Head of the Class: Baseball Player and Coach of the Year for each classification
The WPIAL baseball playoffs were as unpredictable as ever this season with only one top-seeded team winning a title. That was California in Class A. But that led to some unexpected champions and some long-awaited celebrations. Two first-year coaches claimed WPIAL titles, while Shaler and Seton LaSalle each were finally...
Shaler Area’s Mbalo seeks to challenge himself, improve high jump
Finding a way atop the medal stand in the WPIAL Class AAA triple jump wasn’t the end of the story for Shaler Area’s Cam Mbalo. A junior season full of strong performances earned Mbalo a full schedule for the summer. When Mbalo went to North Carolina A&T on June 15,...
Final Trib HSSN baseball, softball power rankings for 2019
The 2019 WPIAL baseball and softball seasons are in the books, but not before a final edition of the weekly Trib HSSN Power Rankings. Pine-Richland is your top team in baseball, and Elizabeth Forward ends the season at No. 1 in softball. Only two district teams won PIAA championships this...
WPIAL girls lacrosse All-Star teams recognize season efforts
The All-WPIAL girls lacrosse teams were selected in a vote of the Class AAA and AA coaches. Eighteen players were tabbed All-WPIAL in Class AAA. Emmie Lau and Abby Todd helped Shady Side Academy capture the WPIAL Class AAA title with a victory over Upper St. Clair. The Indians capped...
Shaler volleyball hopes to continue growing after reaching PIAA playoffs
Trapper Crain would like, if possible, to give up his role as an outside hitter for the Shaler Area boys volleyball team. There are several tall underclassmen who the 5-foot-10 junior recognizes will give the team a more significant height advantage. Crain started at the position to help out a...
4 days after winning WPIAL baseball title, Shaler’s emotional postseason run ends
When Shaler’s championship season ended abruptly Monday, baseball coach Brian Junker gathered his players in right field and simply told them “thank you.” Four days after celebrating the team’s first WPIAL title in two decades, the Titans’ emotional run stopped with a 5-1 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg in the Class 5A...
Trib HSSN Baseball Team of the Week
The Trib HSSN Team of the Week is Shaler, which climbed from the No. 5-seed in Class 5A to win it first WPIAL baseball title in two decades. The Titans open the PIAA playoffs Monday against Lampeter-Strasburg, the fourth-place team from District 3. “All these teams now are championship-caliber teams,”...
Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Week
The Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Week is Seton LaSalle junior Daniel Boehme, who put together one of the best offensive performances in WPIAL championship history. Seton LaSalle and Serra Catholic met for the third time this season in the Class 2A final, but the rubber game turned into...
District champions highlighted in Trib HSSN baseball, softball power rankings
A golden week has produced changes throughout the Trib HSSN baseball and softball power rankings, including a new No. 1 in softball following the 2019 WPIAL championships. Pine-Richland leads the parade of six new champions in baseball. The Rams are followed by Shaler, Seton LaSalle, Beaver, Steel Valley and California....
Baseball sites, times: PIAA schedules tripleheaders at Latrobe, Butler
Pullman Park in Butler and Latrobe high school will host tripleheaders Monday in the first round of the state baseball playoffs. The PIAA revealed sites and times for first-round games. The Latrobe tripleheader will include WPIAL champions Pine-Richland, Shaler and California. Beaver, Steel Valley and Seton LaSalle will start their...
Shaler Area volleyball makes history with win in state playoffs
Billy Dadowski didn’t want the Shaler Area boys volleyball team’s first trip to the PIAA Class AAA boys volleyball playoffs to be a footnote in program history. Just by making the trip to Cochranton last Tuesday to play McDowell, this group became the first volleyball team — boys or girls...
Shaler baseball team comes up big in WPIAL title game
Six straight Shaler Area players came to the batter’s box and were sent back to the dugout in an orderly fashion by Laurel Highlands pitcher Andio Vecchiolla. Senior left fielder Colin Harger broke the string with a single up the middle during the fourth inning of the WPIAL Class 5A...
PIAA boys volleyball roundup for May 28, 2019: North Allegheny advances to quarterfinals
The WPIAL champion North Allegheny boys volleyball team opened the PIAA tournament with a convincing victory over District 3’s Hempfield, 3-1, in a Class AAA first-round match Tuesday at Hempfield Area High School. The Tigers won 25-15, 16-25, 25-18 and 25-23. Ben Mendes, Drew Hunker and Alex Zubrow all had...
Shaler rolls past Laurel Highlands to win 5th WPIAL baseball championship
Prince sang about partying like it was 1999. The Shaler baseball team is going to take his advice. The Titans beat Laurel Highlands, 8-1, on Tuesday afternoon in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game at Wild Things Park. It’s Shaler’s fifth title and first in 20 years. “I didn’t really...
WPIAL Class 5A baseball final preview: Shaler vs. Laurel Highlands
WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship No. 5 Shaler (14-7) vs. No. 6 Laurel Highlands (14-6) 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park Coaches: Brian Junker, Shaler; Scott DeBerry, Laurel Highlands Players to watch: Hunter Boyan, Jr., P/C, Shaler; Justin Brestensky, Jr., OF, Laurel Highlands WPIAL titles: Shaler 4 (1964, ‘80,...
Trib HSSN boys volleyball power rankings for week of May 27, 2019
The district playoffs are in the books, so here is the final edition of the Trib HSSN weekly WPIAL boys volleyball Power Rankings. Traditional powers North Allegheny in Class AAA and Ambridge in Class AA captured WPIAL gold again. The Tigers’ title was the third straight and 20th in program...
No WPIAL athletes win PIAA titles on Day 1, Beaver’s Emma Pavelek comes very close
SHIPPENSBURG — Beaver sophomore Emma Pavelek leaped plenty high enough to win a state title, matching her top rival jump for jump at Seth Grove Stadium. With only two competitors left, both Pavelek and Elk County Catholic junior Taylor Newton cleared 5 feet, 7 inches in the Class AA girls...
Playoff losses shift Trib HSSN baseball, softball power rankings
This past week’s quarterfinals and semifinals shuffled the deck with major changes in the Trib HSSN Power Rankings. Six baseball teams and five softball teams saw their district championship hopes comes to an end, as well as their times in the power rankings. This week, Trib HSSN ranks the 12...
Shaler baseball continues school’s drought-snapping year
Senior Justin DeSabato and the Shaler Area senior class aren’t ready to quit knocking down barriers. The Titans football and basketball teams snapped long droughts during this school year. Football made the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in seven years, and the basketball team snapped a drought of the...
Shaler Area’s Mbalo dominates triple jump again
Cam Mbalo was nervous but wanted to approach the WPIAL Class AAA championship meet at Slippery Rock the same way as every other meet. Mbalo, who was the top seed, had to wait until the end of the day before the triple jump started. The Shaler Area junior didn’t let...
Dates, times and locations set for WPIAL baseball championship and third-place games
The WPIAL baseball championship games, as well as the third-place consolation matchups, have been finalized with dates, times and locations. 6A Championship: Penn-Trafford vs. Pine-Richland, May 29, Wild Things Park, Washington, 7:30 p.m. Third-Place Consolation: North Allegheny vs. Bethel Park, May 28, Washington & Jefferson College, 7 p.m. 5A Championship:...
Volleyball semifinals roundup: Ambridge edges Derry to earn spot in WPIAL Class AA final
Ambridge’s boys volleyball team is ready to defend its title. The Bridgers downed Derry, 3-2, on Tuesday night in WPIAL Class AA semifinal at North Allegheny. “It’s awesome,” Ambridge’s Liam Buck said. “It’s nice going back to WPIALs for the second year in a row.” Fourth-seeded Ambridge advances to Thursday’s...
WPIAL releases baseball semifinal sites
Greensburg Salem and New Castle still need to decide their WPIAL baseball quarterfinal, but the victor already knows its destination. The WPIAL on Tuesday released the sites and times for Wednesday’s baseball semifinal games in all classifications. That includes a Class 4A semifinal matchup between the winner of No. 1...
Trib HSSN volleyball power rankings: For games ending May 20, 2019
We are down to the district Final Four in the Trib HSSN weekly WPIAL boys volleyball Power Rankings. Seneca Valley and Hempfield earn a special tip of the cap as their seasons came to an end with quarterfinals losses, but they remain in the top 10. The top six remain...
WPIAL releases baseball quarterfinal schedule
The WPIAL on Friday released the sites and times for its baseball quarterfinal games, which will take place Monday and Tuesday. Classes A, 2A, 3A and 4A will play quarterfinal games Monday, with 5A and 6A going Tuesday. All semifinal games will take place Wednesday. The full schedule is below:...
