Ray Fisher stories, Page 19
Eden Christian baseball team reflects on silver season
The Eden Christian Academy baseball program was wrapped in silver this season. Eden finished as the runner-up in both the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs, losing to undefeated Faith Christian, 4-1, in the Class A state championship game June 14 at Penn State. The Warriors, who reached the PIAA finals for...
Bethel Park notebook: Makenzie Wade, Belinda Bova play in softball all-star game
The inaugural Western PA Softball All-Star Game between Team Gold and Team Black took place June 18 at Plum High School. Team Black won the game, 7-4. Many of the WPIAL’s top senior players participated in what was termed “a celebration of the 2024 spring season.” Two girls from Bethel...
Bethel Park baseball continues program’s tradition of deep postseason runs
Bethel Park advanced to the WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship round riding a five-game winning streak and with a 9-2 record in the second half of the regular season. Penn-Trafford, the Black Hawks’ opponent, strung together a 13-game winning streak this season and had won 17 of its last 19...
With doubles teams leading the way, Quaker Valley tennis competes with state’s best
Quaker Valley’s boys tennis team hit the daily double in 2024. The Quakers had a banner season thanks in large part to the performance of their doubles players. “In PIAA high school tennis, you only need a 60% to win,” QV coach Christi Hays said. “That would not even be...
‘Courage and grit’ propel Eden Christian to baseball season to remember
The Eden Christian Academy baseball season escalated from outstanding status to an awesome experience June 6 with the Warriors’ 11-4 playoff win over Avella in the PIAA Class A quarterfinals at Ross Memorial Park at the Washington & Jefferson Sports Complex. It then moved from awesome to sensational thanks to...
New athletic director impressed with zeal for sports at Sewickley Academy
Sewickley Academy announced the hiring of Mike Scerbo as the school’s new director of athletics March 4. He is currently assisted by Heather Border and Kelly Carioto. Scerbo was formerly an associate athletic director for sport and facilities operations at Duquesne University. He spent 11 years coaching women’s lacrosse and...
Versatile runner leaves unique legacy with Quaker Valley track program
Ellie Cain recently wrapped up a distinguished four-year career in the Quaker Valley track and field program. A senior team leader in 2024, Cain amassed 14 WPIAL and six PIAA medals with the Quakers and was an important member of the three district championship squads at QV since 2022. “I...
As a hammer thrower or metalsmith, Fox Chapel grad shines at Cal (Pa.)
Jessica Jing McCann illustrates what it means to be a preeminent student-athlete. She recently earned all-region honors as a record-setting throwing specialist for the Cal (Pa.) women’s track and field program. A Fox Chapel graduate, McCann is Cal’s first female thrower to earn all-region accolades since the inception of the...
Quaker Valley brings back medals from state track meet
One Quaker Valley relay team placed third at the PIAA Class 2A track and field championships; another secured seventh. The QV boys 3,200-meter relay team, consisting of juniors Clark LaLomia and Jackson Pethel, freshman Jonah Montagnese and sophomore River Capek, clicked for a time of 8:01.1 to take third place....
Tennis season to remember for Sewickley Academy, Quaker Valley builds to WPIAL finals matchup
The Sewickley Academy boys tennis team had its season-long goal of a WPIAL playoff run firmly entrenched. Sewickley looked to make it two in a row in 2024 as the Panthers were the defending champions in Class 2A. Sewickley and Quaker Valley advanced to the WPIAL championship round off their...
Gartleys lead another golden effort for Quaker Valley at WPIAL track meet
Mia Gartley is only a sophomore at Quaker Valley. Yet in her two years on the QV girls track and field team, she has won two WPIAL individual titles in the Class 2A girls high jump. Gartley claimed first place May 15 at Slippery Rock University by clearing a height...
Mike Iuzzolino takes over Sewickley Academy boys basketball program
Altoona native Mike Iuzzolino’s has had a distinguished basketball career. Iuzzolino’s proficiency on the basketball court has taken him all over the globe. Most recently, he worked for eight years on the Robert Morris men’s basketball staff, including the last three as associate head coach. Iuzzolino, 56, is settling in...
Girls relay team uses home-track advantage to win at Baldwin Invitational
The girls 3,200-meter relay team’s performance at the 50th annual Baldwin Invitational is one senior Mackenzie Hirt won’t soon forget. If ever. Hirt, a fourth-year competitor for the Baldwin girls track and field team, and sophomores Molly Gorman, Mackenzie Bowen and Julianne Ott, took first place at the invitational May...
Thomas Jefferson senior makes impact in diving, gymnastics
Addison Arndt, a two-sport standout at Thomas Jefferson, is attending Penn State in the fall. She will take a 3.9 GPA with her to the University Park campus. “I am committed to Penn State,” Arndt said. “I am going in as an undecided major, but I am very interested in...
Sewickley Academy’s Libby Eannarino surpasses 200-goal milestone
Sewickley Academy senior midfielder Libby Eannarino needed three scores at home against Quaker Valley on May 7 to reach 200 career goals in girls lacrosse. She ended up with seven to lead the Panthers to an exciting 15-11 win against their rivals. Eannarino’s younger sister Emma, a freshman midfielder/attacker and...
Quaker Valley track shows depth with large crop of WPIAL qualifiers
As the reigning WPIAL Class 2A team champion, the Quaker Valley track and field program was well-represented at the WPIAL individual championships. “I’m very proud of the number of boys and girls we qualified for WPIALs,” QV coach Jared Jones said. “We had 29 total athletes competing in 34 individual...
Fisher’s Files: Quaker Valley coach in favor of new wrestling rules
The National Federation of State High School Associations has made new rule changes for wrestling in the offseason. • Beginning next season, wrestlers will be considered in bounds with only one point of contact by either competitor inside or on the boundary line. • Another change is three points for...
Bethel Park baseball community takes pride in electric Oakland A’s closer Mason Miller
Mason Miller is the pride of the Bethel Park baseball community. The 25-year-old flame-throwing right-handed hurler has been referred to as the most electric pitcher in baseball. Through his first 13 games as the closer for the Oakland A’s this season, Miller has eight saves and a 1.10 ERA. He...
Fisher’s Files: Bethel Park spring athletes earn high marks
Keaira Griffiths and Julia Hoppe are just two of the many integral athletes on the Bethel Park girls track and field team. The displayed their mettle at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association outdoor championships at West Mifflin in April. Griffiths, a junior, took third place in the javelin event with...
Bethel Park relay builds momentum after 1st-place finish at Baldwin Invitational
Bethel Park’s girls 1,600-meter relayers waited patiently all day. It finally was their turn to compete May 3 at the rain-soaked 50th annual Baldwin Invitational at Baldwin Stadium. Bethel Park seniors Artemis Conaboy and Jenna Lang were joined by freshmen Katelyn Coates and Iyonna Sloan in the relay event, and...
Northwestern recruit Ryan Petras leads Bethel Park baseball into WPIAL playoffs
Football and baseball are the two main sports for Bethel Park’s junior super athlete Ryan Petras. Petras led the Bethel Park football team in receiving and scoring last fall and ranked second in rushing. He has received offers from some Ivy League schools to play college football. But it’s on...
Gymnasts Olivia Kovach, Ava Hickman look forward to defending WPIAL titles
They say good things come in small packages. Mt. Pleasant’s Olivia Kovach and Hempfield’s Ava Hickman are emblematic of that long-standing and well-known adage. Both girls are talented athletes who train at Ultimate Gymnastics in Delmont, where they are coached by Renee Ruggeri, a former competitor and lifetime gymnastics enthusiast....
Sewickley Academy celebrates 25th WPIAL boys tennis title
Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley are located just a few miles apart. It’s a breeding ground for high school boys tennis. Sewickley and QV advanced to the WPIAL Class 2A championship match off their winning performances in the postseason. One team was expected to be there; the other, not so...
Talented group of seniors leads dangerous attack for Sewickley Academy girls lacrosse
Kendall Sykes is a talented, multiple-sport athlete at Sewickley Academy. The 5-foot-7 Sykes is a senior attacker on the Sewickley girls lacrosse team and one of the leading players in the WPIAL Class 3A ranks. She averages five goals per game. A fourth-year varsity player and Chapman (Calif.) University commit,...
Group effort guides Quaker Valley boys, girls track teams to WPIAL titles
Both Quaker Valley track and field teams ended their regular season as undefeated section champions. Both topped that impressive feat May 7 by winning WPIAL Class 2A team titles at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium on the campus of Peters Township Middle School. “The entire coaching staff and I are very...
