Jerin Steele stories, Page 24
Freeport softball team has designs on keeping up its playoff streak
Freeport softball has been in the playoffs 12 consecutive times, and with an experienced core returning along with younger talent, it will look to continue the streak. “We’ve made playoffs every year that I’ve been here, which is a pretty good accomplishment, and that’s a credit to the girls and...
After rebuilding year, Freeport baseball ready to contend again
Freeport baseball started from scratch last year. The cancellation of the 2020 season because of the pandemic left a gap between the 2019 team that made the state playoffs and last year’s team. Ed Carr and his staff spent the season bridging that gap, and and the coach believes the...
Pine-Richland notebook: Girls youth basketball teams make state tournament
A trio of Pine-Richland girls youth basketball teams will have a chance to take on some of the top competition in the state. The fourth, fifth and sixth grade teams qualified for the state youth basketball tournament March 18-20 in State College. Newly hired Pine-Richland football coach Jon LeDonne helps...
Captain checks all the boxes for Pine-Richland hockey team
Tales of hockey players and their superstitions have been told since skates first hit ice, but Pine-Richland captain Alex Erlain wants nothing to do with them. “I hate superstitions,” he said. “It’s my goal not to have any. I don’t want anything to get in my head.” He wouldn’t even...
Alle-Kiski Valley Athletes of the Week: Freeport’s Kira Schrecengost, Fox Chapel’s Tommy Healy
Kira Schrecengost Class: Freshman School: Freeport Sport: Swimming Report card: Schrecengost captured the 100-yard butterfly title at the WPIAL Class 2A championships last weekend at Trees Pool. She set a school record en route to winning the title with a time of 56.09. She has an older sister, Lexi, who...
Riverhounds to rely on added scoring depth at start of 2022 season
Bob Lilley and his staff went into the offseason with the goal of improving the depth of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. They brought in Dane Kelly, the all-time leading scorer in USL Championship history, to pair with last year’s team leader in goals Russell Cicerone, as well as Alex Dixon and...
With MLB draft on the horizon, Pine-Richland grad Matt Wood slugging at Penn State
The 2022 college baseball season is big for Matt Wood for numerous reasons. It’s the draft-eligible year for the Pine-Richland grad ,and his name is popping up on plenty of scouting services as someone who will be selected by an MLB team in the first 10 rounds. That’s a humbling...
Pine-Richland 1st-year diver claims WPIAL medal
A few months ago, Kendyll Jerry never had been on a diving board, so leaving the WPIAL championships with a podium finish and a medal was quite a feat. Jerry, a freshman at Pine-Richland, placed eighth in the WPIAL Class 3A girls meet Feb. 26 at North Allegheny. She posted...
A-K Valley girls athlete of the week: Knoch’s Nina Shaw
Nina Shaw Class: Junior School: Knoch Sport: Basketball Report card: Shaw scored 15 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter to help Knoch earn its first ever trip to the WPIAL girls basketball finals in a 56-45 win over Southmoreland on Tuesday in the Class 4A semifinals. Shaw...
South Fayette dethrones No. 1 Chartiers Valley in WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball
Maddie Webber sensed early on that the third meeting between South Fayette and Chartiers Valley this season was going to be different. “I knew in the first quarter,” she said. “We were all attacking. Ava (Leroux) was getting rebounds, we pushed the ball on offense, we were all finishing, and...
Pine-Richland girls end season on high note
The Pine-Richland girls basketball team fell short of reaching the playoffs, but it ended the season on a high note with a pair of victories. The Rams took down Shaler, 60-51, on senior night Feb. 10 and followed that with a 65-51 win over Franklin Regional on Valentine’s Day. Pine-Richland...
Valley News Dispatch H.S. athletes of the week: St. Joseph’s Anna Kreinbrook, Plum’s Nicholas Daniels
Anna Kreinbrook Class: Sophomore School: St. Joseph Sport: Basketball Report card: Kreinbrook scored the go-ahead basket with 50 seconds remaining and sank two free throws in the final moments to help St. Joseph complete a 19-point comeback in a 57-54 victory over three-time defending Class A champ and top-seed Rochester...
Markus Frank’s school-record 45 points leads Quaker Valley past Deer Lakes in Class 4A quarterfinals
Markus Frank is quiet and modest off the court, but in between the lines, he is a monster. And Wednesday night, the 6-foot-6 senior added a historic achievement to a stellar career at Quaker Valley. Frank set a single-game school record by scoring 45 points to propel the top-seeded Quakers...
Sto-Rox pulls away from Springdale in 2nd quarter, advances to WPIAL 2A quarterfinals
A big second quarter was more than enough to push Sto-Rox along further in the playoffs. The ninth-seeded Vikings clamped down on defense and held host Springdale to one field goal in the second frame en route to a 72-46 victory in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A...
Pine-Richland wrestling primed to peak for postseason
It’s already been a strong year for Pine-Richland wrestling, going 12-3 with a trip to the WPIAL team tournament, and with individual season approaching, a group of Rams have positioned themselves to make more noise. Pine-Richland has four wrestlers who won 30 or more matches this season, and that doesn’t...
Pine-Richland looks to make another playoff run
The regular season didn’t go quite the way the Pine-Richland boys basketball team would’ve wanted, but it finds itself in a similar position to last year. And everyone in the Rams locker room would like to have an encore to last postseason. The Rams made a run to the WPIAL...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Kiski Area’s Lexi Colaianni, St. Joseph’s Jimmy Giannetta
Lexi Colaianni Class: Junior School: Kiski Area Sport: Basketball Report card: Colaianni made nine 3-pointers for a game-high 27 points in a 61-37 win over Freeport in Kiski Area’s season finale Monday. It was a school record for 3s in a game. She returned to the lineup after missing last...
Ellis School girls bounce back in 2nd half, oust Springdale in WPIAL Class 2A
Going into halftime, the Springdale girls basketball team positioned itself to break a long postseason victory drought, but Ellis School had other ideas. After being limited to eight first-half points, the Tigers nearly tripled that number in the third quarter, scoring 21, on their way to a 37-25 comeback victory...
Shaler high school hockey player suspended after fight with fans in stands
A Shaler high school hockey player is suspended indefinitely pending a hearing after an altercation with fans in the stands after a game Thursday against Latrobe at Alpha Ice Complex in Harmar Township. Video of the incident circulated on social media Monday evening. PIHL commissioner John Mucha said a disciplinary...
Pine-Richland swimmer driven to make name for himself in breaststroke
Athletes find motivation in many different forms, and Pine-Richland swimmer Matthew Carper’s stems from a former competitor. Watching and swimming against former Upper St. Clair standout Josh Matheny, the national record holder in the 100 breaststroke, gave Carper someone to try to emulate. “Going up against him and seeing him...
Pine-Richland notebook: Ty Voit having big season in junior hockey
The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Pine resident Ty Voit in the fifth round of the NHL Entry Draft in July and he’s shown this season why he was considered a pro prospect. Voit, 18, led the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League with 46 points through Feb 9. He...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Burrell’s Riley Sterlitz, Fox Chapel’s Eli Yofan
Riley Sterlitz Class: Junior School: Burrell Sport: Basketball Report card: Sterlitz helped Burrell close the season strong with three section wins in one week. She had a team-high 23 points to help Burrell upend Derry, 51-43, on Monday and 11 points in a 60-16 win over Valley on Wednesday. The...
Gateway boys knock Franklin Regional out of playoffs
Gateway came to Murrysville on Friday night and spoiled Franklin Regional’s night on multiple levels. The Gators ruined the Panthers’ senior night and knocked them out of the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs for the first time in seven years with a 57-36 victory in a Section 3-5A game. Franklin Regional...
Now healthy, Burrell grad AJ Corrado off to strong start for Brown wrestling
AJ Corrado spent the first few months of his college career at Brown recovering from a torn labrum, so needless to say he was eager to get on the mat. In total, he spent six months rehabbing with trainers prior to getting back into the wrestling room, but that patience...
Pine-Richland notebook: 3 more football players make college choices
A trio of Pine-Richland football players made their college commitments official on National Signing Day on Feb. 2. Cole Boyd (Marist), Alex Gochis (Duquesne) and Jacob Domer (Clarion) signed their letters of intent joining Jeremiah Hasley (Duke) and Jalen Klemm (Kansas St.), who signed during the early period. Boyd was...
