Don Rebel stories, Page 9
PIAA Class A softball championship preview: Union vs. Northeast Bradford
There have been 25 PIAA Class A softball champions crowned since Minersville from District 11 won the inaugural classification championship in 1999. The first WPIAL team to win a PIAA Class A title was Vincentian Academy in 2008. Since then, District 7 teams have won three state crowns with Chartiers-Houston...
PIAA Class 5A baseball championship game preview: Shaler vs. Upper Dublin
This will be the eighth season the PIAA has hosted a Class 5A baseball championship. Four of the previous seven winners were from the WPIAL. Latrobe was the first champion crowned in 2017. Bethel Park won back-to-back state gold in 2021-2022 and Shaler won the 5A title two years ago...
PIAA Class 3A baseball championship game preview: Riverside vs. Mount Carmel
The PIAA has been deciding a champion in Class 3A baseball for nearly a half-century. The first 3A baseball state champion was Hatboro-Horsham from District 1 in 1977. The second winner in 1978 was Penn Hills from the WPIAL. There have been 14 Class 3A state champs from the WPIAL...
PIAA Class 2A softball championship game preview: Neshannock vs. South Williamsport
The first PIAA Class 2A softball champion was crowned 46 years ago when Minersville from District 11 won the 1979 championship. The first WPIAL team to win a 2A softball state title was 10 years later when Sto-Rox captured the 1989 crown. Five years later, Central Columbia became the first...
PIAA Class A baseball championship game preview: Eden Christian vs. Southern Fulton
There have been 25 PIAA Class A baseball champions crowned since Camp Hill from District 3 won the inaugural classification championship in 1999. Since then, there have been five state Class A champions from the WPIAL, including Vincentian Academy twice (2016 and 2018), Serra Catholic (2011), Neshannock (2004) and Greensburg...
5 WPIAL baseball teams to play for PIAA championships
Last year, WPIAL teams were shut out of the PIAA baseball gold rush. District 7 had two teams win state crowns in each of the previous three years. Buckle up, as five WPIAL teams — including four of district champions — are trying to capture gold this week at Penn...
3 WPIAL teams advance to PIAA softball finals
The 2025 WPIAL softball championship games are set for Thursday and Friday at Nittany Lion Softball Park at Penn State University. Only one defending champion is back in an effort to repeat, and is part of the only title game rematch from 2024. Undefeated Neshannock looks to not only repeat,...
North Allegheny set for PIAA boys volleyball finals
Two WPIAL boys volleyball champions reached the PIAA semifinals, but only one is moving on to play for state gold. North Allegheny knocked out Central York in four games to reach the PIAA Class 3A title match for the first time in three years. Meanwhile Shaler’s two-year run of playing...
Shady Side Academy boys lacrosse in state semifinals for 1st time
Prior to this spring, the Shady Side Academy boys lacrosse program had reached the PIAA quarterfinals three times. The Bulldogs lost all three — by one goal, one goal and three goals. However, the program made history Saturday when it stunned District 3 champion Manheim Township to win and advance...
Pair of WPIAL teams still alive in hunt for PIAA boys volleyball titles
In the 2012 PIAA boys volleyball championships, Chambersburg defeated Pennridge in the Class 3A finals and Bethlehem Catholic knocked off York Suburban in the 2A title match. That was the last year the PIAA boys volleyball finals were contested without a WPIAL representative. Heading into the 2025 PIAA boys volleyball...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on June 10, 2025: North Allegheny, Shaler set for boys volleyball state semifinals
From 2011-2022, the North Allegheny boys volleyball program reached the PIAA championship match in every season but three. The Tigers did not qualify for the 2012, 2015 and 2016 Class 3A state finals. The Tigers also missed out the last two years but are one victory away from returning to...
Penn-Trafford earns trip to Penn State with win over West Allegheny
Penn-Trafford softball coach Denny Little was under the weather Sunday night and was not sure he would be able to make his team’s PIAA Class 5A semifinal against West Allegheny on Monday. The perfect prescription was an all-around solid effort by the Warriors that left the Indians feeling ill. Penn-Trafford...
This week on Trib HSSN for week of June 9, 2025
It’s the final countdown with a light at the end of the tunnel marking the end to the 2024-2025 high school sports season. The final week of action includes the semifinals and championships in four PIAA spring sports this week on the TribLive High School Sports Network. For the final...
Trib HSSN baseball player of the week for June 8, 2025Video
Trib HSSN baseball player of the week – Greg Minnick School: Indiana Class: Senior Position: Pitcher #Earned: Minnick took the mound against Elizabeth Forward in the WPIAL Class 4A baseball championship game looking for personal redemption. In the 2024 district title game, he started and pitched four innings, allowing four...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for June 9, 2025: Spots in PIAA finals up for grabs
Six years ago, the West Allegheny and Penn-Trafford softball programs celebrated championships: The Indians won a third straight WPIAL Class 5A crown, and the Warriors captured their first PIAA title. Now the two tradition-rich teams square off to see who will play for a 2025 state championship Friday at Penn...
Trib HSSN softball player of the week for June 8, 2025Video
Trib HSSN softball player of the week: Lauren Howard School: Hempfield Class: Junior Position: Second base #Earned: four days after winning the second WPIAL championship in her three-year high school career, Lauren Howard and her Hempfield teammates went back to work in an effort to win the school’s fifth state...
Trib HSSN Pennsylvania high school softball rankings for June 7, 2025
There were some tweaks and small changes in five of the six classifications through the quarterfinals of the PIAA softball playoffs, and then there was Class 5A. All five teams from last week’s post-district playoffs Trib HSSN state softball rankings were bounced in either the opening round or the second...
Trib HSSN Pennsylvania high school baseball rankings for June 7, 2025
From last week to this week, two rounds of the PIAA baseball playoffs were played. The results left the weekly Trib HSSN state rankings almost unrecognizable in four of the six classifications. Only the teams ranked in the Class 3A and 2A Top 5 from last week tasted success in...
Trib 10: It’s not just WPIAL champs climbing in postseason power rankings
A couple of district baseball and softball teams that came up short of their goal of winning a WPIAL championship are trying to take advantage of a second chance at gold that the PIAA postseason offers. The state playoffs are halfway through the four rounds with six baseball and six...
Trib HSSN softball team of the week for June 6, 2025
Trib HSSN softball team of the week – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers Coach: Tricia Alderson (22nd year) Record: Chartiers-Houston captured the Section 3-2A crown with a record of 10-0, finishing three games ahead of both Seton LaSalle and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The Buccaneers have a current overall record of...
Trib HSSN baseball team of the week for June 6, 2025
Trib HSSN baseball team of the week – South Park Eagles Coach: Corey Fischer (second season) Record: South Park finished in second place in Section 2-3A, one game behind champion Avonworth and two games ahead of South Allegheny. The Eagles have an overall record of 17-7 with postseason wins in...
6 WPIAL softball teams headed to PIAA semifinals
Two WPIAL teams are guaranteed to play for a 2025 PIAA softball title next week. However, district teams have also been bounced from two classifications heading into the final four. Penn-Trafford will clash with West Allegheny in a Class 5A third-round contest, and Neshannock battles Chartiers-Houston in a rematch of...
6 WPIAL teams advance to PIAA baseball semifinals
Midway through the 2025 PIAA baseball playoffs and there are six WPIAL teams remaining in the hunt for state gold. Following a loss by Class 6A champ Seneca Valley in the quarterfinals, four WPIAL winners are alive for double gold with Shaler in Class 5A, Indiana in 4A, Riverside in...
Shaler’s other ace holds Bethel Park at bay in Class 5A quarterfinal showdown
Shaler senior Colby Weber is the perfect ace of a pitching staff. The East Carolina recruit stands 6-foot-7 with an electric arm, and he’s 9-0 with a 0.38 ERA. But the Titans have a dynamic duo atop their pitching chart, and if the Caped Crusader is awesome, the 5-10 Boy...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on June 5, 2025: Class 5A baseball powers collide in state quarterfinals
Eight WPIAL programs have captured multiple PIAA baseball championships. Two of them are set to collide in the state quarterfinals Thursday. WPIAL Class 5A champion Shaler (18-6) goes up against Bethel Park (20-5) at Gateway at 3:30 p.m. The Titans captured state gold two years ago when they outlasted Strath...
