High School category, Page 617

WPIAL defending 2A baseball champion Shenango entered last week looking up in the standings at Riverside, Laurel and Neshannock and fighting for a playoff spot, only a half-game in front of South Side for fourth place in Section 2-2A. While the Wildcats remain in fourth place seven days later, a...

Welcome to May, where the regular season continues to wind down, and the postseason is two weeks away. Most WPIAL baseball teams will close out their sectional series schedule this week. In five of those sections, the top two teams are deadlocked for first place and will meet in a...

Here are the WPIAL boys lacrosse standings and the district playoff clinchings for the season through May 1. The top six teams in each section qualify for the district postseason. Only section records are shown. *-Clinched playoff berth x-Eliminated from playoff chase Class 3A Section 1 *Mt. Lebanon, 6-0 *Peters...

The Butler Invitational is the largest regular season track meet in the district and is often a good judge of who will be a threat at the WPIAL championships. Pine-Richland junior Natalie McLean certainly made her presence known at this year’s meet, which was held April 22-23. McLean won the...

The Gateway Gators have adopted many of the principles of the “Kromka-way.” Will Kromka, a 6-foot-4 senior outside/middle hitter on the Gateway boys volleyball team, led the Gators to a 4-0 section record at the halfway point of their schedule. “As the season plays out, I expect Will to do...

Despite a sometimes-rocky trip through the Section 1-5A schedule this spring, the Plum softball team still was alive for a WPIAL playoff spot as it entered its home stretch of games. “It’s been a progression throughout the season, and the girls have dealt with a lot, from injuries to a...

Sewickley Academy coach Whitney Snyder had not met freshman Severin Harmon before this season. Snyder did not know Harmon and would not have recognized him. And he surely had not seen him in competition on a tennis court. Well, Harmon made a great first impression on the Panthers’ veteran coach....

Quaker Valley’s softball team hopes the 2022 season ends up being a good learning experience. The Quakers are a young club with five freshmen and three sophomores on its 12-player roster. “This year, QV softball has quite a few newcomers,” coach Nicole Olson said, “and we expect to utilize our...

A.J. Brentzel’s stint as Penn-Trafford wrestling coach has ended after three seasons. With a fifth child on the way in the next three months, Brentzel made a difficult decision and resigned as coach. Job responsibilities and family trumped being a coach. “I hate losing him,” Penn-Trafford Athletic Director Kerry Hetrick...

Maura Wade won’t pout in the circle or outside of it. When it comes to Wade’s time with the Penn Hills softball team, she wants to show the Indians aren’t ready to revert to old habits. While Penn Hills isn’t always technically perfect, the Indians are never boring. Through April...

A long day at Slippery Rock University’s high school invitational wasn’t something Penn Hills track coach Lee Zelkowitz was hoping for. While the meet stretched from 9 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., the Indians were able to get a few things from the trip. First, Penn Hills was able to get...

High schools Baseball Saturday’s results Nonsection Avonworth 15, East (N.Y.) 5 Chartiers Valley 5, Carrick 1 Eden Christian 4, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 1 Fox Chapel 8, North Hills 2 Portage 6, South Allegheny 2 South Allegheny 20, Conemaugh Township 5 South Park 12, Ringgold 0 Lacrosse Saturday’s...

Hunter Newman broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI double in the fourth inning, leading No. 5 Neshannock to a 3-1 nonsection softball victory over No. 3 Ligonier Valley in a matchup of top Class 2A teams. Newman had two doubles, Ali Giordano tripled, and Addy Frye doubled and was...

Spring is upon us. The flowers are blooming, the lawn mowers are humming and Leechburg is in the WPIAL softball playoffs. The Blue Devils clinched their WPIAL record 35th consecutive Class A softball berth Friday with a doubleheader victory over The Ellis School, 15-0 and 12-1. Leechburg is 6-1 in...

Kiski Area sophomore Eliza Miller was a repeat winner at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association meet. She won the 3,200-meter run. But Miller isn’t fond of the long distance run, so she’s switched to running the 1,600 and 800. Miller won the 1,600 on Saturday at the 99th Annual meet,...

For Terry Preece, there was nothing better than growing up in a small town in the 1960s, not far from the big city. Preece excelled in athletics for that small-town school — Oakmont High School — serving as a team captain in football, basketball and track. In football, he set...

With the PIAA track and field championships a month away, high school athletes begin to prepare for the stretch run and focus on their events. The 99th Annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association Championship, 42nd for the girls, is the start of that run, and many shined Saturday at Latrobe’s Memorial...

Rodney Thomas II, who helped lead Central Catholic to a PIAA championship in 2015 and a runner-up finish a year later, will continue his football career with the Indianapolis Colts. Thomas, who played linebacker and safety at Yale, was drafted in the seventh round Saturday by the Colts, the 239th...

Maddie Griffin School: Ligonier Valley Sport: Softball Year: Senior Claim to fame: One of the most dominant arms in the WPIAL, Griffin pitched the fifth perfect game of her high school career, doing so in head-turning fashion Monday as she struck out all 21 in a 3-0 victory over Seton...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Hempfield, 9-1, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 8-3, 2 3. Pine-Richland, 9-2, 4 4. North Allegheny, 9-4, NR 5. Bethel Park, 5-6, 3 Out: Seneca Valley (6-6, 5) Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn-Trafford, 12-1, 5 2. North Hills, 11-1, NR 3....

Anna Cibik Class: Junior School: Leechburg Sport: Softball Report card: Leechburg junior pitcher Anna Cibik capped a busy week by throwing a pair of one-hitters Friday in a doubleheader sweep over Ellis School. The Blue Devils won 15-0 and 12-1. On Monday, she threw a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts in...

Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 9-4, 2 2. Butler, 8-4, 1 3. Mt. Lebanon, 9-7, 4 4. Norwin, 7-6, NR 5. Pine-Richland, 7-7, 5 Out: Upper St. Clair (8-4, 3) Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Peters Township, 12-1, 1 2. West Allegheny, 10-3, 2...

BELLE VERNON Morgan Einodshofer Sports: Soccer and track and field Parents: Susan and Michael Einodshofer Class rank: 1 of 191 GPA: 4.589 College: Undecided Extracurricular activities and honors: Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Award in 2019. … National Honor Society. … Mid Mon Valley All-Sports Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete. … All-WPIAL...

Roy Hall learned a lot from the coaches who preceded him at Jeannette. He said he owes a great deal of credit for his success as a coach to the late Joe Mucci, whom he played for in the early 1980s, and former coaches Art Tragesser, Bob Murphy and Ray...

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ seismic move to select Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett in the first round of the NFL Draft had fans buzzing, debating and reminiscing. While Pitt has only had one other quarterback go in the first round — former Central Catholic great Dan Marino — Pickett actually followed a...