Jerin Steele stories, Page 14
Riverhounds work Louisville to draw, maintain USL streak
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds ran their unbeaten streak within the USL Championship to 10 in a scoreless draw against Louisville City Saturday night at Highmark Stadium, but Bob Lilley was not pleased with how they kept the run going. That’s because he didn’t feel like they gave themselves a chance to...
Leechburg alum Andrew McDermott takes over as boys basketball coach at alma mater
Andrew McDermott has had plenty of coaching influences in his life. His grandfathers, Joe Boario and Bob McDermott, coached together at Leechburg, and Andrew McDermott played basketball for the Blue Devils under Damian Davies before being his assistant for three years. Now it’s his turn to take the reins. McDermott,...
Craig Patrick’s team wins 3ICE opener in Pittsburgh
Craig Patrick won two Stanley Cup titles in his 17 seasons as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was victorious again in the greater Pittsburgh area Wednesday night and was part of an event that helped the Robert Morris hockey programs. Team Patrick defeated Team Fuhr, 8-1, in...
Kiski Area QB Heinle reaps benefits of Manning Passing Academy
Kiski Area quarterback Carson Heinle has heard “good ball” before when he has thrown a pass. Hearing those words from two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning brought a whole new emotion. “It was insane,” Heinle said. That was one of many highlights during Heinle’s time at the Manning Passing Academy...
Pine-Richland notebook: Former Rams golfer contends at West Penn Open
Mike Van Sickle was in contention for the win at the 120th WPGA Open Championship but settled for a third-place finish. Van Sickle, a 2005 Pine-Richland grad, was in the final pairing Wednesday of the three-round event at Edgewood Country Club in Pittsburgh and ended up shooting two-under par for...
Ricky Thornton Jr. captures 1st Firecracker 100 title at Lernerville Speedway
Ricky Thornton Jr.’s breakout season continued with a win at the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway on Saturday night, but he had to earn it. Thornton had an epic battle with Hudson O’Neal, exchanging the lead several times before taking the lead for good on lap 75 and pulling away...
Springdale’s John Hughes earns Valley News Dispatch Baseball Player of Year award
John Hughes produced some eye-popping statistics this spring. He had a .649 batting average and pitched to a 2.08 ERA, but maybe the most incredible stat of all was that he didn’t strike out once in 53 plate appearances. Hughes won the WPIAL regular season batting title and finished second...
Mason Zeigler ready to race for big money at Lernerville
Mason Zeigler considers himself an “extreme hobbyist” when it comes to racing dirt late models. He doesn’t follow a series full-time, but when there’s a big check on the line anywhere in the Northeast or Midwest, his hauler is typically in the pits. “I guess we’re sort of like a...
Ricky Thornton Jr., Max Blair win 25-lap features at Firecracker 100
Rain has been part of the story for the majority of Firecracker 100 weekends, and this year hasn’t been different. But no matter how much Mother Nature has thrown the racetrack’s way, it has prevailed. After a rain delay of more than two hours Friday night, cars returned to the...
Jonathan Davenport wins one for ‘Peanut’ at Lernerville Speedway
Jonathan Davenport has endured some heartbreaking results over the years at Lernerville Speedway, but he always has had an inspiration to win at the track. In 2011, Davenport helped spread his best friend Jamie “Peanut” Brown’s ashes around the top of the Buffalo Township speedway. On Friday, Davenport finally got...
Lernerville’s Firecracker 100 postpones Thursday racing
Persistent rain forced a postponement of the Thursday portion of the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway to Friday. The rain started as an intermittent drizzle during heat races, but it became heavier prior to the scheduled twin 25 lap main events. Thursday’s features are scheduled to be run Friday starting...
Driver Michael Norris enters Lernerville’s Firecracker weekend in partnership with longtime area car owner Corrado
Michael Norris still gets a surreal feeling when he looks for his position on the scoreboard. That’s because he no longer is searching for the familiar No. 72 from his family-owned team. Instead, he is looking for the No. 10. Norris, a Knoch grad, has combined his efforts with his...
In the midst of big season, Knoch grad Tyler Dietz ready for Firecracker 100 weekend at Lernerville
Tyler Dietz’s late model racing career started with a chance conversation. Already a well-established ace in the pro stock class, Dietz was approached by Dan Huston about a late model he had in his garage at Lernerville Speedway’s season finale weekend, the Steel City Stampede, in 2019. “Dan told me...
Pine-Richland teams filled trophy case during memorable 2022-23 school year
What a year it was for Pine-Richland athletics. Five Rams teams won WPIAL championships, the football team returned to state champion glory, and there were several individuals that won district and state championships. Inside a newly renovated gym for 2023-24, there will be plenty of updated banners. Below is a...
Seniors play key role in Pine-Richland girls lacrosse’s return to championship form
The Pine-Richland girls lacrosse team received a pretty tough draw in the Class 3A state quarterfinals. Not only were the Rams up against one of the best teams in the state in Penncrest, but they had to play the morning after seven seniors on the team had their graduation ceremony....
After building Leechburg boys soccer program, coach moves on to Freeport
Brad Walker admitted it was difficult to part with a Leechburg boys soccer program he had built from the ground up, but, at the same time, he is excited for a new opportunity. After four years with the Blue Devils, Walker will be the new boys soccer coach at Freeport...
Local motocross racers ready to compete with sport’s best at High Point National
Vincent Luhovey spends most of his days working for his dad’s concrete business. At the same time, he aspires to become a full-time motocross racer. Steve Roman is well past thoughts of professional motocross, but he still enjoys the thrill of slinging a dirt bike through the mud. Both in...
Riverside stays unbeaten, reaches PIAA baseball finals
Riverside baseball coach Dan Oliastro said his group has been a “big-inning team” all year, and he was hoping they could do it one more time. It turned out his Panthers had some more crooked numbers in them, and, combined with outstanding relief pitching from sophomore ace Christian Lucarelli, it...
By working together, Pine-Richland girls lacrosse earns state playoff win
Throughout the season, first-year Pine-Richland girls lacrosse coach Shannen Drennon said the team is at its best when it is creating assisted goals. That formula certainly worked wonders in the Rams’ first-round state playoff game as they had 14 assists in a rout of District 10 champ McDowell, 20-2, on...
Pine-Richland grad finds immediate success as self-taught bodybuilder
Garrett Krieger entered his first bodybuilding competition over Memorial Day weekend and going into it, he didn’t know what to expect. That was a natural reaction because it was his first time trying the discipline, but what made him more uncertain is that he entered without any coaching. Krieger, a...
Riverhounds win 1st-place showdown with Charleston
Going into Saturday’s matchup with Charleston Battery, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds looked to gain control at the top of the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings. They did so quickly thanks to the fastest goal in club history. Junior Etou scored 21 seconds into the game, and it held up as the...
Pine-Richland notebook: Heavyweight wrestler among Rams signing with colleges
Five Pine-Richland senior athletes made their college choices official during the May national signing day. Will Albrecht (Westminster/lacrosse), Matthew Carper (United States Coast Guard/swimming), Breanna Franchak (Dickinson/cross county and track), Joey Schneck (Maryland/wrestling) and Elizabeth Shaffer (Carnegie Mellon/swimming) all participated in a signing ceremony at the school. Between the November,...
Red-hot Riverhounds keep rolling on eventful night for Arturo Ordonez
When Arturo Ordonez scored in the 22nd minute, he celebrated his goal with some emotion, like any soccer player would. In the 62nd minute, when he cleared the ball out of the penalty area alleviating any pressure off a dangerous free kick, he gave some fist pumps and head nods,...
Pine-Richland notebook: Rams collect WPIAL track medals
Pine-Richland athletes earned medals in 17 events at the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships May 17, at Slippery Rock. On the girls’ side, senior Natalie McLean was second in the 1,600-meter run (4:51.24) and fifth in the 3,200 (10:43.03). • Senior Sonja Stugart was second in high jump...
Riverhounds bounce another MLS club, beat Columbus to reach U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds waited eight years for another opportunity to host an MLS club. On Wednesday night, they seized the moment. With a raucous, record- setting crowd behind them, the Hounds defeated the Columbus Crew, 1-0, in the round of 16 of the U.S. Open Cup at Highmark Stadium. “It’s important...
