Michael Love stories, Page 6

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...

Gabrielle Layne stood in the library at Plum High School last Wednesday with a smile on her face from ear to ear. She spent a small part of her afternoon celebrating a decision that will shape the next four years of her life. The Plum senior track and field standout...

Last year, the Plum baseball team entered the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs as the No. 5 seed and hoped to make a strong postseason run. But No. 12 Trinity had other ideas and outlasted the Mustangs in 11 innings to crush Plum’s postseason desires. The sting of a playoff upset...

As a freshman, Michael Braun placed 10th in the 3,200-meter run at the WPIAL Class 2A championships. He didn’t reach his goal of qualifying for the PIAA meet, but he took note of the top performances in Shippensburg from area athletes, including the 1,600-meter state title by Deer Lakes senior...

WPIAL baseball playoffs Class 2A Semifinals 6-Riverview (14-6) vs. 2-Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (14-7) 4 p.m. Thursday at Peterswood Park Winner plays: Winner of 8-Freedom (12-7)/12-Laurel (10-10) in the championship game May 27 or 28 at EQT Park (time TBA) Players to watch: Rece Sempfer, Riverview; Dean Douglass,...

Lukas Duncan plunked Burgettstown third baseman Sam Elich to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning of Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal at North Allegheny. But the Riverview sophomore, pitching with his team holding a one-run lead, didn’t let that blemish get to him. He retired the next three...

Twelve days went by between the South Park softball team’s final regular-season game and Monday’s WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals against Deer Lakes at Fox Chapel. The Eagles’ high-powered offense took a couple of innings to get going against the Lancers. If it was a little rust, South Park hitters shook...

Dino Nadarevic had already claimed one WPIAL title last Wednesday at the Class 3A track and field championships before he went for more. With a gold medal in the shot put already placed around his neck, Nadarevic, a Gateway senior, smashed the school record in the discus and dominated the...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 2A Quarterfinals 1-Neshannock (19-0) vs. 8-Apollo-Ridge (14-4) 5 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny Winner plays: Winner of 13-Shenango (11-8)/12-Bentworth (9-9) on Wednesday in semifinals (site/time TBD) Players to watch: Mikaila Ditty, Apollo-Ridge; Addy Frye, Neshannock Extra bases: The Section 2 runner-up Vikings outlasted No. 9 Our...

Riverview senior Matt Orbin was seeded fourth entering the Class 2A boys javelin at last Wednesday’s WPIAL track and field championships at Slippery Rock. Orbin didn’t let the fact that it was his first appearance at the WPIAL finals get to him as he stayed consistent from his season-best of...

The Plum softball team had designs on breaking a tough playoff losing streak when it took on Chartiers Valley at West Mifflin in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round game May 12. The Mustangs were the No. 8 seed as they hoped to snap a six-game playoff skid. The game with...

Joe Lafko looked to the future and also the past for motivation to return to coaching high school boys basketball. Lafko, who was hired at Knoch on Wednesday, said his upcoming retirement in June after 35 years of teaching social studies at Hampton helped him in his decision. The WPIAL...

Apollo-Ridge junior Jaden McCray earned a fifth-place medal in the javelin at last year’s WPIAL Class 2A track and field championships. That came with an automatic trip to states. But in his return to WPIALs on Wednesday at Slippery Rock University, McCray was shooting for more. And more is what...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals 12-Fox Chapel (13-6) vs. 4-North Hills (16-4) 3 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny Winner plays: Winner of 1-Penn-Trafford (18-2)/9-Chartiers Valley (12-6) in semifinals (date, time, location TBD) Players to watch: Natalie Anzaldi, North Hills; Summer Burkhart, Fox Chapel Extra bases: Fox Chapel pulled a...

Mackenzie Magness capped her first varsity track and field season last year with a WPIAL Class 2A pole vault championship and a trip to states. She has not slowed down this spring, and the Freeport sophomore who extended her own school record with a top attempt of 12 feet, 3...

For Lily Duffill, seven was heaven, but eight is great. The Chartiers Valley junior catcher and clean-up hitter crushed a two-out, two-run home run – her eighth of the season – in the top of the third inning of a WPIAL Class 5A first-round matchup with Plum on Monday at...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 3A First round 8-Deer Lakes (7-13) vs. 9-Charleroi (9-8) 5 p.m. Tuesday at Norwin Winner plays: 1-South Park (18-0) in quarterfinals (date. Site and time TBD) Players to watch: Siena Plummer, Deer Lakes; Lyla Brunner, Charleroi Extra bases: Charleroi returns to the WPIAL playoffs in Class...

A couple of postponements created a busy scenario for the final week of the regular season for the Gateway boys volleyball team. Four matches in four days, starting with a crucial Section 4 clash with Central Catholic and continuing with matches against Plum, Penn Hills and Fox Chapel, decided the...

The North Allegheny and Gateway boys tennis teams expected to play a close match down to the wire when they met to decide the WPIAL Class 3A title for a third year in a row. Each team scored 3-2 victories the previous two seasons, Gateway claiming gold in 2023 and...

After four years spent on the same court helping the Plum boys basketball team improve, seniors Max Grice and Will Beckner have both found a home at the next level. Grice will take his talents to Division II Seton Hill, while Beckner will play at Division III Saint Vincent. Grice...

Nine Alle-Kiski Valley baseball teams qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, and at the top of that list, Plum is the No. 2 seed in Class 5A. The Mustangs (18-2), the outright Section 1 champions, found out they will take on No. 15 Mars at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Fox Chapel...

North Allegheny and Shaler are the top seeds for their respective WPIAL boys volleyball tournaments. The WPIAL released the Class 3A and Class 2A brackets Friday afternoon after the regular season concluded with section finales Thursday evening. There will be a new WPIAL champion in Class 3A with Shaler, the...

The WPIAL Board of Directors will meet Monday afternoon, and the eligibility of two former Knoch students and basketball players is one of the items on the agenda. Jackson Bauman, a rising senior point guard who led the Knights to a runner-up finish in Section 1-4A, a fifth-place finish in...