playoff games. Boys lacrosse A year after suffering a first-round exit on their home field, the fifth-seeded Rams made amends...
Plum senior trio caps career in WPIAL softball playoffs
As the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds for the WPIAL Class 5A softball playoffs, Thomas Jefferson and Plum, many expected, would play a close and competitive first-round game. That is what played out May 15 at Gateway High School. The Jaguars grabbed a two-run lead before Plum rallied to...
Gateway 1st-year hurdler Derrick Jones earns trip to PIAA championship meet
A couple of months ago, a hurdle was a foreign object to Gateway senior Derrick Jones. The first-year member of the Gators boys track and field team gave the event a try, and he quickly made strides, both figuratively and literally as he got more and more comfortable sailing over...
Key injury, close losses stop Gateway baseball short of playoff goal
Heading into the season, the Gateway baseball team hoped to build off its first-round loss to Bethel Park, the eventual PIAA champions, last year. However, the Gators had to try to find a way back to the playoffs without one of their top seniors. Gateway played the majority of the...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for May 20, 2023
High schools WPIAL Baseball WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Monday’s schedule Pine-Richland (14-6) vs. Hempfield (11-9) at Plum, 6:30 p.m.; Seneca Valley (16-4) vs. Mt. Lebanon (10-10) at North Allegheny, 4 p.m.; North Allegheny (14-6) vs. Norwin (8-11) at Boyce Mayview Park, 7 p.m.; Canon-McMillan (15-5) vs. Butler (12-8) at...
A-K Valley greats relive memories at annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony
Kerry McKinney Mills is in quite the celebratory mood. In addition to Saturday’s induction into the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame, the 2001 Deer Lakes graduate who earned 11 letters in soccer, basketball and track and field, turns 40 on Sunday and will mark the milestone occasion with many...
Longtime Hampton softball coach Ron Fedell steps away
Hampton softball coach Ron Fedell, who celebrated his 200th career victory earlier this month, is stepping down after 23 seasons. Fedell, 68, said he and his wife Kathy have custody of their 4-year-old granddaughter, who is autistic. Fedell said his time and focus need to be on her. “It’s just...
WPIAL girls wrestlers excited about PIAA stamp of approval
When Connellsville’s Jayanah Nobles qualified for the My House Pennsylvania Girls Wrestling Championship in March, she was disappointed it wasn’t held at Giant Center in Hershey. If she qualifies for the PIAA championships in 2024, there is a good chance it will be at the same time and venue as...
Both WPIAL team tennis champs knocked out in PIAA semifinals
Both WPIAL team tennis champions bowed out in the state semifinals Saturday. Gateway (14-4) lost 3-0 to Conestoga (17-2), the second seed out of District 1, in Class 3A. Conestoga won both doubles matches without dropping a game and took No. 2 singles in straight sets to secure three victories...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Kiski Area’s Eliza Miller, Freeport’s Isaac Wetzel
Eliza Miller Class: Junior School: Kiski Area Sport: Track and field Report card: Miller added to her medal collection Wednesday when she claimed the 800-meter title in 2 minutes, 14.71 seconds at the WPIAL championships at Slippery Rock. The junior also placed sixth in the 1,600 (5:00.76) and will compete...
Hampton grad Matt DeMatteo thrives after narrowing focus to track at Duquesne
Former Hampton three-sport standout Matt DeMatteo already owns the third-fastest 400-meter hurdle time in Duquesne track and field history. Imagine what will happen when he figures out what he’s doing. “I’ve always been a three-sport athlete and never really focused all of my time on track,” DeMatteo said. “So I’m...
Westmoreland County athletes of the week: Southmoreland’s Makayla Etling, Yough’s Gavin Roebuck
Makayla Etling School: Southmoreland Sport: Softball Class: Sophomore Claim to fame: Etling helped lead the Scotties to an amazing comeback in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals. She went 4 for 5 with two triples and a two-run homer that came in the team’s seven-run seventh inning of a 15-14 win...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Memorial basketball tournament returns to Jeannette
The third annual Tre Cunningham Memorial Basketball Tournament will return to Jeannette on June 22-24. But this year’s event, presented by the Jeannette Educational Foundation, will feature much more than the usual boys high school varsity games. Organizers plan to add 3-point and slam dunk contests. The slam dunk contest...
