High School category, Page 284

While watching private and charter schools again flourish in the state basketball finals, the PIAA’s top administrator said there is a problem, but it’s not what public school advocates might think. “We have a ‘school’ problem,” said PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi, insisting that while some individual schools are likely...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 3-0, 1 2. Hempfield, 7-0, 4 3. Mt. Lebanon, 5-2, 3 4. Seneca Valley, 5-1, 2 5. Pine-Richland, 4-1, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Shaler, 4-1, 1 2. West Allegheny, 3-1, 2 3. Bethel Park, 3-2, 3 4. North Hills,...

Central Catholic senior Payton Wehner was the only finalist for the fourth annual Willie Thrower Award who was honored in 2022. Even though Armstrong’s Cadin Olsen won for the second consecutive year, Wehner knew he had a shot at the award if he dedicated himself to the sport. His hard...

Growing up in Vandergrift, Tony Recchia craved competition. “I just remember fighting every day, every play, competing in every sport,” said Recchia, who now lives in Valencia. “I ingrained competition into everything from Little League on. I just loved to compete.” Recchia relied on that competitive spirit to find success...

Tia Germanich Class: Senior School: Deer Lakes Sport: Softball Report card: Senior catcher Tia Germanich belted a three-run home run to lift the Lancers to a 3-1 victory over Freeport on Friday. It was the only hit for the Lancers (4-2, 1-0) in the Section 1-3A win. Germanich also hit...

Gabrielle Layne capped her 2023 outdoor track season with some major accomplishments. She found herself on the medals podium twice at the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Slippery Rock with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash and an eighth-pace finish in the 200 dash. She also punched her ticket...

Norwin senior Abigail Boyer wants to major in fashion design. She wears her latest accomplishment well. Boyer is one of this year’s winners of the annual Western Golf Association Chick Evans Scholarship, awarded to deserving golf caddies in the region. Boyer will attend Miami University in the fall. The Evans...

Talia Ross School: Belle Vernon Class: Senior Sport: Softball Claim to fame: A hard-throwing southpaw, Ross put her name in the Belle Vernon record book with an impressive performance against Latrobe last weekend. Ross stuck out 20 batters, including the first 19 she faced, as Belle Vernon won 7-0 in...

After a solid turnout during the indoor season, Norwin track and field is primed to carry the momentum into the spring. “We have a very dedicated team with a nice mix of upper and underclassmen,” coach Tim Van Horn said. “This group really works to push each other within their...

Opponents may have a dozen or so players in uniform for varsity matches, but North Allegheny boys volleyball coach Dan Long plans to use twice that many. In fact, he counted 26 different players he used in a season-opening tournament the Tigers hosted March 23. It’s not that Long was...

Six North Allegheny seniors will take part in the annual Roundball Classic basketball all-star games, set for May 22-26, at North Allegheny. Top senior players from the WPIAL, City League and District 10 were selected to play in the all-star weekend, which ties a bow around another season in Western...

Franklin Regional track coach Bob Ralston was surprised when he heard sophomore Monroe Law, who was a freshman sensation, transferred to Class 2A Winchester Thurston before the season. But despite her departure — Ralston said he doesn’t know why Law transferred — he said the Panthers girls have enough talent...

The Hampton baseball team found a way in late March to mix business with pleasure. Leaving behind another chilly, damp spring in Western Pennsylvania, the Talbots traveled to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for five days of much-needed practice and games. Hampton, which had its first week of the WPIAL schedule wiped...

Fox Chapel track coach Tom Moul enjoys having a few dual meets in the run-up to the major invitationals during the outdoor track season. The invite season traditionally kicks off at Butler High School, and that event will be April 19. In those dual meets, the Foxes boys and girls...

Rain is a fact of life for baseball and softball teams in the area. Nearly every year, the early part of the season is plagued by bad weather and difficulty finding facilities to play at. Even with more turf fields around, Fox Chapel senior Troy Susnack said the Foxes are...

High schools Baseball Friday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Pine-Richland at Butler, ppd. Seneca Valley 17, Allderdice 3 Section 2 Mt. Lebanon 1, Canon-McMillan 0 Hempfield 5, Central Catholic 3 Class 5A Section 1 Penn-Trafford 9, Armstrong 2 Section 3 Shaler at Moon, ppd. Class 4A Section 1 Beaver at...

The top quarterback in the WPIAL from the 2023 season will be honored Saturday afternoon at the fourth annual Willie Thrower Award ceremony. The winner will be one of the six finalists that were chosen by a panel of voters that include a coach from each of the 17 WPIAL...

Graham Keen hit an RBI double in the top of the first inning and three pitchers combined on a shutout for Mt. Lebanon in a 1-0 victory over Canon-McMillan in Section 2-6A baseball Friday. David Shields started and pitched three innings, allowing no hits and striking out seven. Sawyer Klasnick...

The top senior talent in the Alle-Kiski Valley and surrounding communities gathered Friday at Highlands to match shooting skills in a competition to kick off the two-day Cager Classic all-star celebration. For Kalleigh Nerone, a Bloomsburg commit and a member of the West girls representing Highlands with teammates Shelby Wojcik,...

High schools Baseball Thursday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Pine-Richland at Butler, ppd. Seneca Valley 13, Allderdice 1 Section 2 Canon-McMillan 5, Mt. Lebanon 2 Class 5A Section 1 Gateway at Franklin Regional, ppd. Penn-Trafford at Armstrong, ppd. Section 2 South Fayette at Peters Township, ppd. Trinity at Connellsville, ppd....

Coleman Fletcher hit the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the eighth inning and earned the win in relief to lead Moon to a 6-5 victory over No. 1 Shaler in Section 3-5A baseball Thursday. Angelo Fachet singled, stole second and scored the winning run and Andrew Cross tripled...

Gateway’s Adam Memije and Zidaan Hassan, who teamed up to win the WPIAL Class 3A doubles title last year, squared off in the Section 1-3A singles finals Thursday with Memije winning, 6-2, 6-4. Memije and Hassan defeated Franklin Regional teammates in the semifinals in straight sets. Memije blanked Prem Nadasen,...

The Highlands and Hampton boys basketball teams played nine times over the past four seasons, including a third time last year in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. Bradyn Foster, the Golden Rams’ 6-foot-8 senior center, knows all about what it was like in those bruising battles with...

Belle Vernon standout softball pitcher Talia Ross suffered a freak injury during practice Wednesday and could miss the rest of the season. Ross, who had a school-record-tying 20-strikeout game last weekend against Latrobe, said an MRI showed a ruptured Achilles tendon. The senior left-hander will see an orthopedic surgeon next...

With a coach whose nickname is “Buzz,” the Hempfield baseball team is beginning to generate some of it in the WPIAL’s largest classification. The Spartans are 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Section 2-6A heading into the final game of their three-game series against Central Catholic. They are averaging 9.5 runs....