Michael Love stories, Page 4

The Gateway boys soccer team has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs five years in a row. Gators coach Mike Rugh said with the returning talent and a crop of newcomers, this year’s group can make it six straight. He is encouraged by the work the team has put in over...

When Jessica Garland was hired as the new Riverview girls soccer head coach in mid April, she had one eye on the immediate tasks of getting her footing with the school and the Raiders athletic department. The other eye was focused on getting to know the mix of returning and...

The Aussie Drop Bears baseball team was in the middle of a game Saturday evening in the closing hours of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational when the rain came and put a halt to the proceedings at James E. Swartz Sr. Memorial Field. The adverse weather then forced event officials...

Alexis Bansah jumped at the chance to win a WPIAL Class 2A championship in May at Slippery Rock. The Monroeville resident and Winchester Thurston sophomore brought home WPIAL gold in the triple jump with a top attempt of 40 feet, 2 inches, a season and personal best. She then went...

Chase Eber is a rising junior goalkeeper hoping to raise his game for the Plum boys soccer team. He split varsity duties in net for most of last year with Brady McLaughlin and helped the Mustangs go undefeated in Section 1-4A play, win 18 games overall, reach the WPIAL title...

With post positions finalized Wednesday, the 59th edition of the $385,000 Grade 1 Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids is set to go off Saturday evening with a 4:10 post time at the Hollywood Casino at the Meadows. The winners of the two elimination heats run last Saturday, Swingtown...

Kobi Dodd said he felt excited about coming back to the Freeport International Baseball Invitational with the chance to tell some of his Aussie Drop Bears teammates new to the tournament about what to expect. “I know what needed to be done with preparing for the games,” he said. “I...

Things started well for Lower Burrell Post 868 at the Region 7 American Legion playoffs. The Bulldogs got a strong pitching performance from Colton Whitlock in a 4-1 win over the Bedford Hurricanes on Saturday. But Lower Burrell wasn’t able to continue their winning ways, and losses to Latrobe and...

Lawrence “Jay” Timmons is rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals and 247 Sports, and Rivals has the Pine-Richland senior wide receiver/defensive back rated the 39th best in the nation and the second best in Pennsylvania. The son of former Steelers Super Bowl champion linebacker Lawrence Timmons said he is...

Nate Good put on a uniform and played in the first Freeport International Baseball Invitational 31 years ago. As he got older, he took on a role as coach and gave back during the summer, and those duties included guiding teams at the Freeport International. He was at the helm...

Mykel Bruce-McCrommon scored 22 points a game as a junior this past season as the Gateway boys basketball team finished 13-9 overall, tied Latrobe for second in Section 1-5A at 10-4 and again took part in the WPIAL playoffs. It wasn’t just putting the ball in the basket that made...

Harry Crytzer loved Freeport athletics. Whether it was basketball, volleyball or football, he was there rooting on Yellowjackets athletes. “From when I played on teams at Freeport, to when I was coaching, to being the AD and went to a lot of games with Harry and our athletic trainer, Bill...

When Dave Pucka wrapped up his first year as Plum’s boys basketball coach in February, he looked to the offseason for opportunities for his team to build for the upcoming season and the goal of returning to the WPIAL playoffs after a several-year hiatus. Open gyms in May flowed into...

Chuck Sarver pored over the schedule Friday morning, checking on the nearly two dozen teams that will descend on Freeport and its surrounding communities this week for the annual Freeport International Baseball Invitational. The FIBI president said the schedule — which includes the return of the Aussie Drop Bears organization...

Whether through his work in athletic administration, as a high school volleyball coach or in public relations and sports journalism at various media outlets in the region, Joseph Skura brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to New Kensington-Arnold School District as its new athletics and activities director. “I feel...

The Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its all-state boys teams from the 2025 season, and the WPIAL was well represented on the Class 3A and Class 2A lists. Junior outside hitter Will Robertson earned first-team laurels in Class 3A after helping North Allegheny to another WPIAL championship and a PIAA...

It took two days, but Lower Burrell stayed alive in Game 2 of its American Legion baseball District 31 best-of-three semifinal series. Bad weather suspended the game from Sunday to Monday, and the Bulldogs won 5-4 at Legion Keener Field in Latrobe, holding off Latrobe to force the deciding Game...

John Curran is ready to deliver pancake blocks, open lanes for running backs and protect the quarterback. With the start of official preseason practices a couple of weeks away, the Pine-Richland senior offensive lineman has his sights set on helping the Rams put together another run to WPIAL and PIAA...

The Monroeville Red Pandas are set to begin the Pittsburgh NABA playoffs, and Gateway graduate and team manager Donovan Baxter said things are looking good for a postseason run after a regular season that saw a turnaround from a rough start. The Red Pandas began the season 0-5 and were...

Just a short distance from the first night of the annual Picklesburgh festival on the Roberto Clemente (Sixth Street) and Andy Warhol (Seventh Street) bridges, a couple thousand runners and walkers took to a North Shore road course Friday evening as P3R and VisitPITTSBURGH hosted the America’s Mile. This year,...

This summer has been one of transition for Riverview’s Andre Carter. The school district’s athletic director, who also served as a volunteer coach for the Raiders girls basketball team this past season, was hired as the program’s new head coach last month. Then, at the start of this month, Carter...

Lower Burrell Post 868 has the upper hand in its best-of-three District 31 first-round series with Homer City Post 493. The Bulldogs scored three times over the first two innings of Tuesday’s series opener and then rode the pitching of starter Jonathan Walker (Kiski Area) and reliever Jake Smith (Kiski...

It seems like just yesterday, Lower Burrell Post 868 began its District 31 league schedule with a wild 12-10 triumph at Young Township Legion. That May 24 contest began a compacted dash through 18 games of a regular season that concluded Saturday in a 4-3 loss at league contender Bushy...

Dino Nadarevic was to throw the shot put and discus one more time in a high school event last Thursday and Friday at New Balance Nationals before transitioning to a new journey at Duquesne. It was the culmination of a high school career that began in obscurity but with promise...

Player of the Year Dani Pici Sr., C, Plum Dani Pici brought the power this spring for a Plum team that made its mark with the bat. The senior catcher fronted the Mustangs with 11 home runs among her team-leading 36 hits. “The previous three (varsity) seasons, I had about...