High School category, Page 226

Bob Martini can’t properly condense the words needed to describe how he feels about the Penn Hills fitness team this year. The Indians set a goal of being national champions at the Marine Physical Fitness National Champions in Little Rock, Ark. Penn Hills didn’t quite reach the top, but Martini...

The curtain has come down on the 2024 WPIAL diamond playoffs as six baseball and six softball teams are wearing the golden crown. Those six teams are saluted by sitting in the first six seats of the post-district playoff power rankings. Riverside sat atop the baseball rankings for the entire...

The deck has been shuffled among the top softball teams across the state as we prepare for the PIAA playoffs with a champions-only edition of the Trib HSSN state softball rankings. Twelve teams came up empty of their district championship hopes and have been bounced from this week’s Top 5....

There are a plethora of changes to the weekly Trib HSSN state baseball rankings with the district playoffs in the books and the state postseason starting Monday. Eleven teams dropped out from a week ago as losses in the district semifinals and championship game cost them a spot in the...

Leadoff hitter Bailey Snowberger doubled to open the WPIAL 6A softball championship Friday at Cal (Pa.). After she scored the game’s first run, a teammate said, “congratulations” as Snowberger returned to the dugout. “I’m like, what do you mean?” Snowberger said. “I didn’t know what she was talking about.” The...

There were a lot of empty seats on the Latrobe softball team bus Tuesday after the Wildcats lost to Penn-Trafford in the WPIAL Class 5A third-place game at Gateway. The reason was several players decided to drive home with family instead of going home with the team. But the Wildcats...

Ty Keffer has been a dynamic, three-sport athlete at Southmoreland. He has lit up the scoreboard in basketball, pulled in leaping catches in football and struck out numerous batters in baseball. But the athletic Keffer’s top sport is basketball, and he has decided to extend his playing career at a...

Cam Ponko School: Penn-Trafford Class: Junior Sport: Softball Claim to fame: Ponko helped the Warriors clinch third place in WPIAL Class 5A as she went 2 for 3 with two RBIs in a 4-1 victory over Latrobe in the consolation game. A third baseman, Ponko is slashing .500/.549/.968 with nine...

Senior Matt Sarnowski was hoping to end his high school track and field career with a PIAA gold medal. But Sarnowski had to settle for his second consecutive bronze for finishing third in the discus at the state meet in Shippensburg. The WPIAL Class 3A champion lost his back-and-forth battle...

Members of the Riverview track and field teams competed in five events at the PIAA Class 2A championships in Shippensburg, and the boys 3,200-meter relay came the closest to making it onto the medals podium. Junior Holden Deasy, sophomore Braden Longstreth and juniors Christopher Barnes and Micah Ivy came in...

A number of Westmoreland County players were selected for the WPIAL all-section girls lacrosse teams. Norwin’s Karlie Johnson and Ray Mamas made the Class 3A Section 1 first team, and Ava Wilson and Ava Kessler of Norwin and Heather Harshman of Hempfield were second teamers. Sydney Valenta and Gia Fernandez...

When two-time state champion Dale Hall was a freshman, he got kicked out of Hampton track practice one day. He wanted to run hills with the Talbots, but there was one problem: He wasn’t even a Hampton student. “That might not have been my brightest move,” said Hall, an Aquinas...

Rowan Gwin learned from experience when planning his race strategy in the 1,600-meter run during the PIAA Class 3A Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University. Butler senior Drew Griffith is one of the greatest distance runners to ever come out of Western Pennsylvania. Gwin didn’t want to burn himself...

A rowing machine was always located in Fox Chapel sophomore Niko Vavpetic’s basement. But he didn’t know much about his dad’s time competing while he was attended Harvard. When Vavpetic showed an interest, his dad worked with him to help keep him on track for success in competition. So far,...

Jordan Geist, who smashed records as a high school thrower for Knoch’s track team, caught a mid-week flight home from Europe so he could be inducted Friday night into the WPIAL Hall of Fame. He was overseas competing in Germany and the Czech Republic and hopes to fly back across...

High schools Baseball PIAA playoffs First round Monday’s schedule Class 6A Ephrata (17-7) at Downingtown East (17-6), 4 p.m.; Plymouth Whitemarsh (17-7) at LaSalle College (21-3), 4 p.m.; Central Bucks East (17-7) at Hazleton (19-4), 4 p.m.; Liberty (20-5) vs. Neshaminy (20-3) at DeSales University, 7 p.m.; North Penn (13-6)...

Going into the WPIAL Class 3A championship game at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.), Mohawk knew it needed to be ready to face the most dominating pitcher in 3A. The Warriors were well-prepared, having been in the cage since immediately after their semifinal win against Avonworth. With the postponement of...

When the PIAA Class 5A baseball playoffs begin Monday, there is a good chance senior Max Bernadowski will be on the hill. Why not? Bernadowski (7-1) pitched the Panthers into the tournament by tossing seven strong innings in a 3-2 victory against West Allegheny in the WPIAL third-place game. The...

Softball pitchers get all of the credit when they throw no-hitters, while their catchers humbly remove their masks and pads and wander off into obscurity. But Ligonier Valley senior ace Cheyenne Piper said she couldn’t be her dominant self without junior Sydnee Foust behind the plate. Even though they bicker....

WPIAL Class 6A champion Seneca Valley will hit the road and Class 5A champ Armstrong will face a familiar foe when the PIAA softball playoffs begin Monday. The PIAA announced sites and times Friday afternoon. Seneca Valley, the only WPIAL team in the 6A field, will open at District 10...

CALIFORNIA — Caught in the throes of a surprising three-run deficit against the underdog of these playoffs, Seneca Valley sprang to life late and reprised its role as the top dog in WPIAL 6A softball. Senior right fielder Kylie Staudt capped a 4-for-4 day with a walk-off single in the...

The Chartiers-Houston softball team saw its goal of a WPIAL Class A championship dashed last year with a loss to eventual champion Union in the semifinals. There was no stopping the Bucs against the Scotties this time around. Chartiers-Houston, behind 11 hits from its potent offense and the pitching of...

Plum and Seneca Valley will host doubleheaders Monday in the first round of the PIAA baseball playoffs. The PIAA released sites and times on Friday. In all, 19 WPIAL teams qualified for the state playoffs. WPIAL champions Penn-Trafford in Class 5A and Bishop Canevin in A have games Monday at...

High schools Softball WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Championship Friday’s schedule Norwin (10-10) vs. Seneca Valley (20-1) at Lilley Field, 1 p.m. Class 5A Championship Thursday’s result Armstrong 9, Thomas Jefferson 3 Class 4A Championship Thursday’s result Elizabeth Forward 10, Hampton 2 Class 3A Championship Friday’s schedule Mohawk (17-5) vs. South...

There’s been plenty of heartbreak over the last three years, but this time, Shelby Telegdy and the Elizabeth Forward softball team were not going to be denied. The top-seeded Warriors showed why they’ve been the favorite in WPIAL Class 4A softball all season. Their strong hitting, pitching and defense were...