Michael Love stories, Page 132

The Freeport baseball team was no stranger to close games, especially in this year’s postseason. All three of the Yellowjackets’ games in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs were decided by two runs or less, and both victories came in the form of one-run shutouts. But on Monday, in the opening...

Ryan Skladany, a Gateway graduate and student at the Community College of Allegheny County, Boyce Campus, leads a local contingent of golfers to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division III National Golf Championship on Tuesday through Friday at Chautauqua Golf Club in Chautauqua, N.Y. Skladany earned the trip to...

After delivering the winning hit in last Wednesday’s 1-0 PIAA-clinching victory over Keystone Oaks in the WPIAL Class 3A third-place game, Freeport junior Bradyn Clark came back to the dugout and rubbed Darlene’s ears for continued good fortune. No, Darlene isn’t human but a two-foot tall plastic Easter bunny, which...

When Tom and Ericca Haynes attend Monday’s PIAA Class 3A first-round baseball game between Franklin and Freeport, they will have familiarity to both sides of the proceedings. As the parents of Franklin’s top pitcher and leading hitter Ian Haynes, they have followed the Knights the past several seasons, including this...

Kent Harkleroad soon will put on the helmet and jersey of the Waynesburg football team. But before that, the Apollo-Ridge senior will suit up for one more one more high school game. Harkleroad, a 5-foot-9, 260-pound offensive and defensive lineman, will join his teammates on Team Never Fear against Team...

After several weather-related postponements, the PIAA boys and girls lacrosse first rounds concluded Friday. For some teams, including the Mars and Pine-Richland boys and the Oakland Catholic and Shady Side Academy girls, the turnaround is quick to Saturday’s quarterfinals. Mars, the WPIAL boys Class AA champion, will face District 3...

Evan Sante is pulling double duty on the baseball diamond this summer. In addition to playing for the Plum Pterodactyls in the Daily News adult league, the soon-to-be high school graduate — he and his Plum senior classmates commence Thursday — is a member of the Plum Senior Legion squad...

After a one-year hiatus, the Murrysville Senior Legion team is back in business. Coach Chas Brncic hopes the team assembled can produce winning results in its return to the District 31 league. “I do feel this team can be competitive,” said Brncic, who coached the Murrysville Junior Legion team to...

Mike Zolnierczyk graduates Friday from Springdale High School. One chapter will close while another continues to build for the Dynamos soccer and basketball standout who will continue his soccer pursuits at Division I Robert Morris. “I’m extremely blessed to be in the situation I am in, being able to play...

When Garrett Ben made contact with an offering from Keystone Oaks pitcher Sammy Tortorella in the second inning of Wednesday’s WPIAL 3A third-place game at Washington & Jefferson, he wasn’t sure what would become of the blooper near the foul line in shallow right field. “The ball kind of hung...

A quartet of WPIAL-champion lacrosse teams will attempt to play their PIAA first-round matchups Friday after Mother Nature again prevented them from taking the field Thursday afternoon and evening. Mars will host three of the four squads in a tripleheader starting at 2 p.m. with the Oakland Catholic girls putting...

For the first time since 1998, a Freeport baseball team has earned a spot in the PIAA playoffs. Yellowjackets starter Jarrett Heilman outdueled Keystone Oaks starter Sammy Tortorella, and Freeport plated the game’s only run on a Bradyn Clark single in the bottom of the second for a 1-0 victory...

Robby Shymansky made it to the PIAA Class AAA singles final as a freshman, but he was prevented from capturing the gold medal he sought. Three years later, the Fox Chapel senior was back in the championship match. This time, he was not to be denied. Shymansky, one of a...

D3baseball.com released its All-America teams Tuesday, and La Roche senior Joe Professori, a Pine-Richland graduate, is a member of the first team. The second baseman is the seventh Redhawk to earn All-American status and the second to make the nation’s first team. Professori, in addition to his All-American status, was...

The Freeport baseball team turned to a magic elixir to help it move on from last Wednesday’s loss to section rival Steel Valley in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals. Chicken wings. “We ate for about an hour Thursday and kind of forgot about that game and loosened back up a...

The Knoch softball team had its eyes on a WPIAL 4A title, but a 4-0 semifinal loss to Elizabeth Forward last week curtailed that goal. However, the Knights knew their season wasn’t over and turned their focus to making the state playoffs for the first time in program history. Knoch...

Latrobe graduate Chad Kissell was the most recent WPIAL Class AAA boys tennis singles player to win a PIAA title. He captured the state crown in 2015. Fox Chapel’s Robby Shymansky wanted to be the next in line. He was in position last year, as well as in 2016 and...

The Freeport boys lacrosse team started the WPIAL Class AA playoffs as the No. 12 seed, but the Yellowjackets battled their way to an opportunity for a spot in the state playoffs. The Yellowjackets, led by six goals from junior midfielder Garret Schaffhauser, pushed No. 3 Quaker Valley to the...

It wasn’t the way the Plum softball team expected its season to conclude. The Mustangs shared the Section 2-5A title, won 15 regular-season games and picked up the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The players and coaches hoped and prepared for a deep postseason run. However,...

For Shady Side Academy’s Molly Walsh, the wait was worth it. The Upper St. Clair and Shady Side Academy girls lacrosse teams returned to Robert Morris on Friday to complete their WPIAL Class AAA championship game suspended Thursday because of bad weather. With just five seconds left in the second...

The PIAA track and field championships begin Friday morning at Shippensburg University, and athletes from the WPIAL will be going after titles, medals and season and career bests. Several of them also hope to challenge for a state record in their event. The WPIAL currently holds 14 state records across...

WPIAL Boys Lacrosse Class AA Third-Place Consolation 12-Freeport (9-8) vs. 3-Quaker Valley (10-4) 4 p.m. Friday at Robert Morris Winner plays: District 3 champion Hershey on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined Coaches: Dave Riley, Freeport; Chip Hansen, Quaker Valley Players to watch: Sean Fennell, Sr., attack,...

It’s déjà vu for Cj Thimons. Last year, the Highlands junior placed fourth in the Class AAA boys 800-meter run at the WPIAL championships and earned the No. 10 seed for the PIAA meet at Shippensburg. Thimons repeated his fourth-place finish in the event at WPIALs last week at Slippery...

The WPIAL baseball championship games, as well as the third-place consolation matchups, have been finalized with dates, times and locations. 6A Championship: Penn-Trafford vs. Pine-Richland, May 29, Wild Things Park, Washington, 7:30 p.m. Third-Place Consolation: North Allegheny vs. Bethel Park, May 28, Washington & Jefferson College, 7 p.m. 5A Championship:...

The WPIAL on Thursday finalized and released the softball championship and third-place dates, times and locations in all six classifications. 6A Championship: North Allegheny vs. Hempfield, May 30, Peterswood Park, 4:30 p.m. 5A Championship: Connellsville vs. West Allegheny, May 29, Peterswood Park, 4:30 p.m. Third-Place Consolation: Penn-Trafford vs. Franklin Regional,...