Michael Love stories, Page 5

In 2024, the Gateway boys bowling team finished fourth overall at the state championships. At the time, the players and coaches didn’t know there was a national championship tournament or that they had qualified for it based on making the state tournament. This year, however, the Gators were keenly aware...

When the Plum boys and girls bowling teams punched their tickets to the state championships in March, they also secured return trips to the U.S. High School Bowling National Championships on June 7-9, in Fort Wayne, Ind. For seniors Cade Schimmer and Vince Rossetti on the boys side, and the...

Sarah Kvortek fared well in her first bodybuilding competition March 30 at a show hosted by Slippery Rock University. The Plum graduate and SRU student placed third in the figure division and was rewarded for all the work put in since deciding to start training 12 months earlier. But at...

UNIVERSITY PARK — Indiana built some breathing room early in Friday’s PIAA Class 4A baseball championship game against District 4 titlist Montoursville at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. But when a four-run lead was whittled down to one, and the Warriors loaded the bases with no outs in...

UNIVERSITY PARK - It was not the start Freedom hoped for Friday morning in the PIAA Class 2A baseball championship game against District 1 champion Faith Christian at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Lions collected three hits and took advantage of a pair of Bulldogs errors in...

UNIVERSITY PARK — In the PIAA Class 5A finals two years ago, the Shaler baseball team made an epic comeback from down five runs to stun Strath Haven and claim the program’s second state championship. The Titans hoped for some similar magic Thursday evening after they dug themselves a six-run...

UNIVERSITY PARK - Riverside baseball is on top of the PIAA mountain once again. The Panthers weathered a late-inning storm from District 4 champion Mount Carmel in Thursday’s Class 3A baseball championship game at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Riverside played small ball and pushed across two runs...

When Riverside defeated South Park 1-0 in 12 innings in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals, the Eagles hoped for another opportunity to face the Panthers in the PIAA playoffs, while Riverside expected the possibility of another game between the two teams. Opportunity and possibility became reality Tuesday afternoon at Seneca...

Donovan Baxter helped organize the Monroeville Red Pandas baseball team two summers ago as an expansion Class AAA team in the Pittsburgh branch of the North American Baseball Association. With a large part of the team made up of Gateway graduates, the Red Pandas returned Monroeville to the league after...

Gateway’s girls flag football team stood at 3-3 after a loss to Shaler on April 27. The Gators needed to string some wins together to get into Pittsburgh Girls Flag Football League playoff contention. “We didn’t play many preseason games, so the week we started, a couple of the other...

AC Miller reached base in each of his first three at-bats in Thursday’s PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal against Quaker Valley at Plum High School. The South Park senior got on with a fielder’s choice in the second inning and scored the Eagles’ first run, and he was the beneficiary of...

Carter Loughren put on the Riverview uniform one final time Monday afternoon when he and his Raiders teammates battled District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A baseball playoffs. He hoped the Raiders would keep going in the state tournament, but the Lakers had...

ERIE — The Riverview baseball team had to battle from an early deficit in Monday’s PIAA Class 2A first-round game against Mercyhurst Prep at Mercyhurst University in Erie. Trailing by four runs after one inning, the Raiders cut the Lakers lead to one with a three-spot in the third. But...

PIAA baseball playoffs Class 2A First round 7-3 Riverview (15-7) vs. 10-1 Mercyhurst Prep (22-1) 4:30 p.m. Monday at Mercyhurst Winner plays: Winner of 5-1 Tussey Mountain (13-10) and 7-2 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (15-8) Thursday in quarterfinals (site/time TBD) Players to watch: Zack Kruszewski, Mercyhurst Prep; Johnny...

Dino Nadarevic entered the PIAA Class 3A track and field championships at Shippensburg confident in his opportunity to bring home PIAA gold. “I knew I was one of the top-seeded people there and had a good chance at winning both events,” he said. “I knew it was my last state...

Gateway’s Logan Memije and Zidaan Hassan again carried the mantle of WPIAL champions into the PIAA Class 3A doubles tournament May 23-24 at the Hershey Racquet Club. And for the second time in as many years, the Gators duo — Hassan a senior and Memije a junior — brought home...

The Riverview baseball team’s pitching and defense surrendered just six runs over four games in the WPIAL Class 2A baseball tournament. That is a surefire recipe for postseason success. While the Raiders didn’t reach their goal of playing for a WPIAL championship, they were able to parlay three victories in...

Plum junior Owen Proskin took a big-meet understanding into the PIAA Class 3A track and field championships May 23-24 at Shippensburg. Having competed at states last year as a sophomore and also at several prestigious USA Track and Field meets, Proskin was ready to go after it in the 110-...

Bella Stewart and Pyper Ferres played a lot of softball together the past four springs as Burrell teammates. They shared numerous victories and took part in three playoff trips with the Bucs. The seniors will have one more opportunity to take the field together before they head off to college,...

This week, the WPIAL crowned baseball champions in six classifications. But 60 years ago, only one WPIAL titlist reigned supreme. With no classifications at the time, the team from Arnold had to go through a number of bigger schools to earn WPIAL gold. With no fear, the 1965 Lions took...

WASHINGTON — With its season on the line, the Riverview baseball team stood tall against Laurel in a WPIAL Class 2A third-place game Wednesday afternoon at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park. Raiders sophomore pitcher Lukas Duncan again was effective in a complete-game effort, and Riverview got just enough offense...

Eden Christian Academy erupted for five runs in the bottom of the third to cap a nine-run uprising over the first three innings as the Warriors cruised to a 10-2 victory in the WPIAL Class A third-place consolation baseball game Wednesday afternoon against Greensburg Central Catholic at Washington & Jefferson’s...

Eli DeVita is ready to do whatever he can to help make sure Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 2A third-place consolation is not his final high school game. “We know Laurel is a playoff team and they made it as far as we did,” said DeVita of the No. 12 Spartans who...

When the Gateway boys volleyball team defeated Fox Chapel on May 8 to wrap up an 8-2 Section 4-3A slate and clinch the section championship outright, players, coaches, administrators and many others at the school were excited and expected to see the Gators presented with a first-round home game when...

The Gateway boys tennis team had its sights set on a run to the PIAA Class 3A championship match when it kicked off its tournament May 13 against District 3 third-place finisher Manheim Township at Pure Athletex in Marshall Township. The Gators, led by the singles trio of seniors Adam...