High School category, Page 835
North Journal notebook: North Hills’ Apodaca takes 2nd in javelin
North Hills junior thrower Alec Apodaca earned a silver medal in the javelin at the WPIAL Class AAA championships May 19, at Slippery Rock University. Seeded 10th entering the meet, he unleashed a toss of 168 feet, 4 inches to qualify for the PIAA championship meet Saturday. Butler’s Landon Kretzer...
Franklin Regional baseball works to ‘flush’ late-season loss
For Franklin Regional baseball coach Bobby Saddler and his players, it must have been like having the theme from “Psycho” pierce their ears. Ree, ree, ree. The Panthers’ first loss of the season hit hard, like a stabbing pain. Norwin, the third-ranked team in Class 6A at the time, roughed...
Joy, pain for Hampton track team at WPIAL meet
Two Hampton seniors showed at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships that a fraction of an inch or a hundredth of a second can be the difference between elation and heartache. Gage Galuska shocked Butler star Guinness Brown to win the 400-meter title by one-hundredth of a second,...
Power-hitting Hampton softball squad cools down at inopportune time
The most prolific home run-hitting Hampton softball team in at least two decades picked a lousy time to go quiet. The Talbots, who this season hit a “mind-boggling” number of home runs, struggled down the stretch and saw their year end with a 10-0 five-inning loss to top-seeded Penn-Trafford (15-4)...
Shady Side Academy baseball looks to future after bounce-back season
Two years ago, the Shady Side Academy baseball team won less than 30% of its games, including two of 12 section matchups. But after a year off because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Bulldogs completely flipped the script. In the 2021 season, the Bulldogs won eight of their 10 section...
Mother-daughter duos coach Bethel Park softball to spectacular season
The Bethel Park coaching staff is unique in WPIAL softball. It is made up of a pair of mother-daughter tandems. Heather Semplice-Scott is head coach; her daughter, Geana Scott, is an assistant and statistician. Donna DeCarlo, the team scorekeeper, and Carly Schoenstein, Donna’s daughter, are assistants. “It’s exciting to have...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 22, 2021: Storied programs meet in 6A baseball
Central Catholic faces Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon meets Butler, and Norwin battles Seneca Valley in three of the four Class 6A quarterfinals baseball games slated for Saturday afternoon. They’re six schools with great baseball traditions that have only missed the playoffs a handful of times in the last decade and a...
Franklin Regional-Mars game suspended when lights go out at North Allegheny
A power failure in the left field light tower at North Allegheny’s baseball field forced Friday’s Class 5A WPIAL quarterfinal between top-seeded Franklin Regional and No. 8 Mars to be suspended with the score tied 5-5 with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. The game will resume...
High school scores, summaries and schedule for May 21, 2021
High schools Baseball WPIAL playoffs Class 6A First round Friday’s results Upper St. Clair 4, Canon-McMillan 3 Quarterfinals Saturday’s schedule North Allegheny (17-3) vs. Upper St. Clair (9-9) at Shaler, 2:30 p.m.; Mt. Lebanon (11-7) vs. Butler (13-6) at Shaler, noon; Norwin (13-3) vs. Seneca Valley (11-8) at West Mifflin,...
Upper St. Clair baseball downs Canon-McMillan in another come-from-behind win
Just call them the Cardiac Cats. Two weeks after scoring a run in the seventh inning to tie the game and another in the eighth to upset then top-ranked Norwin to clinch a WPIAL Class 6A playoff berth, Upper St. Clair worked its late magic again Friday to come back...
High school roundup for May 21, 2021: Serra Catholic tops Laurel in pitchers’ duel
Nico Eremic led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a triple and scored on a Michael Schanck groundout to lead No. 4 Serra Catholic to a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Laurel in a WPIAL Class 2A baseball quarterfinal pitchers’ duel Friday afternoon. Zack Karp threw a five-hit...
Penn-Trafford baseball team rallies from 5-0 deficit, but West Allegheny wins on walk-off walk
After trailing by five runs in the first inning, Penn-Trafford worked its way into a lead and needed three more outs to record a Class 5A quarterfinal win. But West Allegheny rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 7-6 victory on...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL baseball playoff capsules for May 22, 2021
Today’s Games Class 3A Saturday 1-Hopewell (14-5) vs 8-Deer Lakes (10-6) 2 p.m. at North Allegheny Coaches: Morgan Singletary, Hopewell; Josh Tysk, Deer Lakes Winner plays: Winner of 5-Derry (12-4)/4-McGuffey (13-4), 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at West Mifflin. Players to watch: Lucas Arington, So., Hopewell; Justin Brannagan, Jr. OF, Deer Lakes...
Sophomore’s clutch hit carries Bethel Park past Shaler into Class 5A baseball semifinals
Some might consider Bethel Park sophomore John Chalus the little brother of a Division I baseball recruit, but he certainly wasn’t overshadowed Friday. Chalus drove in the winning run with a walk-off single in the seventh as second-seeded Bethel Park capitalized on a fielding error to beat No. 7 Shaler,...
Freeport hires new coaches for boys basketball, boys soccer
Two new coaches will be on the sidelines at Freeport next school year. The Freeport Area School Board on Thursday night hired Tahlon Kirkland to lead the boys soccer program and Sean Devinney to coach the boys basketball team. Both will be among the WPIAL’s younger coaches as Kirkland is...
Westmoreland high school baseball playoff capsules for May 22, 2021
Class 6A Saturday 2-Norwin (13-3) vs. 7-Seneca Valley (11-8-1) Noon at West Mifflin Coaches: Mike Liebdzinski, Norwin; Eric Semega, Seneca Valley Winner plays: Winner of 3-Hempfield (13-7)/6-Central Catholic (10-8) 4 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel in the semifinals Players to watch: Jake Bazala, Sr., P, Norwin; Carter Beneigh, Sr., C/P,...
Peters Township baseball slugs way past Latrobe in WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals
Throughout this season, Latrobe baseball coach Matt Basciano has admired his team’s ability to scrap and claw its way to victories. No deficit was ever too big. A defensive play here. A base hit there. The Wildcats always seemed to find a way. But in Friday’s WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals...
Franklin Regional boys tennis falls in PIAA quarterfinals
The Franklin Regional boys tennis team’s remarkable season came to an end in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals with a 4-0 loss to District 1 champion Lower Merion on Friday at Hershey Racquet Club. Lower Merion won at No. 2 and 3 singles and No. 1 and 2 doubles. The...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 21, 2021: Class 6A baseball joins the playoff party
Then there was one. After three days of WPIAL baseball first-round and even quarterfinal games throughout five of the classifications, the Class 6A district baseball tournament begins Friday. With only nine playoff teams, there is only one first-round game as Section 2-6A rivals Canon-McMillan and Upper St. Clair square off...
Trib 10 for May 20, 2021: Playoff upsets shake up power rankings
The district playoffs are upon us with the first two rounds being played this week. It’s a time of year when losses end the season. Losses can also bump teams from the weekly power ratings, with no hope of returning to the overall top 10. The postseason climb thus far...
High school roundup for May 20, 2021: North Hills softball knocks off No. 1 Penn-Trafford
Sophia Roncone threw a four-hitter with 13 strikeouts to lead No. 8 North Hills to an upset 6-1 victory over top-seeded Penn-Trafford in a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal softball game Thursday, ending the reign of the Warriors, the 2019 PIAA champs. Kassidy Wittig hit a two-run double during a four-run...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for May 20, 2021
High schools Baseball WPIAL playoffs Class 6A First round Friday’s schedule Upper St. Clair (8-9) vs. Canon-McMillan (8-10) at West Mifflin, 4 p.m. Quarterfinals Saturday’s schedule North Allegheny (17-3) vs. Upper St. Clair/Canon-McMillan winner at Shaler, 2:30 p.m.; Mt. Lebanon (11-7) vs. Butler (13-6) at Shaler, noon; Norwin (13-3) vs....
Valley tallies 10 hits; Bailey twirls gem as Vikings earn first-round victory
Whenever the Valley baseball team has needed a win this season, coach Jim Basilone has turned to senior ace John Luke Bailey. Heading into Thursday’s WPIAL Class 3A game against Mohawk, Bailey had produced a 6-1 record with 1.41 ERA in 48 1/3 innings. With the lights shining bright at...
Derry blanks New Brighton to win first baseball playoff game in 17 years
Derry ended a 17-year drought Thursday in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. And the No. 5 Trojans did it impressively by posting a dominant 10-0 victory over No. 12 New Brighton. Derry (12-4) jumped on the young Lions for five runs in the first inning, kept...
Westmoreland high school baseball playoff capsules: Friday, May 21, 2021
Today’s games Class 5A No.1 Franklin Regional (16-1) vs. 8-Mars (13-6) 7 p.m. at North Allegheny Coaches: Bob Saddler, Franklin Regional; Jason Thompson Mars Winner plays: Winner of 13-Peters Township (9-10)/12-Latrobe (12-8) Monday at a site and time to be determined in the semifinals Players to watch: Louis Kegerreis, Sr.,...
