High School category, Page 1045
Yough rallies past Hempfield East to even Westmoreland County summer baseball series
Vinny Martin hit a two-run home run, Steve Manon added a two-run single, and Yough evened its best-of-three series in the Westmoreland County American Baseball League playoffs with Hempfield East with a 5-2 win at Sutersville on Tuesday. Martin, who earned a save in relief, hit his home run in...
Pa. health secretary: Data will guide state’s approach to high school sports
The PIAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee strongly recommends starting high school sports on time, but Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine declined to endorse that decision Tuesday. Levine said the same covid-19 data that’s being used to determine how schools reopen should guide whether interscholastic sports are played in the fall....
Norwin overcomes logistics, selects smaller, all-female hall of fame class
Tom Shirley is used to getting things ready for the Norwin Athletic Hall of Fame banquet. He has been helping to coordinate inductees, logistics and meetings since 2009. But 2020 offered new challenges for organizers, with the covid-19 pandemic limiting gatherings and former hall of fame chairman Brandon Rapp, Norwin’s...
Central Catholic basketball transfer Langston Moses eligible for regular season, WPIAL says
Central Catholic transfer Langston Moses is eligible for next boys basketball season but ineligible to play in the postseason, the WPIAL decided Monday. The 6-foot-3 rising junior averaged 22 points for Winchester Thurston, which reached the WPIAL Class 2A semifinals and the PIAA first round last season. Moses is a...
Top-seeded Latrobe survives scare in Westmoreland County summer baseball playoffs
Top-seed Latrobe took advantage of four Mt. Pleasant errors to score four unearned runs in a 5-3 victory on Monday in the Westmoreland County American Baseball League playoffs. The Jethawks, the regular-season champions, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings, scoring a run in the first inning on...
Seneca Valley takes advantage of big inning to cruise past Kiski Area in WPBL playoffs
Sometimes all it takes is just one inning, and on Monday in the first round of the Western Pennsylvania Summer Baseball League playoffs, Seneca Valley took full advantage of that. In the second inning, the Warriors capitalized on three Kiski Area errors, sent 14 batters to the plate and scored...
WPIAL finals at Heinz Field in question as PIAA considers shorter football season
The WPIAL might not use Heinz Field for its football championships this fall for multiple reasons. Holding the games there wouldn’t be affordable if the governor maintains a 250-person limit on gatherings, WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said Monday, adding “we couldn’t even pay the bill for the lighting.” But...
Longtime coach Sonny Thomas could be on brink of final season on sideline
Could it be one last year in the sun for Sonny Thomas? Maybe so. The longtime local football coach is on board for at least one more season with his son, Marko Thomas, the fourth-year coach at Connellsville. If the elder Thomas decides to retire as his son is hinting,...
Dayton extends 1st Division I offers to 3 WPIAL football recruits
Three WPIAL football players drew their first Division I offers from the same Ohio school. Dayton’s coaching staff extended offers last week to North Catholic’s Nick Maher and Seneca Valley teammates Jimmy Royal and Josh Miller. All three are rising seniors. Maher is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver and linebacker....
Football coaches association optimistic PIAA starts on time, offers scenarios if delayed
The Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association shared nine different scenarios with the PIAA in recent weeks, each with a different start date for the fall season. The scenarios describe how the high school schedule could be organized if the season needed to be delayed. There were two-week increments between each...
Motorcyclist killed in Penn Township crash was former Jeannette sports standout
A former three-sport standout at Jeannette High School was killed Sunday night in a motorcycle crash. Tre Cunningham, 20, was driving a Honda CBR 1000 east on Route 130 in Penn Township around 8:30 p.m. and attempted to overtake a BMW SUV in a no passing zone, said Penn Township...
Mt. Pleasant baseball wins, secures playoff berth for county tournament
Mt. Pleasant doubled its win total for the season Sunday in the Westmoreland County American Baseball League by playing its most complete game of the season. Backed by the strong pitching of Joe Shrum and the timely hitting of Jonas King, Jeremiah Kitz and Shrum, Mt. Pleasant defeated West Hempfield,...
Football players pine for usual 7-on-7 tournaments
Brett Birch is a regular on the 7-on-7 football travel circuit. The incoming junior wide receiver at Jeannette plays for 412 Elite out of Pittsburgh, an independent organization that went to tournaments in Michigan and Delaware before its schedule was shut down over coronavirus concerns. Still, “I feel like I...
Kiski Area, Freeport baseball honor senior classes with one final matchup
The Kiski Area and Freeport baseball seniors grew up playing against each other, and when the coronavirus pandemic canceled their final high school season earlier this year the two teams didn’t think they’d get an opportunity to face off again. On Friday night at Freeport’s James E. Schwartz Memorial field,...
Central Catholic’s Elliot Donald, nephew of Aaron, says he’ll enroll at Pitt
Surprising no one, Central Catholic defensive tackle Elliot Donald announced Friday he will enroll at Pitt next year, joining a program where his uncle Aaron was one of the most celebrated players in school history. In Due Time ?? | DIRECTED BY @prospectmedia_ ? pic.twitter.com/9xOPMVNACM— Elliot Donald (@ElliotDonald3) July 24,...
With allegations behind him, Nick Lackovich returns as Aliquippa boys basketball coach
This was more than a job opportunity for Nick Lackovich, who was rehired Thursday as Aliquippa’s boys basketball coach. To him, this felt like vindication. Lackovich resigned as the Quips coach in 2016 when a dog-fighting investigation led to child pornography charges against him. Eight months earlier, he had celebrated...
American Junior Golf Association coming back to Southpointe
The AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) is coming to Southpointe Golf Club on Aug. 2-6. This is the second consecutive season Southpointe will host the AJGA Junior presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods. A field of 78 boys and girls, ages 12-19, will compete in a 54-hole event. There will be...
No locker rooms at halftime? PIAA readies sport-specific guidelines for fall
The PIAA will release sport-specific guidelines for teams, coaches and officials next week, a key step in the return-to-play process for high school athletics. PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi described the guidelines as “things to consider while getting ready for competition.” They’ll reinforce social distance, mask wearing and sanitation, but...
Aquinas Academy fencer Sam Everson wins Western Pennsylvania Positive Athlete award
When the Western Pennsylvania Positive Athlete award winners were announced earlier this month, Aquinas Academy’s Sam Everson was honored as the boys alternative sport recipient. Everson was the team captain of Aquinas’ fencing team, and the rising junior was named the Team MVP this past season after recording a bout...
Central Catholic running back Eddy Tillman announces 1st Division I offerVideo
Central Catholic running back Eddy Tillman, a 2,000-yard rusher last season, received his first Division I college offer this week. The 5-foot-8, 165-pound rising senior announced an offer Tuesday from Valparaiso. He already held Division II offers from Slippery Rock, Clarion, Seton Hill, Mercyhurst and Notre Dame College. Tillman rushed...
Football refs could be wearing masks, gloves and using hand-held whistles if there is a season
Referees could be wearing masks and gloves and using hand-held whistles in high school football games if proposed guidelines become the norm, and the PIAA moves forward with football season. A local official said the possible uniform additions for those wearing stripes could take effect this fall if there is...
Flipped? Condensed? Overlapped? Options aren’t ideal if PIAA seasons need altered
There are days when Aaron Albert coaches football in the morning, sprints to his real estate job for a few hours and then heads to the ballpark for evening baseball. It’s hectic, but it sure beats sitting at home. “Life went from nothing for a lot a months to everything...
North Catholic striker Jayden Sharpless makes verbal commitment to Georgia State
Last November, rising junior Jayden Sharpless was helping North Catholic win its first WPIAL title with a golden goal free kick in double-overtime. North Catholic’s Jayden Sharpless ends the game with a beautiful free kick from about 25 yards out. The Trojans capture their first #WPIAL title in school history....
Ex-treasurer of West Allegheny hockey boosters accused of stealing $40,000 from club
An Oakdale woman accused of writing herself more than $40,000 worth of checks from the hockey booster club of which she was treasurer has been trying to pay back the money to no avail, according to her defense attorney. Jennifer Layden, 42, was charged in late June with one count...
WPIAL swimmers earn NISCA All-American laurels
Several WPIAL swimming standouts recently were honored as All-Americans by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association for times recorded during the 2019-20 season. The lists are compiled based on individual and relay times recorded at sanctioned high school meets during the season and submitted by the programs during the application...
