Chris Harlan stories, Page 115
Central Catholic’s A.J. Beatty grows along with expectations
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 23 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. When A.J. Beatty arrived at Central Catholic last summer, defensive coordinator Dave Fleming saw...
North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens leaving Southern Cal after stellar freshman year
North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens, who earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year track honors this spring, announced Wednesday that he’s transferring from Southern Cal. Owens, who revealed his decision on Facebook, didn’t say where he would transfer. “I want to thank the University of Southern California, USC track and field,...
North Allegheny lineman Jake Lugg chooses Ivy League football
The Ivy League added a top WPIAL lineman for the second time in two days when North Allegheny’s Jake Lugg committed Wednesday to Harvard. The 6-foot-3, 255-pound rising senior had more than a dozen Division 1 offers, many from Ivy, Patriot and Mid-American schools. He announced a Harvard offer May...
Thomas Jefferson lineman Mac Duda commits to Ivy League championVideo
Thomas Jefferson lineman Mac Duda, who counted all eight Ivy League schools among his offers, committed Tuesday to Princeton. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound rising senior earned all-conference honors last season at offense tackle in the WPIAL Class 4A Big Eight Conference. He listed nearly 30 college offers in all, including many...
Peters Township’s Joe Maize resigns as baseball coach after 35 years
A sign in Joe Maize’s game room reminds visitors that “Baseball Lives Here,” an item he picked up while visiting Cooperstown, N.Y. “I used to have it over our entrance way when you walked into our house, and my wife after about five years finally said that needs to go...
2 WPIAL basketball recruits named in updated ESPN rankings for 2020
Two WPIAL basketball recruits received spots close together in updated ESPN 100 rankings for the 2020 class. Butler’s Ethan Morton was ranked No. 55 overall and Moon’s Donovan Johnson was No. 61 in rankings revealed Monday. Morton, a 6-foot-4 guard, committed to Purdue in May. Johnson, a 6-7 forward, remains...
Head of the Class: Baseball Player and Coach of the Year for each classification
The WPIAL baseball playoffs were as unpredictable as ever this season with only one top-seeded team winning a title. That was California in Class A. But that led to some unexpected champions and some long-awaited celebrations. Two first-year coaches claimed WPIAL titles, while Shaler and Seton LaSalle each were finally...
Woodland Hills tight end Josh Rawlings commits to Virginia over ACC rivalsVideo
Virginia was the first Power 5 program to offer Woodland Hills’ Josh Rawlings a football scholarship in December. Six months later, now holding offers from Pitt, Syracuse, Minnesota and others, the rising senior committed Sunday to the Cavaliers. The 6-foot-6, 235-pound tight end and defensive end announced his decision on...
Serra Catholic’s Mark Black named Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Year
The Youghiogheny runs beyond the outfield fence at Boston Field in McKeesport, the home for Serra Catholic baseball. If opponents agree to pitch to him, Eagles star Mark Black might one day launch a home run into the river. He’s already had a few come close, according to folks in...
WPIAL’s youth movement shows in 2019 Trib HSSN baseball all-stars
WPIAL baseball has witnessed an influx of talented freshmen in recent years and their arrival is reflected in the Trib 10. Seton LaSalle’s Drew Lafferty and North Allegheny’s Cole Young, both ninth graders with bright futures, joined a list of talented upperclassmen in this season’s TribLive HSSN all-star selections. Lafferty...
West Mifflin standout Nahki Johnson among 2 ruled ineligible by WPIAL
West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson and Gateway’s Diego Bledsoe played football together last season at Steel Valley before each transferred elsewhere. In separate hearings Thursday, the WPIAL declared both ineligible for next football season, ruling that their transfers were motivated at least partially by athletics, WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said....
WPIAL awards playoff eligibility to Kiski, Gateway football transfers
The WPIAL ruled Kiski Area’s Kenneth Blake and Gateway’s Shane Thrift fully eligible to play football this fall following separate hearings Thursday at the league office in Green Tree. Blake transferred from Central Catholic. Thrift transferred from Seton LaSalle. Both are rising juniors. The WPIAL had previously ruled them eligible...
WPIAL declares Belle Vernon multi-sport standout Devin Whitlock ineligible
Multi-sport standout Devin Whitlock, who transferred from Monessen to Belle Vernon after his freshman year, was ruled ineligible by the WPIAL. The WPIAL made its decision Monday based solely on the transfer paperwork, which Monessen’s administration did not approve, said WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley. Whitlock can request an eligibility...
North Catholic’s Tess Myers follows family tradition, commits to Duquesne
Four decades after her father committed to Duquesne, North Catholic’s Tess Myers committed Monday to play basketball for the Dukes. The 5-foot-10 guard from Lower Burrell, who ranks among the WPIAL’s top 2020 girls basketball recruits, chose Duquesne from more than a dozen offers, including Colorado, Temple, St. Joseph’s and...
Moon’s Donovan Johnson remains ineligible after WPIAL denies waiver request
The WPIAL denied Donovan Johnson’s waiver request Monday, leaving the Moon basketball star ineligible for his senior season. PIAA eligibility rules limit students to six seasons of a sport after sixth grade. The WPIAL decided previously that Johnson already had reached that limit because he repeated the eighth grade and...
Mars’ Michael Carmody, WPIAL’s top-ranked football recruit, commits to Notre Dame
Almost two years to the day that Robby Carmody committed to Notre Dame basketball, his younger brother Michael committed Sunday to play football for the Fighting Irish. Mars lineman Michael Carmody chose Notre Dame from more than two dozen offers including Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia, along with Auburn,...
Seneca Valley lineman Josh Kaltenberger commits to Purdue
Seneca Valley’s Josh Kaltenberger received his first Power 5 offer Tuesday from Purdue. Three days later, the 6-foot-5, 280-pound center committed to the Boilermakers. Kaltenberger announced his decision Friday on Twitter, saying “I know this was a quick decision, but I know this is where God wants me. There is...
West Mifflin’s Nahki Johnson among 5 scheduled for WPIAL hearings Thursday
Football standout Nahki Johnson, who transferred from Steel Valley to West Mifflin in December, will have his eligibility decided Thursday in a hearing at the WPIAL office. Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end, will be a junior in the fall. He already lists scholarship offers from Pitt, Penn State, West...
Devon Prep avoids Serra star Mark Black in 7th, dashes Eagles’ PIAA title hopes
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...
‘Nightmarish’ inning costs Beaver in PIAA championship loss to Selinsgrove
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...
West Perry’s walk-off win dashes Elizabeth Forward’s state title hopes
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 resigns as Canevin basketball coach, heads to NBA Finals, U.S. Open
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...
Frazier softball’s state championship game moved to Friday as PIAA revamps schedule
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 star Isiah Warfield transferring from Sewickley Academy
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 to split public, private school sports ‘poorly crafted,’ PIAA exec says
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...
