High School category, Page 270

One day after Hampton’s WPIAL playoff hopes ended with a walk-off loss at Knoch, senior Matt Erka searched for a bright spot. “We tried our best, and we just couldn’t get it done,” the outfielder/pitcher said. “I guess it just wasn’t enough.” Needing to win one of its final two...

Isaac Jacobs’ plan was to become a three-sport athlete. Lacrosse was going to be just one of those three for the Fox Chapel senior. When Jacobs committed to John Carroll University to play men’s lacrosse, he knew he was going to have to keep working to be able to get...

Coach James Hastings knows that every game the Fox Chapel baseball team plays is going to be a grind in Section 1-5A. The fact that WPIAL baseball changed its scheduling a few years back to make those games back-to-back like a series added to the challenge. It now isn’t possible...

Tessa Rodriguez was over the Moon when she visited Robert Morris. The Belle Vernon senior signed to continue her track & field and cross country careers at RMU. “What made me choose RMU was how close the relationship was between the girls on the team,” she said. “I immediately felt...

The stretch run has arrived for the Pine-Richland boys lacrosse team, and it’s something they’ve been waiting for. The most experienced group in Rams coach Dave Offner’s tenure has put itself in position to make a run in the playoffs. The Rams were 10-4 overall entering a key section matchup...

Grant Argiro has been the kicker on the Pine-Richland football team since he was a sophomore, but he also played junior varsity linebacker. In fact his football career started as a offensive lineman and defensive end. But that’s changed and for good reason. “About this time last year the coaches...

During a high school track and field meet this season, Owen Proskin can be seen anywhere from the track to the jumps and to the throws. The versatile 6-foot-5 Plum sophomore is making his mark in several events and producing points, top place finishes, and creating positive vibes toward what...

Two team titles. A three-time winner. Five individual champions. Norwin track and field had a blast at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championships at Latrobe. The Knights cleaned up at the medal stand. Junior Melani Schmidt won the 200- and 400-meter dashes and ran the anchor leg of the 400-meter...

There are miles per hour signs posted at North Allegheny track practices, but these aren’t speed limits. They’re speed minimums. “If you run 17 miles per hour, you get to sign the 17 miles per hour sign,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said. “If you run 18, you sign the...

Anne Melle singled, doubled and drove in two runs and McKenna Rowlands doubled in a run to lead North Allegheny to a 6-5 victory over Norwin in a Section 1-6A softball game May 1. Sammy Plotsko allowed four hits and had seven strikeouts to earn the win for the Tigers,...

The Franklin Regional junior varsity hockey team struggled during the regular season in the PIHL’s Tier 1. The Panthers, who were the Tier 2 champions in 2022-23, were moved up because of their success. “We were put in with the big boys,” Franklin Regional coach Dave Soltesz said. “We were...

Baldwin track coach Ed Helbig has a favorite saying that he offers up as motivation to athletes on his team: “Get one day better, every day.” With tears in his eyes Friday at the Baldwin Invitational, Helbig shared a story about how the cross country team took a detour to...

High schools Baseball Friday’s results Class 2A Section 1 Burgettstown 9, Charleroi 0 Section 2 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 10, New Brighton 2 Nonsection Brownsville 8, California 1 Carrick 16, Woodland Hills 2 Frazier at Southmoreland, ppd. Indiana at Somerset, ppd. Knoch 5, Shady Side Academy 1 Latrobe...

Seneca Valley softball star Lexie Hames was limited to one inning in the circle during a section showdown with Hempfield on Wednesday due to shoulder soreness. In a bit of good news for Seneca Valley and bad news for the rest of the Class 6A teams in the WPIAL, Hames...

Norwin junior Brandi Brozeski pulled off a stunner in the 100-meter hurdles Friday at the 50th Baldwin Invitational. Brozeski not only broke her personal record, she upset the favorite, South Fayette’s Delaney Schumaker, to win the race. Brozeski finished in 15.01 seconds. She broke her PR (15.54) twice, running a...

If teams continue to pitch inside to Makayla Etling, they are probably going to continue to pay the price. Etling’s bat is making a different sound right now. “I’m a little surprised to see (inside pitches),” said Etling, the Southmoreland junior catcher and leadoff hitter. “I feel like I am...

High schools Baseball Thursday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Seneca Valley 7, Butler 4 Pine-Richland 9, North Allegheny 8 Section 2 Mt. Lebanon 6, Baldwin 0 Central Catholic 6, Canon-McMillan 4 Hempfield 10, Norwin 9 Class 3A Section 4 Greensburg Salem 14, Brownsville 0 Class 2A Section 2 Northgate 15,...

One of the oldest and most prestigious track and field meets in the country celebrates a big anniversary this season. The 2024 Baldwin Track & Field Invitational turns a half-century old Friday. Some of the top athletes from Western Pa. will gather at Baldwin for the annual event starting at...

Pine-Richland had already left the bases loaded three times, but that’s not what Jake Waddell was thinking about when he came to the plate in seventh. “You’ve got to have a next-pitch mentality,” said Waddell, who drove in the winning run with a two-out, bases-loaded single as Pine-Richland outlasted rival...

CJ Proch doubled, homered and drove in five runs as Central Catholic defeated Canon-McMillan, 6-4, to clinch the fourth and final WPIAL playoff spot in Section 2-6A baseball Thursday. Adam Sarkis added two hits and an RBI for the Vikings (10-9, 7-8). Sam Meredith went 3 for 3 with three...

A cloud of dust settling around him after an exciting finish on his home baseball diamond, Adam Hess was preparing to rake the pitcher’s mound when he was called over for an interview. He set down the rake and jogged toward the dugout. Moments earlier, Hempfield walked off Norwin. Before...

Jim Yurek gets excited when talking about the continued growth of the Plum Mustang mountain bike team. “I love what this team has done for my sons and what it still does for my daughter,” said Yurek, a retired police officer who runs The Bike Lab shop in Plum and...

It is becoming an annual tradition that the Fox Chapel and Plum baseball teams meet in the final section series with something on the line. This is the fourth year in a row that there’s playoff implications for their two-game set. Fox Chapel and Plum are 8-2 in Section 1-5A,...

A three-game losing streak — the product of a Section 2-6A sweep by Mt. Lebanon — stung in the short term, but it did not deter Norwin baseball from its long-range goals. After the Knights lost Game 3 at home, second-year coach Craig Spisak held his chin high and showed...

Penn-Trafford track and field coach Eric Reger had just put his children to bed about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when he got a text from team captain Matt Sarnowski. “I think they made a mistake,” it read. “I was going over the scoring, and I have us winning.” Reger quickly pulled...