Chris Harlan stories, Page 112

UNIVERSITY PARK — Devon Prep challenged Serra Catholic star Mark Black three times Friday, but with two outs in the seventh and first base open, there was no reason to take that chance again. His 14-homer reputation stretches all the way to Philadelphia. Instead, Devon Prep intentionally walked Black and...

UNIVERSITY PARK — This season was mostly a dream come true until the fifth inning Friday, which felt quite the opposite. “Very nightmarish,” said first-year Beaver coach Noah Medich. “I’ll probably have nightmares about that inning.” WPIAL champion Beaver committed three errors and allowed five runs in the fifth inning...

UNIVERSITY PARK — In his 41 years as a softball coach, Elizabeth Forward’s Harry Rutherford had never seen a play quite like this. West Perry star Tiara Johnson was stealing second and EF catcher Brianna Sersevic’s throw was one of her best, reaching shortstop Anna Resnik’s glove before Johnson reached...

Scott Dibble resigned as Bishop Canevin’s girls basketball coach but that didn’t leave his calendar wide open. On Thursday, Dibble flew to Oakland, Calif., for Game 6 of the NBA Finals and will travel down the West Coast to watch the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. “That’s my weekend for...

UNIVERSITY PARK — The PIAA rearranged its softball and baseball championships schedule Thursday and postponed two games to Friday after rain soaked Penn State’s campus. The Class 2A softball final between Frazier and Brandywine Heights was rescheduled for 6:30 p.m., Friday. The game originally was set for 4 p.m., Thursday....

WPIAL basketball standout Isiah Warfield, a 25-point scorer last season at Sewickley Academy, has transferred home to Central Valley for his senior year. The move was not basketball related, said Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer. “Win was great to us. Sewickley was great to us,” said Isiah’s father Mike Warfield....

Legislation introduced Tuesday to split public and private high school athletics was “poorly crafted” and an “end-around of the (State Athletic) Oversight Committee,” said PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi. Lombardi said he watched state Rep. Aaron Bernstine’s press conference announcing the “Parity in Interscholastic Athletics Act,” legislation created in conjunction...

Public and private high schools will compete for separate state championships, and strict transfer rules will vanish under the “Parity in Interscholastic Athletics Act” introduced Tuesday by a Western Pennsylvania state representative. “This impacts hundreds of thousands of students,” said state Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) while announcing his legislation at...

The executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference sat down with outspoken public school advocates in February for a frank conversation about the current PIAA playoff system. Those talks in Harrisburg, facilitated by state Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence), led to the “Parity in Interscholastic Athletics Act” that the Western Pennsylvania...

The PIAA postponed many of Monday’s baseball and softball semifinals because of weather to Tuesday, including all involving WPIAL teams. Among the baseball games pushed back were those involving WPIAL teams North Allegheny, Beaver, Seton LaSalle and Serra Catholic. WPIAL softball teams Hempfield, Penn-Trafford, Mt. Pleasant, Elizabeth Forward, Frazier and...

Central Catholic’s A.J. Beatty, who announced more Division 1 offers than any WPIAL football recruit in the 2020 class, cut his long list down to one. Beatty announced his commitment to North Carolina on Sunday night, choosing the Tar Heels over offers from West Virginia, Central Florida, Maryland, N.C. State,...

Union’s Aaron Gunn, a rising junior who’s recruiting stock is also on the rise, announced an offer from Michigan State. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman now holds three Power 5 conference offers. He earlier received West Virginia and Kentucky offers, and recently made a trip to Morgantown. The small school standout...

Twelve days after Seton LaSalle defeated Serra Catholic in the WPIAL championship, the section rivals will rematch in the state semifinals. They’ll play at 1:30 p.m. Monday at West Mifflin. Seton won 11-2 when the teams met May 29 in the WPIAL Class 2A championship at Wild Things Park. Two...

Hempfield is one win away from its fourth consecutive appearance in the state softball championships. The Spartans already knew who they’d play in the semifinals. Now they also know where. Hempfield (18-6) will face District 3 champion Central Dauphin (23-2) at St. Francis University in Loretto at 4 p.m. Monday....

Twelve errors in three games will eventually catch up to any baseball team, even a talented WPIAL champion. Pine-Richland committed four errors Thursday, including one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, and section rival North Allegheny capitalized on all three to win 4-1 in a PIAA Class 6A...

Pine-Richland sack leader Miguel Jackson, who earned all-conference recognition last season as a sophomore, announced his first Division 1 offer Wednesday from Akron. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound defensive end had a team-high 14 sacks last season when the Rams won the WPIAL Class 6A title. He also blocked a punt, returned...

The PIAA postponed three softball games scheduled Thursday at Slippery Rock University and moved the North Allegheny vs. Pine-Richland baseball game to a different site. The Class 6A baseball quarterfinal was switched to LaRoche College at 4 p.m., Thursday due to field conditions at Slippery Rock, the PIAA announced. The...

McKeesport pays Troy Blackwell to convince charter school students to return to the school district, but the WPIAL ruled Wednesday that the assistant girls basketball coach’s efforts violated recruiting rules. The issue was that Blackwell sent a social media message to a girls basketball player at a charter school encouraging...

Donovan Johnson’s senior season remains in limbo. The WPIAL board held an eligibility hearing Wednesday for the Moon basketball star but delayed any decision until Johnson’s family provides more information about why he repeated eighth grade, WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said. Johnson’s parents argued that Donovan should be eligible...

WPIAL softball champions Laurel, West Greene and Elizabeth Forward will take part in a PIAA playoff tripleheader Thursday at Slippery Rock University. In all, 11 WPIAL teams reached the quarterfinals. Laurel and West Greene play teams from District 9 while Elizabeth Forward faces District 10 champion Grove City. In Class...

Section rivals Pine-Richland and North Allegheny will rematch Thursday in a PIAA Class 6A baseball quarterfinal at LaRoche College. They split their two regular-season games. Pine-Richland won the first 5-4 and North Allegheny won the second 2-0. The game was originally scheduled for Slippery Rock University but was moved because...

Class 6A rivals Pine-Richland and North Allegheny will rematch Thursday night at Slippery Rock University in a PIAA quarterfinal matchup. In all, 11 WPIAL teams reached the quarters. All quarterfinal games are Thursday. Class 6A bracket 7-1 Pine-Richland (19-4) vs. 7-3 North Allegheny (18-6) at Slippery Rock University, 6:30 p.m....

When Shaler’s championship season ended abruptly Monday, baseball coach Brian Junker gathered his players in right field and simply told them “thank you.” Four days after celebrating the team’s first WPIAL title in two decades, the Titans’ emotional run stopped with a 5-1 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg in the Class 5A...