Don Rebel stories, Page 85

The deer may be home, home on the range, but the Antelopes are celebrating in that rare golden field, where only district and state champions go to play. The Avonworth softball team added to its title collection this spring with a PIAA 3A crown after beating Lewisburg, 7-2, to capture...

When it comes to bright lights on the big stage, Bethel Park junior Evan Holewinski doesn’t crave the spotlight, he just wants his toe on the rubber in the big game. While the right-handed pitcher has been strong when he heads to the mound, he was especially sharp the past...

Perhaps the Montour baseball team should celebrate the programs first PIAA championship at Kennywood Park, because it was an emotional roller coaster of a season for the Spartans. The team won 15 straight after an opening loss, then dropped four straight at the end of the regular season. In the...

Editor’s note: 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 15 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Bobbie Boyd Jr. entered the 2021 football season with seven varsity carries....

PIAA Class 5A baseball championship Bethel Park (20-3) vs. Selinsgrove (23-2) 4:30 p.m. Friday at Medlar Field, Lubrano Park at Penn State Path to Penn State Bethel Park – The No. 3 team out of the WPIAL defeated District 6 champion Central Mountain in the first round, 4-3, shut out...

PIAA Class 2A baseball championship Neshannock (20-7) vs. Everett (20-2) 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Medlar Field, Lubrano Park at Penn State On the air: Trib HSSN (audio) Path to Penn State Neshannock – The WPIAL runners-up defeated District 10 champion West Middlesex in the first round, 4-3, edged section foe...

PIAA Class 4A baseball championship Montour (20-6) vs. Holy Ghost Prep (18-5) 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Medlar Field, Lubrano Park at Penn State Path to Penn State Montour – The WPIAL runners-up defeated District 6 champion Bellefonte in the first round, 13-9, rolled past District 3 champion East Pennsboro, 12-3,...

Twelve softball teams from across the state have punched their tickets for the final destination of the season: Penn State. The PIAA will crown six new champions Thursday and Friday after the two defending champions still alive in the semifinals, North Penn in Class 6A and Beaver in 4A, were...

The path is complete and the stage is set for the 2022 PIAA baseball championships at Penn State on Thursday and Friday. Only two teams won in the state quarterfinals and semifinals to hold on to their No. 1 spot from last week in the Trib HSSN state baseball rankings....

On April 27, the Seneca Valley softball team lost a third straight game, dropping its record to 5-6. Since then, the high-flying Raiders have been unstoppable. Seneca Valley has won 10 straight games, including a WPIAL championship and a pair of PIAA postseason victories. So what changed? “This is my...

The Laurel softball machine is used to playing in June. You have to go back to 2017 to find the last time a Spartans season ended before the PIAA postseason. However, in the last three seasons, Laurel entered the state playoffs as WPIAL champion. That run ended a few weeks...

Every team in every sport sets goals at the start of the season. Some of the top programs run dry on ink from checking them off as the season winds down. For other, well, there’s wait until next year. The Burgettstown baseball program has done a lot of waiting, now...

The calendar has turned to June. It’s time for the Black Hawks to stretch their wings and fly high across the state, gathering baseball victories in their travels. A year after losing a heartbreaker in the WPIAL title game, only to regroup and go on to win a PIAA championship,...

Get ready for Semifinals Monday in the PIAA softball and baseball postseasons. The WPIAL has seven softball and five baseball teams one win from playing for a state championship later this week at Penn State. So how do those numbers compare to District 7 teams reaching the final four since...

Welcome to Championship Saturday in three spring sports state postseasons. The PIAA will host the 2022 boys volleyball championships at Penn State, as well as the boys and girls lacrosse finals at West Chester East High School. The WPIAL has two teams playing for state crowns Saturday. Kings of the...

After a strong start in the opening round of the PIAA softball postseason, the wins kept coming for WPIAL teams in the quarterfinals. Seven teams from District 7 have reached the state softball final four. Outside of Class A, every classification has a WPIAL softball team into the semifinals, including...

Five WPIAL teams remain at the midway point of the PIAA baseball postseason. District 7 is guaranteed to have two teams playing for a state championship at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park next week. WPIAL teams are set to meet in Class 4A and 2A state semifinals games. The PIAA...

The goal of ending the school year with a PIAA softball championship is still alive for 48 schools across the state, including the 30 listed below. However, a dozen teams from last week’s Trib HSSN state softball ranking hit the point of no return with season-ending losses in the opening...

It only took one round of the 2022 PIAA baseball playoffs to shuffle the Top 5 deck. There were a few changes in the highest and mid-classifications, with a massive switch in the two lowest classes in the weekly Trib HSSN state baseball rankings. During the regular season and even...

Welcome to Quarterfinals Thursday in the PIAA baseball and softball playoffs. WPIAL teams hit the midway point of the state diamond postseason with 12 softball and nine baseball teams still playing on the Path to Penn State. In the opening round Monday, district softball teams were a combined 12-7 with...

While opening day of the PIAA baseball playoffs was a mixed bag for district teams, the WPIAL softball qualifiers got a chance to strut their stuff in the first round. The WPIAL was a strong 12-7 in opening round games Monday, with all six new district champions winning and moving...

It was a rough start to the PIAA baseball postseason for several WPIAL champions. However, thanks to success from some of the other district teams, it turned out to be more of a split decision. Now, nine teams are moving on to the second round on the Path to Penn...

Welcome to Semifinals Tuesday in both the PIAA boys volleyball and lacrosse state playoffs. Much is quiet on the western front, though, as only two WPIAL teams remain to fight in the final four. There are no district teams left in the PIAA girls lacrosse playoffs. In fact, only five...

And down the stretch they come. Nineteen baseball and 19 softball teams from the WPIAL will be among the squads ready to travel on the Path to Penn State as the PIAA playoffs begin Monday. A dozen of the 38 WPIAL teams are flashing freshly minted gold as they prepare...

The third time was the charm for the Union softball team. The Scotties had reached the WPIAL Class A championship game in 2019 and 2021, only to lose to West Greene, 17-2 and 11-0. That made the passing of the golden torch on Wednesday that much sweeter after the Scotties...