High School category, Page 623

Pine-Richland baseball has a bunch of underclassmen in the lineup, but the Rams also have a lot of fight. Proof of their resilience was on display in a big sweep of Seneca Valley April 12 and 13. It’s not just that they won. It’s how they did it. They earned...

More of the same. Bethel Park’s girls lacrosse team last year won its first section championship since 2012. And it was a junior-driven squad. The Black Hawks, with nine seniors on this year’s team, aim to make another strong push for a section title in 2022, followed by a deep...

Bethel Park’s boys lacrosse team placed third in Section 1-3A at 6-2 last season, behind only Mt. Lebanon (8-0) and Upper St. Clair (7-1). The Black Hawks edged Fox Chapel, 5-4, in the WPIAL first round before losing a 14-7 decision to North Allegheny to finish 10-6 overall. “I think...

The Plum and Mars baseball teams set the standard for close and competitive games the past two seasons. That was evident when the Section 2-5A rivals met April 12 and 13. The Mustangs swept the Planets last year — both games ending in one-run results — and Mars returned the...

Forty-two years ago, Dolly Parton released the hit song “9 to 5.” In the song, Parton sings, “Well you got dreams and you know they matter.” The North Hills softball team, which started its defense of its 2021 Class 5A softball title just minutes from Parton’s hometown, has just that...

Jon Pedrosky didn’t have to look far for his newest job. Pedrosky, a psychology teacher at North Hills, is in his first season as head coach of the school’s baseball team. “I was thinking about taking a couple of years off, and then this job opened up and it was...

The top-ranked North Allegheny boys volleyball team scored a 3-0 victory over Fox Chapel on April 19. It was the Tigers’ 69th straight win in section play. The 25-10, 25-12, 25-21 victory helped NA improve to 4-0 overall and in Section 2-3A. Nico Sfeir had five kills, Caleb Schall had...

Anthony DiFalco’s goals aren’t just limited to the soccer field. The Franklin Regional star also excels in the classroom. The WPIAL announced winners of its James Collins Scholar-Athlete Awards and DiFalco was a recipient. Each will receive a $1,000 scholarship. DiFalco was a three-time All-American, three-time All-Region and three-time all-state...

Hampton sophomore Sean Sullivan felt a range of emotions after the Steel City Ice Renegades won a 2022 USA Hockey 16U national championship earlier this month. “It was crazy,” he said. “It was awesome.” Sullivan was part of the Harmarville-based travel team that topped the Chicago Hawks, 2-0, in the...

A banner year for Hampton athletics just got even more special. Hampton volleyball standout Kai Herchenroether and state champion swimmer Will Retsch were among 20 WPIAL student-athletes to be named James Collins Scholar-Athlete award winners April 13. The seniors were selected from a pool of 142 nominees from 80 schools,...

High schools Baseball Friday’s schedule Class 6A Section 1 North Allegheny 13, Central Catholic 7 Section 2 Upper St. Clair 2, Baldwin 1 Canon-McMillan 4, Norwin 1 Hempfield 11, Mt. Lebanon 10 Class 5A Section 3 North Hills 3, Moon 0 South Fayette 8, Shaler 3 West Allegheny 1, Chartiers...

The host team jumped on the competition to win the team title at the Butler Invitational on Friday. Alli Morrow won the long jump with a leap of 17-10 and Megan Baggetta hit 37-3 in the triple jump to lead Butler to a first-place finish in the girls team competition....

Trailing 7-1 after four innings, North Allegheny scored six runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth to pull off an improbable 13-7 victory over Central Catholic in Section 1-6A baseball Friday night. The Tigers (6-3, 4-2) took the lead on a bases-loaded walk by Ian Zahorchak in...

West Greene players and their coach, Billy Simms, hung out in a dusty gravel parking lot near the Greensburg Central Catholic softball field Friday afternoon waiting for their ride home. Simms sat Indian style as he tallied up the scorebook while players giggled and passed the time. The fact that...

The Highlands softball team returned to game action Friday after a nine-day, weather-related layoff, and it put a second win on the board against Section 1-4A rival Freeport. Playing just their second home game of the season, the Golden Rams got solo home runs from Jaycee Haidze and Maera Williams...

A long and soggy week of WPIAL softball will conclude on a bright note with the sun shining on one of the top Class 4A game to this point in the season. No. 1 Beaver visits No. 2 Montour at high noon Saturday with first place in Section 3-4A up...

Boys basketball coach Gino Palmosina is a candidate for a job elsewhere, so he resigned Thursday from alma mater Bishop Canevin, where he won WPIAL and state titles this winter. Palmosina said he resigned “to explore another opportunity,” but for now declined to say where he might be headed next....

Following a wet week and assuming the fields are playable, it will be a busy Friday on the diamonds in both WPIAL softball and baseball. One of the top games in the district is a battle for first place in Section 4-5A softball as Trinity visits West Allegheny. Both teams...

High schools Baseball Thursday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Seneca Valley 9, Allderdice 2 Pine-Richland 2, Butler 0 Central Catholic at North Allegheny, ppd. Section 2 Canon-McMillan at Norwin, ppd. Mt. Lebanon at Hempfield, ppd. Upper St. Clair at Baldwin, ppd. Class 5A Section 1 Penn-Trafford at Kiski Area, ppd....

Jacob McGuire pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, to lead Pine-Richland to a 2-0 victory over Butler in Section 1-6A baseball Thursday night. Tristan Farrar got the final two outs to earn the save, working out of a bases-loaded jam for the Rams (5-6, 4-2)....

Latrobe earned a section softball split with first-place Thomas Jefferson on the strength of three factors: 1. Sound pitching, 2. Crisp defense and 3. Power hitting. That trio can win a lot of games. Or, maybe it was three other things that powered the Wildcats. “I always say to be...

Several weeks ago, the Leechburg High School baseball team was searching for a place to play its home games after the renovation timetable at the West Leechburg field slowed. Now, the Blue Devils are just looking to get a game in anywhere. Leechburg’s game with Riverview was postponed for the...

Teams are still adjusting to playing two-game series on back-to-back days, but the WPIAL is switching to a new format next season. There will be three-game series in the largest classification, which fields the fewest teams. Class 6A will play three games in a row against each section opponent, a...

Joe Fiedor missed most of the basketball season for Hempfield with a mysterious injury he sustained in a home game against Penn-Trafford. It was a big hit to the Spartans’ backcourt. The strange, noncontact injury was later diagnosed: A piece of cartilage broke off under his kneecap and caused discomfort....

High schools Baseball Wednesday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Butler 7, Pine-Richland 2 Central Catholic 2, North Allegheny 1 Seneca Valley 14, Allderdice 1 Section 2 Mt. Lebanon 4, Hempfield 3 Canon-McMillan 2, Norwin 1 Baldwin at Upper St. Clair, ppd. Class 5A Section 1 Latrobe 8, Gateway 2 Penn-Trafford...