Michael Love stories, Page 12
A-K Valley high school notebook: Deer Lakes volleyball enjoying turnaround season
The Deer Lakes boys volleyball team is turning around its fortunes this spring, both in section play and beyond. The Lancers, 1-15 a year ago, head into Monday’s nonsection match with Section 3-2A leader Seton LaSalle at 7-2 overall and 3-1 in Section 1 play. “The players came into the...
With baseball season heating up, buzz builds for Freeport International
High school baseball in the All-Kiski Valley is in its fourth week, while college teams have been knocking it out of the park for nearly two months. The Pirates, despite their inauspicious start, are giving baseball fans something to talk about in the early season. While those games are in...
A-K Valley softball notebook: Knoch bolstered by ‘barnburner’ victory over North Catholic
The Knoch softball team had won five straight by shutout and had scored 59 runs in those games before Monday’s nonsection home matchup against North Catholic. The Knights quickly found out that the game with the Trojanettes wouldn’t turn out the same way. North Catholic broke open a tie game...
Scarpa shuts down Freeport as Greensburg Salem erupts for Section 1-4A softball win
Alle Scarpa struck out the first 10 Freeport batters she faced in Monday’s Section 1-4A matchup at Freeport Community Park. The 11th batter, Yellowjackets third baseman Addyson Caruso, doubled to left. She stole third to put the tying run closer to home plate with one out in the fourth. But...
With section play well under way, volleyball coaches association releases latest WPIAL boys rankings
WPIAL section matches are in full swing, and the top teams in both Class 3A and Class 2A continue to establish themselves. The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association again has recognized those teams with its Week 4 top-10 polls released Monday morning. North Allegheny (Class 3A) and Shaler (Class 2A)...
Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic breaks discus record, has shot put mark in sight
Gateway senior Dino Nadarevic entered his final high school outdoor track and field season eyeing up a couple of longstanding throwing school records. Work in the offseason and in the indoor season got him ready to go after the top marks in both the discus and shot put. Building his...
‘A long way to go’: Despite strong start, Gateway baseball focused on staying hot
The Gateway baseball team won its fifth game of the young season, 3-2 over McKeesport in its Section 4-5A opening series March 25. The Gators, who upped their record to 5-1 with the victory, won four games all of last season. First-year coach Andy Hoover said hard work in practice...
Riverview’s Katerina Tsambis named Valley News Dispatch girls basketball player of the year
Katerina Tsambis 5-4, Sr., G, Riverview The Riverview girls basketball team won 14 games this past season and lost just five. Of those 14 games, a couple of them stand out for senior guard Katerina Tsambis. “I would have to say beating some of the bigger schools we played like...
Knoch’s Jackson Bauman headlines Valley News Dispatch boys basketball all-stars
Jackson Bauman 6-2, Jr., PG, Knoch When everything was on the line for the Knoch boys basketball team, Jackson Bauman shined. A heart-and-soul player for the Knights, Bauman came up big as his team faced elimination against section rival Deer Lakes in the WPIAL Class 4A fifth-place game with a...
Plum athletes hit early marks at Altoona Igloo Invitational
The Plum boys and girls track and field teams are well into their 2025 spring season, and early invitational and dual-meet results have put a smile on the face of head coach Matt Proskin. He struck a positive tone last Wednesday after a competitive section dual meet with Franklin Regional...
Foes become friends as area seniors team up for Cager Classic basketball all-star games
Carson Heinle and his Kiski Area senior teammates, Colin Keller and Jacob Musselman, went up against Armstrong’s Jacob Szep and Plum’s Will Beckner twice in Section 2-5A battles during the 2024-25 regular season. The Cavaliers got the better of the River Hawks and the Mustangs twice en route to winning...
Burrell softball clamps down in shutout win over Highlands
Burrell second baseman Sophia Gregg drew a walk to lead off Tuesday’s nonsection softball game with rival Highlands at Highlands High School. She stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and came home on a wild pitch. That early run turned out to be all Bucs pitcher Shelby Novak...
Burrell hockey team caps memorable season with strong showing at California tournament
When the Burrell hockey team hoisted the Division 2 Pennsylvania Challenger Cup championship trophy March 22 at RMU Island Sports Center, the players knew they would have a quick turnaround for a flight a few days later to sunny California Selected earlier this year to play in the Chipolte USA...
Volleyball coaches association releases Week 3 WPIAL boys rankings
WPIAL boys volleyball teams enter the second week of section play looking to make moves in the standings. A number of teams have at least one section match under their belts, while several begin section play Tuesday evening. On the cusp of numerous key matchups in both Class 3A and...
Gateway track and field athletes look toward promising 2025 season
The calendar has turned from March to April, and the leading athletes on the Gateway track and field teams are working to take that next step in their development while others are honing their talents to what they hope is a breakout 2025 season. Veteran coach Tom LaBuff and his...
Gateway flag football team looks to maintain winning run after unbeaten season in 2024
With a mix of returning talent and newcomers set to make an impact, the Gateway girls flag football team hopes to make waves in its third season in the high school division of the Pittsburgh Girls Flag Football League. “The girls are ready to go. They are excited,” Gators coach...
Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg named winner of annual Willie Thrower Award as area’s top high school QB
Matt Sieg, a dual-threat quarterback from Fort Cherry, helped the Rangers win a second straight WPIAL Class A title in 2024. The junior and Penn State commit passed for 1,345 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,832 yards and 32 scores. He became the first quarterback in WPIAL history...
Behind defending section singles champion Landon Harclerode, Valley tennis off to unbeaten start
Landon Harclerode feels he is playing the best tennis of his life this spring. “In the offseason, I had to put my racket down and take a break,” said the Valley senior, who plays No. 1 singles. “I focused on getting stronger and faster to improve my game.” Those improvements...
Riverview off to strong start in quest to advance in WPIAL baseball playoffs
The Riverview baseball team made the WPIAL Class A championship game in 2021. The Raiders, the No. 7 seed in the tournament, ran into a hot pitcher that day at Wild Things Park and fell 3-0. It has been the team’s mission since then to return to the title contest,...
Plum softball team hopes 8 returning starters, potent offense can lead to success
The Plum softball team entered the season with a lot of momentum with the return of eight starters from last year’s WPIAL Class 5A playoff qualifier. All eight of them — seniors Bella Tavella and Dani Pici; juniors Jaiden Gentile, Riley Stephans, Liana Yusko, Mackenzie Marotta, and Gia Tavella; and...
Franklin Regional uses walk-off walk in 9th to grab wild win over Plum
Seven innings were not enough to decide a winner between neighboring rivals Plum and Franklin Regional in a Class 5A nonsection softball game Wednesday afternoon at a chilly and windy Franklin Regional High School. The Mustangs and Panthers played into the ninth inning before FR pushed a run across for...
North Allegheny, Shaler boys volleyball teams hold on to No. 1 spots in latest coaches association polls
North Allegheny (Class 3A) and Shaler (Class 2A) maintained their No. 1 positions in their respective classifications as the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its Week 2 WPIAL boys volleyball top-10 polls Monday morning. The WPIAL programs continue to gear up for the start of section play in the...
Burrell baseball team wants to build on PIAA appearance
With March weather as unpredictable as it is, the Burrell baseball team rolled with the punches at the start of official preseason practices two weeks ago with workouts the first two days on the football field before practices in the gym at Charles Huston Middle School. Warmer, dryer weather last...
North Allegheny boys take team title, 3 other WPIAL swimmers win gold at PIAA Class 3A meet
LEWISBURG — North Allegheny had already wrapped up the Class 3A boys team title before the Tigers’ 400-yard freestyle relay of Danny Lesinski, Zach Totin, Dylan Seiford, and Grant Regule took to the pool for their finals race Saturday evening at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell University. The quartet...
Fox Chapel’s Sarah Pasquella keeps perspective after PIAA swim meet
LEWISBURG — Sarah Pasquella entered Saturday evening’s championship heat of the 100-yard breaststroke hoping for PIAA gold to add to the state title she won in the 200 freestyle on Day 1 of the Class 3A swimming and diving championships at Bucknell University. While the end result wasn’t a second...
