High School category, Page 867
Trib HSSN Wrestler of the Year: Seneca Valley’s Herrera-Rondon dominates like no other
Early on in Alejandro Herrera-Rondon’s wrestling career at Seneca Valley, he was content to win low-scoring matches. Many of them ended up 1-0 or 2-1 victories. Herrera-Rondon frustrated opponents with his dominance in the top position. If opponents didn’t get off the bottom, they didn’t win. But as the Oklahoma...
Scrappy Plum softball eager to repeat 2019 success
Melanie Mienke was set to take over as the workhorse of Plum’s pitching staff last spring. Losing a year because of the pandemic means Mienke, now a senior, steps into a much different situation. The Mustangs will have three new starters in the infield. This is a Plum squad that...
Norwin notebook: Former Knights provide boost to Seton Hill baseball, softball
Through eight games, sophomore shortstop and Norwin alum Owen Sabol was hitting .346 with 10 runs and five RBIs for the nationally ranked Seton Hill baseball team. The Griffins (7-0) remained perfect with a come-from-behind 8-7 win at Ashland as Sabol hit his first home run of the season. Seton...
Silver lining, record finish for Hampton swimmer Donato
The Hampton 100-yard breaststroke record stood for 25 years until senior Richie Donato broke it March 6. It lasted about two weeks. Donato topped his own record in the event on the way to a second-place finish at the PIAA Class AA swimming championships March 19 at Cumberland Valley High...
Hampton softball has ‘a lot of games to win’ after coach’s covid scare
They were simple get-well cards. Some were store-bought, some caringly drawn by hand. But when Hampton softball coach Ron Fedell returned home in mid-January after a frightening two-week hospital stay with complications from covid-19, the stack of well-wishes meant the world to him. “Some of these kids sent me cards,”...
Hampton baseball deals with numbers crunch
Turns out the pandemic isn’t finished with the Hampton baseball team. A year after covid-19 canceled all spring sports, the Talbots had only 27 players try out this spring, by far the lowest number in third-year coach Kellen Wheeler’s 12 seasons associated with the Hampton baseball program. “I usually have...
Penn Hills senior shortstop excited for return to diamond
Improvement is a key word in the Penn Hills softball program. After missing last season because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Indians are hoping to improve from their sixth-place finish in Section 2-5A in 2019. The Indians are led by senior shortstop Irlynn Richardson. “She’s a good kid,” coach Rich...
Penn Hills baseball works toward ultimate goal of return to playoffs
The Penn Hills baseball coaches promote a family atmosphere in their program. “We have really been focusing on proper conditioning, proper weight training and the many different situations that arise during a baseball game,” said Dale Banks, assistant head coach to Rodney Stubbs. “We preach family first, but we also...
Young Pine-Richland roster ready to contend during chaotic WPIAL lacrosse season
On paper, the Pine-Richland boys lacrosse team is still the defending WPIAL Class AAA champion, but there’s been plenty of change in the two-year span since they last took the field. “We have two combined starts. Not starters, but starts on the team from that 2019 unit,” Pine-Richland coach Kevin...
Pine-Richland girls lacrosse looking to ‘bounce back’ in ’21
Every year Pine-Richland girls lacrosse coach Brittany Adams asks the team’s seniors to come up with a motto for the season. For 2021, they chose “bounce back.” Those two words are fitting on a couple of levels. They signal a return to play after the 2020 season was canceled because...
Riverview softball laying groundwork with inexperienced roster
Jim Ashbaugh isn’t sure what to expect from the Riverview softball team this season. He’s not alone in that concern among WPIAL softball coaches. Having an inkling of what could occur is difficult to ascertain because of the effects from the coronavirus pandemic. Missing a season guaranteed there will be...
Plum swimmers perform well at PIAA meet
One moved up, and one moved down. Both were good things when talking about senior Logan Minick and junior Sam Schohn’s swims representing Plum at the PIAA Class AA championships March 19 at Cumberland Valley High School. Minick, seeded 13th in the 500-yard freestyle, moved up two spots to 11th...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for March 27, 2021: PIAA champions to be crowned
The champions-only version of the PIAA basketball playoffs has one day left with four more state title games to be played at the Giant Center in Hershey on Saturday. Two boys and two girls championship games will be held Saturday at noon, 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Here...
2021 WPIAL Class 3A softball preseason breakdown
After a year away from the diamond, softball players from across Western Pennsylvania are itching to get back in the field of play. With the 2021 season moving forward as planned, WPIAL teams will get the chance to do just that. Several perennial powers will look to regain their place...
2021 WPIAL Class 3A baseball preseason breakdown
WPIAL baseball players have been waiting nearly two seasons to get back on the field of play after the coronavirus pandemic forced officials to cancel the entire 2020 campaign. With the 2021 season moving forward, district players are eager to showcase their skills and lead their teams to the postseason....
PIAA Class 5A girls basketball championship breakdown: Chartiers Valley vs. Cardinal O’Hara
PIAA Class 5A girls basketball championship Chartiers Valley vs. Cardinal O’Hara 5 p.m. Saturday at Giant Center, Hershey On the air: PCN-TV; WJPA-FM 95.3/HSSN How they got here: WPIAL champion Chartiers Valley defeated District 10 champion Warren, 61-38, in the quarterfinals and District 3 champion Spring Grove, 50-33, in the...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for march 26, 2021
High schools Baseball Friday’s results Nonsection New Castle 24, Aliquippa 0 Jefferson-Morgan 3, Avella 2 Carmichaels 18, Brownsville 2 Woodland Hills 6, Carrick 1 Central Catholic 6, Penn Hills 4 Central Valley at Moon, (n) Peters Township 13, Chartiers Valley 3 Northgate 10, Clairton 2 Deer Lakes 5, Steel Valley...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Penn-Trafford to dedicate bench to late pitcher
Penn-Trafford will officially dedicate its bench monument to late standout pitcher Maclean Maund on Monday in a short ceremony before the baseball team’s season-opening game against Connellsville. It also will be the Warriors’ first game on the new turf infield in Harrison City. Maund was killed in a vehicle accident...
High school roundup for March 26, 2021: South Fayette sophomore Ks 17 in no-hitter
Sophomore Tyler Pitzer couldn’t have made a much better first impression for South Fayette. The right-handed starter threw a no-hitter, striking out 17 of the 22 batters he faced, to lead the Lions (1-0) to a 5-0 season-opening nonsection win over North Catholic (0-1) on Friday afternoon. Pitzer allowed two...
Quinn’s homer carries Franklin Regional over Hempfield in season openerVideo
Field announcer Dennis Nicely introduced “Timmy J. Quinn” as the Franklin Regional senior first baseman came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning adding, “The J stands for just have fun.” A few seconds later, it could have stood for jack. One swing of the bat was sure...
Knoch softball eager to be tested by tough competition in 2021
Two years ago, the Knoch softball team put together one of the best runs in program history. The Knights went 18-3, finished third in the WPIAL Class 4A tournament and made their first PIAA playoff appearance. Now, as the Knights prepare for the 2021 season, third-year head coach Gary Coe...
With a new head coach, Knoch baseball has high aspirations
In his three years at the helm of the Vincentian Academy baseball team, Bradley Bestic put together a successful run. In his first season in 2018, Vincentian Academy went 20-4 and won WPIAL and PIAA titles. A year later, the Royals finished third in the WPIAL and earned another berth...
Competition for lineup spots fierce on Latrobe softball team
Latrobe softball coach Bob Kovalcin has seven seniors on his roster, and during the preseason, he told each of them they had first crack at their position. Whether they keep it will be performance-based. “I told the seniors it’s their job to lose, but there’s somebody right there behind them...
North Allegheny girls celebrate 1st PIAA title, top Spring-Ford in state finalsVideo
HERSHEY — North Allegheny’s Lizzy Groetsch and Paige Morningstar were together at Giant Center four years ago when the Tigers last reached the state finals, and they talked then about someday winning a title. Their day arrived Friday. Groetsch shook off early foul trouble to score a game-high 22 points...
Latrobe baseball coming together as players find roles
A big part of Latrobe coach Matt Basciano’s message every year is playing team baseball. Doing the little things like hitting behind a runner to move them up a base or hitting a cutoff man to prevent a single from becoming a double are essential for success all the time,...
