Don Rebel stories, Page 119

The PIHL Penguins Cup semifinals continue Wednesday with the final four Class A teams hitting the ice at the RMU Island Sports Complex on Neville Island. It is the only set of semifinals in this year’s Penguins Cup chase that features four division champions. In the first game, Southeast Division...

There were big changes in two classifications from the first edition to the second week of the 2021 Trib HSSN state softball rankings. Three teams were bumped out of the state elite in both Class 6A and Class 3A. While there were minimal changes in the other four classifications, only...

Top-ranked West Allegheny used clutch hits on offense and a strong performance on the mound to hand South Fayette its first loss of the season. Behind Auburn recruit Gavin Miller, the Indians held off the Lions, 7-3, Tuesday afternoon in the first of back-to-back games between the No. 1 and...

The race for the top spot in Section 3-5A is looking like a three-team dandy of a chase. The top three teams are a combined 13-2 overall. Shaler, the 2019 Class 5A champion, was last week’s HSSN Baseball Team of the Week. The Titans are 2-0, 4-1 overall. The other...

Welcome to the Year of the Jake. Last week, Jake Walker was the Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Week. This week, after a couple of big games in the section openers for Keystone Oaks, Jake Slazinski takes the honors. “Jake’s strength is his versatility,” Keystone Oaks coach Nick Kamberis...

When looking at a new high school season, there is a tendency to peek at the previous year’s champions and see what they have coming back for the new campaign. But what happens when there was no last season? Fair or not, many of the 2019 champions were labeled teams...

Canon-McMillan pulled out a wild victory over Upper St. Clair on Monday afternoon, thanks in part to a wild pitch. A bases-loaded wild pitch scored the tying and go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving the Big Macs a 6-4 win over the visiting Panthers. Trailing 4-3...

Over the past 10 seasons, there have been two dominant WPIAL baseball teams in the sport’s highest classification that have played in eight district title games, winning six Class AAAA or 6A championships. Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley. The Rams won in 2010, 2017 and 2019. The Raiders won three championships...

In the 25 years between 1976 and 2000, the North Hills softball program won five WPIAL championships. The Indians still are searching for a sixth crown. A lot has happened to the program since just missing the Class 6A playoffs in 2019. North Hills now is playing in Class 5A...

In 2019, sophomore Kailey Larcinese of Elizabeth Forward was a dominant pitcher. She finished with a 19-5 record, a 1.02 ERA of 1.02 and an 0.85 WHIP. She struck out 202 in 151 innings. Opposing hitters had a feeble .169 batting average against her. Nearly half of her wins (nine)...

Here are the latest WPIAL girls lacrosse standings for the 2021 season through Sunday, Apr. 11. The top six teams in each section qualify for the district postseason. Only section records are shown. #-Clinched section championship *-Clinched playoff berth x-Eliminated from playoffs Class AAA Section 1 Mt. Lebanon, 2-0 Upper...

Here are the latest WPIAL boys lacrosse standings for the 2021 season through Sunday, Apr. 11. The top six teams in each section qualify for the district postseason. Only section records are shown. #-Clinched section championship *-Clinched playoff berth x-Eliminated from playoffs Class AAA Section 1 Bethel Park, 2-0 Canon-McMillan,...

We drop the puck on our postseason hockey coverage with four days of final four games this week here on the TribLive High School Sports Network. We have the PIHL Penguins Cup semifinals in Class AAA, AA, A and Class B to decide which teams will play for hockey gold...

It had been an outstanding season for the Carlynton boys basketball team as the Cougars prepared to play Sto-Rox in the de facto Section 2-2A title game. The Cougars were tied for first place in the section with the Vikings at 8-1 and were 11-2 overall. Sto-Rox won, 37-30, and...

A season filled with great joys and a golden high ended with a kick to the gut and a low that just felt so empty. That was the 2020-2021 season for the Bishop Canevin boys basketball program. Before focusing on the many outstanding moments, the season came to a sudden...

We’ve got spirit, yes we do. We’ve got spirit, how ‘bout you? A month after the WPIAL championship event was held at Hempfield, the PIAA Competitive Spirit championships will bring an end to the winter sports season. The ninth annual PIAA Competitive Spirit championships will take place Saturday at the...

Mt. Lebanon knew it had to play a perfect softball game against rival Bethel Park. The Blue Devils did not bring their A game, leaving the Black Hawks still perfect. Bethel Park exploded for five runs in the second inning and added 10 more runs in the fourth inning to...

Since expansion from four to six classes throughout the PIAA in softball four years ago, two programs have dominated the Class 4A landscape: Belle Vernon and Elizabeth Forward. The Leopards won back-to-back WPIAL championships, beating Yough in the 2017 finals and Elizabeth Forward by a 5-4 score in the 2018...

It has been two years since we felt the spring power. Or should I say, two years since we’re released our weekly Trib HSSN baseball and softball power rankings. These are the ranking where classifications don’t matter. If you’re good, you’re good. Beaver and Elizabeth Forward were the two teams...

WPIAL Class AA boys volleyball completes its first week of section play Thursday. Defending district champion Ambridge has its home section opener when the Bridgers host North Catholic on Thursday. The Trojans were a playoff team two years ago, beating Keystone Oaks in the first round before losing to Our...

The last time we released the Trib HSSN state baseball rankings was nearly 22 months ago. As a reminder, here are the state champions that sat atop the six classifications. They were Souderton (6A), Red Land (5A), Selinsgrove (4A), Mount Union (3A), Devon Prep (2A) and West Middlesex (A). With...

Hempfield not only won a section baseball game Tuesday evening, it also was able to put a check in the box next to the team’s mental toughness. A day after losing a three-run lead in the seventh inning and losing in eight innings to Upper St. Clair at home, the...

Just call the Pine-Richland and Central Catholic baseball programs the odd couple. And if recent trends continue, you may be calling one of them champion by the end of spring. The pattern these two have followed is an odd one. In 2019, the most recent WPIAL baseball season, Pine-Richland was...

It has been a long time since we released the final edition of the 2019 Trib HSSN state softball rankings. Back then, the six state champions sat atop the six classifications. To refresh your memory, they were Central Dauphin (6A), Penn-Trafford (5A), West Perry (4A), Pine Grove (3A), Frazier (2A)...

Sophomore Andrew Kocan wasn’t even supposed to be playing varsity baseball this year. Canon-McMillan is glad he is. Kocan went from being a JV player to varsity hero Tuesday when he went 2 for 2 with a home run and two RBIs in helping the Big Macs win their section...