High School category, Page 824
Hempfield faces District 1 power Spring-Ford in PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals
Every high school athletic team faced some sort of adversity this year. It varied from the coronavirus to injuries to wild weather. Hempfield baseball had its share of injuries to key players. But the Spartans battled through those problems and are in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals for the second...
A-K Valley PIAA playoff preview capsule for June 10, 2021
Softball Class 5A Quarterfinals 7-2 Highlands (17-5-1) vs. 3-1 Bishop McDevitt (23-2) 4 p.m. Thursday at Mt. Aloysius College in Cresson Coaches: Jen Koprivinikar, Highlands; Tim Bowen, Bishop McDevitt Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Beaver Area (18-0)/7-3 Elizabeth Forward (18-3) Monday in the semifinals (site and time, TBD) Players to...
Westmoreland County PIAA baseball, softball playoff preview capsules for June 10, 2021
Baseball Class 6A Quarterfinals 7-2 Hempfield (16-8) vs. 1-5 Spring-Ford (19-3) 4 p.m. Thursday at Bald Eagle Area High School, Wingate Coaches: Tim Buzzard, Hempfield; Rick Harrison, Spring-Ford Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 North Allegheny (21-3)/1-5 Central (13-2) game on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Phil...
WPIAL products fare well at U.S. Olympic Swim Trials
North Allegheny graduate Jack Wright said he was taken aback when he entered the CHI Health Center in Omaha for the Wave I U.S. Olympic Swim Trials last week. “It is a one-of-a-kind pool that is built up, and it is unlike anything I’ve swam in before,” said Wright, a...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for June 8, 2021
High schools Baseball PIAA playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Thursday’s schedule Neshaminy vs. Hazleton at Methacton, noon; Emmaus vs. La Salle College at Boyertown, 1 p.m. ; Spring-Ford vs. Hempfield at Bald Eagle Area, 4 p.m.; Central vs. North Allegheny at Bald Eagle Area, noon Class 5A First round Quarterfinals Thursday’s...
North Allegheny boys volleyball wins another Seneca Valley showdown, makes state finals
Before the PIAA tournament started, Michael Mosbacher and his North Allegheny boys volleyball teammates knew if they were going to play for a third consecutive state championship, they would likely have to beat Seneca Valley for a fourth time. Like the three previous meetings, the Raiders proved to be a...
High school roundup for June 8, 2021: Mars becomes 1st WPIAL team to reach state lacrosse finals
Austin Cote scored five goals to lead Mars to a 10-3 victory over Bishop Shanahan in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals Tuesday afternoon, making the Fightin’ Planets the first WPIAL lacrosse team, boys or girls, to reach the state championship game. Mars (21-0) will meet District 11 champion Allentown Central...
WPIAL approves 3 Seton LaSalle transfers, Jackson Pons’ return to Norwin
Mauro Monz’s status as Seton LaSalle coach remains in doubt, but the WPIAL ruled his son eligible to play football for the Rebels this fall. The WPIAL held hearings Monday for three transfers from South Fayette to Seton LaSalle — Dominic Monz, Alex Boyce and Matt Boyce — and ruled...
Franklin Regional enjoys ‘the year of firsts’
Even with a pandemic shadowing their every move, Franklin Regional sports teams have found a way to flourish this school year. While 2020-21 has left many schools feeling glum, Franklin Regional has had plenty of fun. The baseball team won its first WPIAL championship since 2001 with a thrilling, 2-1...
Mt. Pleasant, Ligonier Valley softball roll with punches to move on in state tournament
Besides winning, Mt. Pleasant and Ligonier Valley had something else in common in their PIAA softball playoff openers Monday. Both teams had to shuffle their defenses. WPIAL Class 3A champion Mt. Pleasant (18-3) was dealt a surprise in warmups when senior star and leading hitter Haylie Brunson dislocated her finger...
Ron Moncrief, 7-time WPIAL champ, excited to take over Mohawk girls basketball program
The Mohawk girls basketball team is replacing one WPIAL championship coach with another. After leading the Warriors to back-to-back WPIAL titles the past two seasons, Mike O’Lare is taking over the boys basketball program at the school. To fill the opening, Mohawk recently announced the hiring of former Vincentian Academy...
North Allegheny rowers fare well at national championship regatta
Several members of the North Allegheny rowing team competed at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national championship regatta over Memorial Day weekend on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The Tigers were represented with qualifiers for the girls varsity lightweight double and the girls varsity quad races. Charlotte Bentrim (stroke)...
Softball playoff sites, times set for PIAA quarterfinals
Norwin will host an all-WPIAL doubleheader Thursday in the state softball quarterfinals. The PIAA revealed sits and times for its quarterfinal games. Among them, Class 4A teams Beaver and Elizabeth Forward will play at noon at Norwin, followed by Mt. Pleasant and Avonworth at 2 p.m. All games are Thursday....
PIAA reveals quarterfinal sites, times for state baseball playoffs
PIAA baseball quarterfinalists learned Tuesday where they’re playing next. The North Allegheny and Hempfield baseball teams are both traveling east to the same place for a PIAA quarterfinal doubleheader Thursday in Wingate. All quarterfinals are Thursday. The PIAA also scheduled doubleheaders involving WPIAL teams at Latrobe and Slippery Rock. WPIAL...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on June 8, 2021: WPIAL lacrosse teams seek elusive spot in state finals
History could be made Tuesday in the PIAA lacrosse semifinals. In the 12-year history of the state lacrosse playoffs, no WPIAL has won a PIAA championship. In fact, no District 7 team has even reached the finals. The WPIAL sends one boys and one girls team to the final four...
North Hills softball avoids WPIAL title letdown, blanks Fox Chapel
Even a nearly two-hour rain and lightning delay didn’t deter WPIAL champion North Hills from a strong performance in its PIAA opener. Indians junior righthander Sophia Roncone struck out 13 Fox Chapel batters and yielded only three hits as North Hills blanked the Foxes, 6-0, at North Allegheny High School....
High school scores, summaries and schedules for June 7, 2021
High schools Baseball PIAA playoffs Class 6A First round Monday’s results Central 3, Boyertown 2 Hempfield 7, McDowell 2 La Salle College 14, Hatboro-Horsham 1 Neshaminy 7, Parkland 5 North Allegheny 13, Warwick 4 North Penn 3, Hazleton 1 Spring-Ford 6, Wilson 1 Emmaus 2, Governor Mifflin 1 Quarterfinals Thursday’s...
High school roundup for June 7, 2021: Bethel Park baseball moves on, softball bows out
Evan Holewinski threw a complete game, allowing four hits, to help Bethel Park to a 5-1 victory over District 3 runner-up Northern in a PIAA Class 5A first-round baseball game Monday afternoon. David Kessler and Eric Chalus had two hits apiece and Zack Sackett doubled and drove in three runs....
West Allegheny knocks off WPIAL champ Franklin Regional in 1st round of PIAA playoffs
West Allegheny kept loading the bases against Franklin Regional in the teams’ PIAA first-round playoff game. Sooner or later, it was going to swing momentum in the Indians’ favor. Something was going to give. It did a lot more than that. Jamming the bags not only minimized their plight but...
Furious rally falls short as Leechburg softball falls to DuBois Central Catholic
Things didn’t start out well for the Leechburg softball team in Monday’s PIAA Class A first-round game against DuBois Central Catholic at Heindl Field in DuBois. The District 9 champion Cardinals scored 13 runs over the first two innings and kept the Blue Devils off the scoreboard. Leechburg didn’t fold...
Highlands keeps making history, wins 1st PIAA playoff game
Already in uncharted territory, the Highlands softball team added to its historic season Monday against Clearfield in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. The Golden Rams, playing in the first state playoff game in program history, scored runs in the third and fourth, three more in the...
Pine-Richland teen Carson Verszyla goes viral with highlight-reel hockey goal
Carson Verszyla got an early birthday present Monday morning when he saw himself on “SportsCenter.” Verszyla, who turned 13 Monday and is a sixth-grader in the Pine-Richland School District, scored a highlight-reel spin-o-rama goal Sunday that was featured as the top play on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” top 10. “It was honestly...
Mt. Pleasant softball overcomes adversity, defeats Bald Eagle Area
Some teams would have collapsed if faced with adversity before a big game. Mt. Pleasant used it as a rallying cry. When Vikings senior third baseman Haylie Brunson dislocated her finger on her throwing hand in pregame warm-ups, it stunned her teammates and forced her coach, also her dad, Chris...
West Greene softball fights off pesky Shade to advance in PIAA playoffs
In opening-round PIAA playoff games following its previous four WPIAL championships, the West Greene softball team has cruised into the state quarterfinals by a combined score of 40-5. So few people outside of District 5 runner-up Shade gave the Panthers much chance against the 2017 and 2018 Class A state...
Riverview baseball falls to Kennedy Catholic in PIAA 1st round
The Riverview baseball team hadn’t been to the PIAA playoffs in 14 years, but when the Raiders took the field for their PIAA first-round matchup against District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic on Monday, they looked right at home. Luke Migely walked to start the game and then came around on...
