Ray Fisher stories, Page 51

Brentwood seniors Nick Czerwien and Abby Wolf won’t soon forget the 63rd annual Brentwood High Athletic Boosters all-sports banquet. Czerwien and Wolf landed top honors at the event held May 28 at Brentwood High School. Czerwien received the Mark Reider Award, which is presented to the top male senior athlete...

“Making History” was established early as the Gateway boys lacrosse team’s motto. “And they did just that,” first-year coach Dan Alexander said. Among the Gators’ accomplishments this season en route to a 9-6 record: • Defeated Greensburg Central Catholic and Indiana for the first time in program history; • Received...

The O’Malley twins will be long-remembered in Baldwin track and field lore. Seniors Brendan and Bailey O’Malley reeled in six medals between them at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 16 at Slippery Rock. Brendan proved to be unstoppable in his specialties, taking first place in the...

Gateway won four of its final five regular-season games to clinch a WPIAL softball playoff berth for the second year in a row. The Gators, seeded No. 12, were hoping to carry that momentum into their first-round Class 5A playoff game May 16 against No. 5 Trinity. The contest was...

Her name might be last on the alphabet chart, but her hitting style ranks first on her team. Junior utility player Mackenzie Zang led the Thomas Jefferson softball team in hitting during the regular season with a .463 batting average. She finished with a team-high 25 hits in 54 at-bats,...

Notebook items from around the South Hills: • Thomas Jefferson’s baseball team won four consecutive games down the home stretch to finish in a tie for first place with Ringgold in Section 3-4A. Under the guidance of first-year coach Tim Vickers, the Jaguars ended the regular season with an 11-3...

Brandon Griener could be considered the “big man on campus” if he played a different position on the Brentwood baseball team. Instead, Griener, a senior pitcher/catcher, is known more as the “big man behind the plate” for the Spartans. The three-year starter led Brentwood to a fifth consecutive WPIAL playoff...

Andy Sopata proved to be Mr. Consistent for the Baldwin baseball program. After hitting .393 last season, the senior center fielder posted a .396 batting average this spring. Sopata led the Highlanders in batting average, at-bats (53), runs (17), hits (21), doubles (six), stolen bases (13), on-base percentage (.459) and...

Their drive for five came to fruition on the final day of the regular season. For the fifth consecutive year, Baldwin’s softball team has won or shared a section championship. This year, it took a tense 1-0 win at Bethel Park for the Highlanders to climb into a tie for...

Gateway should be well-represented at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 16 at Slippery Rock. For the girls, senior Mary Kromka qualified in both hurdles events, and seniors Shelly Jones and Sarah Corrie advanced in the shot put. Jones was hoping to qualify in the discus, and...

Brendan O’Malley’s focus at the 46th annual Baldwin Invitational on May 3 centered around achieving a memorable performance. Mission accomplished. Not only was it unforgettable for the Baldwin senior, it was spectacular. O’Malley earned four medals, taking first in the 400-meter dash (49.61 seconds) and long jump (23 feet, 6...

The Norwin tracksters — particularly the girls team — shifted into cruise control April 27 at the annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships. The Norwin girls dominated at Latrobe Memorial Stadium, more than doubling their closest competitors in team points and repeating as county champions. The Knights racked up 130...

Franklin Regional’s Rayna Todero leaped into the spotlight at the annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association outdoor championships. The Panthers sophomore took first place in the girls triple jump at the invitational held April 27 at Latrobe Memorial Stadium, hitting a mark of 37 feet, 3 inches. Todero has proven that...

Yash Maheshwari, a talented junior athlete at Thomas Jefferson, repeated as a section champion and WPIAL finalist in boys tennis this season. “Yash is one of the top players in WPIAL Class AA and has qualified for state singles for the second time,” said Chuck Correll, TJ’s veteran coach. “Yash...

The Brentwood girls track and field team wrapped up its section season with a 6-2 record. “We are in the midst of a really solid season,” said coach Mike Cramer prior to the WPIAL playoffs. Seniors Natalie Murrio, Rebecca Dirling and Quintasia Streeter and junior Mandy Race have led the...

It’s been a case of feast or near-famine for the Gateway softball team. In their six wins, the Gators scored an average of 14 runs per outing. In the five losses, Gateway averaged 2.4 runs per game. “We have been working every day on hitting,” said Scott Lewis, the Gators’...

Thomas Jefferson’s softball team experienced a blip on their midseason radar, losing two games in section play. But the Jaguars recovered and logged a 9-2 overall record into the second half of their Section 2-4A schedule. A WPIAL finalist and PIAA semifinalist last season, Thomas Jefferson opened the year with...

Thomas Jefferson ended the first half of its section schedule as one of the hottest baseball teams in the WPIAL. The Jaguars won six of seven games in early April, including a 1-0 Section 3-4A victory April 18 at home against rival Belle Vernon. Junior hurler Dylan Mallozzi was masterful...

Maura Columbus is a steady goal-scorer for the Norwin girls lacrosse team. Through nine games, the senior midfielder had accounted for a team-high 23 goals, which included a seven-goal outburst April 18 in a 14-13 win in overtime against Indiana. Columbus scored five goals against Baldwin and Hempfield and four...

Norwin’s softball team opened the season with a tough 1-0 section loss at Seneca Valley. The Knights shook it off by winning six of their next seven, including a rousing 6-1 victory April 11 against four-time defending WPIAL champion Hempfield, which also has won three state titles in a row....

Fresh off her banner basketball season at Thomas Jefferson, junior Molly Wagner exploded out of the gate to start the outdoor track and field season. Wagner, one of the top sprinters in the WPIAL, took first place in the girls 200-meter dash at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association outdoor championships...

Notebook items from around the South Hills: • The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its latest rankings Monday based on a vote of all 39 WPIAL coaches. Thomas Jefferson senior outside hitter Alex Territ recently was named as Class AA Player of the Week. The TJ netters are ranked...

Gateway softball was a member of Section 1-5A last year, going 8-7 and qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs. The Gators are still in Class 5A this spring but have moved into Section 2, tackling the likes of Hampton, Mars, Oakland Catholic, Penn Hills, Plum, Shaler and Woodland Hills. On April...

Their passion is softball. They display it regularly at practice and on the field before, during and after games. That’s just one of the reasons seniors Gionna DeLuca, Jordan Henderson and Mykaila Jackson were named captains of the Gateway softball team this season. Another is they are talented athletes. DeLuca,...

Lena Barakat, Kaylee Garofalo, Devon Schroeder and Gina Bolla are tireless distance runners on the Baldwin girls track and field team. Schroeder is a senior, Barakat and Bolla are sophomores and Garofalo is a freshman. The four girls banded together to win the 3,200-meter relay at the 15th annual South...