Ray Fisher stories, Page 10

A tip of the cap to Jason Jonas, Baldwin’s first-year girls volleyball coach who was named the Big 56 Coach of the Year in Section 1-4A. “I think Baldwin’s volleyball program is getting back to its winning ways,” Jonas said. “We had a super young team in a highly competitive...

Baldwin is becoming known as a school that produces a mass influx of professionals in the sports media industry. The long list of Baldwin alumni in the business includes Austin Bechtold (93.7 The Fan), Cory Berger (JRM Sports), Nathan Breisinger (Pittsburgh Sports Now), Marc Cardillo (Pittsburgh Penguins, JRM), Kevin Gorman...

The Brentwood girls basketball team is looking to build on last year’s WPIAL playoff season. Brentwood finished third in Section 2-2A with a 6-4 record a year ago behind co-champions Fort Cherry (9-1) and Burgettstown (9-1). “I’m very excited for this season,” coach Rachel Thomas said. “We have a solid...

The Brentwood boys basketball team had a great deal of anticipation for the tipoff of the 2024-25 season. And it started with their veteran coach, Dan Thayer. “Our expectations for this year’s team are high,” Thayer said. “We return eight players from last year’s team and have added three new...

Baldwin’s girls basketball team finished 9-13 overall in 2023-24. The Highlanders are looking for a vast improvement on that record in 2024-25. “We have very high expectations this year,” Baldwin coach Jamal Woodson said. “We have been in the gym non-stop, and we have been working on developing a different...

Jeff Ackermann is in his fifth season as head coach of the Baldwin boys basketball team. The Highlanders have shown improvement each year capped by a memorable appearance in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game last winter. Baldwin lost to Upper St. Clair, 64-41, at Petersen Events Center after defeating...

Junior forward Max Modrovich led the Quaker Valley hockey team to a first-place regular-season finish in 2023-24 in the PIHL Varsity A Gold Division. Modrovich, also known as “Double M,” accounted for 19 goals and 21 assists to pace the Quakers offensively. QV racked up a 16-3-0-1 regular-season record, good...

Mimi Thiero’s basketball credentials are well grounded. Thiero is an awe-inspiring 6-foot-5 junior guard/forward on the Quaker Valley girls basketball team and a third-year starter. As a freshman, the athletic hoopster was QV’s leading scorer (13.2 points per game) and rebounder (10.4 per game). She also led the team in...

The Quaker Valley swimming and diving program racked up a banner season in 2023-24. The Quakers are looking for similar results in 2024-25. But before diving too deep into this year, a review of last season as it pertains to the team’s returning athletes seems to be in order. Margaret...

Not only is it a new season for the Eden Christian Academy girls basketball team, the Warriors started the season with almost a whole new team. A pair of sophomore guards, Emmie Smith and Hannah Wallace, are the only girls back from last year’s 10-player squad. “We are experiencing a...

The 15th annual WPIAL Summit on Sportsmanship took place Nov. 13 at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. Student-athletes from the schools in attendance listened to keystone speakers discuss topics related to the importance of sportsmanship in athletics, and the league recognized Cornell and Moon,...

First place in Section 3-3A was at stake Oct. 7 for the Thomas Jefferson and South Fayette girls soccer teams. A TJ win would result in the two teams sharing the section championship. A victory by South Fayette would give the Lions sole possession of the top spot. South Fayette...

Thomas Jefferson’s girls basketball team has won nine games in each of the past two seasons. The Jaguars intend to reach double figures in 2024-25. “I expect everyone to work extremely hard and compete. We’re hoping to make the playoffs,” said TJ’s third-year coach Matt Gould, a Penn State graduate...

One for the other thumb? Definitely. Distinguished coach Bill Cherpak led the Thomas Jefferson football team to the apex of the WPIAL Class 4A mountaintop this season. The No. 1-seeded Jaguars defeated newly anointed rival and No. 3 seed McKeesport, 28-7, on Nov. 16 at Norwin to give Cherpak his...

The Thomas Jefferson boys soccer team lost its first game of the 2024 season in double overtime. The Jaguars did not lose another one in the regular season in ringing up a 10-1-3 record in Section 2-3A. TJ earned the section championship — its third in four years — ahead...

The Thomas Jefferson boys basketball team has a tough act to follow in 2024-25. Last year’s team enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history as the Jaguars advanced to the WPIAL Class 5A semifinal round and racked up a 21-6 record. “Our kids did everything I asked,” coach...

Did you know that Bethel Park girls middle school volleyball coach Adam Foote is a social studies teacher at Baldwin High School? “I’ve been coaching girls middle school volleyball at Bethel Park the past three seasons and last year coached the boys JV team,” said Foote, who formerly coached volleyball...

Bethel Park’s wrestling team advanced to the WPIAL semifinals last year and finished with an impressive 19-3 record. The Black Hawks placed fourth in Class 3A in the Trib HSSN final rankings after defeating North Hills, 39-15, and North Allegheny, 26-19, in the first two rounds of the WPIAL tournament....

The players on the Bethel Park girls basketball team are legitimate gym rats. That’s a positive thing. Bethel Park second-year coach Steve Norman has enjoyed watching the dedication displayed by the girls on the 2024-25 team. “We’re going to be much younger than last year,” Norman said, “but we’ve had...

Tanner Pfeuffer eclipsed 6,000 yards passing in a distinguished three-year career as Bethel Park’s starting quarterback. The 6-foot-6, 195-pound senior completed 156 of 260 tosses for 2,656 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2024, giving him 6,044 yards and 66 TDs in his career. “I am super happy what our team...

Dante Calabria coached the Bethel Park boys basketball team for two years. In July, Calabria informed his players and the Bethel Park School District that he was resigning to take a position as head coach of Pistoia Basket 2000 of the Lega Basket Serie A in Europe. Calabria is a...

No fewer than 14 players on the Sewickley Academy girls basketball team this season are underclassmen. Sewickley’s third-year coach Jill Capozzi is unfazed. “After only six practices, I can see the effort of this very young squad,” Capozzi said. “We will take it one game at a time and give...

Mike Iuzzolino is head coach of the Sewickley Academy boys basketball team. To basketball fans, his name rings a bell. Iuzzolino played college basketball at Penn State and St. Francis (Pa.). He competed scholastically at Altoona and was a high school teammate of Doug West, who went on to have...

The Quaker Valley wrestling program keeps winning — and growing. “This is the biggest roster we’ve had in program history with 24 wrestlers,” QV coach Austin Heinl said. The leaders of the pack are the returning starters, which consist of seniors Jack Diemert (160 pounds), Marcus Richey (172) and Sebastian...

A soccer legacy has been initiated in the Quaker Valley girls soccer program. It was actually kicked off four years ago when Rachel Loudermilk and Maggie Behun took over as co-head coaches, but the legacy took a giant leap in 2024. “We are so proud of the girls and what...