Dave Mackall stories, Page 20
With new coach at helm, Indiana continues quest for WPIAL success from afar
The road to a WPIAL football championship is a long and winding one for Indiana. As the lone member school currently situated outside the WPIAL’s designed boundaries, the program finds itself in a world of its own. Road trips can be long, and visitors have had to do some homework...
Dom Patrick, Derry seniors passionate about returning to playoff contention
Dom Patrick is embarrassed. So are his teammates. After all, this is a Derry program just three years removed from a fourth-in-a-row WPIAL playoff appearance. The situation had deteriorated fast. With a new coach on board and interest in the program rising, Patrick’s passion has begun to overshadow his abashment....
Life takes a ‘big twist’ for new Derry football coach as he aims to rebuild program
Derry football coach Mike Arone enters his first season looking for passionate players. Not just any old players, but dependable kids with a run-through-the-wall mentality. They could be guys who’ve played in the past or guys who’ve never played. It doesn’t matter to Arone, but they’ve got to be guys...
Mocello wins Westmoreland Juniors in playoff after improbable approach shot
Tyler Mocello took a circuitous path to a victory Thursday, winning a sudden-death playoff hole against two others and claiming the championship of the annual Westmoreland County Golf Association Junior Amateur Tournament at Latrobe Country Club. The former Belle Vernon standout, who is headed to Division II Pitt-Johnstown in the...
Hempfield grad Jacob Boord competes at NCAA Division III track and field championships
The numbers don’t lie. Jacob Boord fell “just short.” Boord, a WPIAL javelin champion while at Hempfield and a current Allegheny sophomore, nearly landed in the medals round at the recent NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Who knows where it would have gone from there? But his...
Belle Vernon grad Bailey Parshall enjoys breakthrough season as Penn State’s ace
She is a left-handed flamethrower who fanned nearly 1,000 batters in her high school softball career at Belle Vernon, where the Leopards rode her talents to three WPIAL championships before seeing her off to the next level at Penn State. As a college senior this season, she hurled the fifth...
Return to playoffs boosts Southmoreland baseball program
It had been 14 years since the Southmoreland baseball team earned a spot in the WPIAL playoffs. Though the Scotties’ long-awaited return this season was short-lived, they were hoping the desire to remain relevant would live on. “That’s 100% what we’re hoping,” senior catcher Brok Potoka said. With 12 of...
In classic battle of evenly matched rivals, North Allegheny tops Seneca Valley to win 5th straight volleyball crown
At first glance, moments after North Allegheny outlasted Seneca Valley in their marathon WPIAL Class 3A boys volleyball championship match Wednesday night at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center for its fifth consecutive title, nobody flinched. If ever there was a competition where essentially nobody was a loser, this was it....
Montour climbs back from brink to defeat OLSH in WPIAL Class 2A volleyball finals
Montour boys volleyball coach Colin Vitale was smiling before, during and after the WPIAL Class 2A championship match Thursday night at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center. Vitale, appearing relaxed even when his team was on the brink of defeat in the fourth game, was a ball of joy afterwards with...
Underdog Greensburg Central Catholic boys lacrosse team makes way into WPIAL playoffs
Who would have thought the boys lacrosse team at Greensburg Central Catholic, coming off an 0-8 record and led by a first-year coach with no experience in the sport, would qualify for the WPIAL playoffs, having inched close to the .500 mark going in? Well, seemingly with some help from...
Team effort helps Latrobe girls lacrosse advance to WPIAL playoffs
While the sport of lacrosse continues to grow in popularity in Westmoreland County, increased stability in some high school programs appears on the rise. Count the Latrobe girls team among them. “What can we do to move lacrosse in the right direction in Westmoreland County and be competitive?” Latrobe coach...
Thomas Jefferson baseball team rallies past Latrobe for Class 5A win
Thomas Jefferson called on McClain Flinn to douse an early fire Tuesday. When the smoke settled, Flinn and the Jaguars baseball team had seized a first-round WPIAL Class 5A playoff victory, rallying from a six-run deficit to beat Latrobe, 14-7, at Hempfield. “This team has been grinding all year,” Thomas...
Latrobe boys volleyball looks to gain momentum after rivalry win
Latrobe and Derry high schools, perhaps while not always preferring to be, are linked in the WPIAL, despite their varied classifications. For instance, their football teams frequently have squared off in season openers and they routinely have wrestled one another in front of some of the most spirited crowds around....
Hempfield boys volleyball rolling into 2nd half of regular season
With six players getting a late start, including three senior mainstays, the Hempfield boys volleyball team stumbled out of the gate this season and lost to Norwin in its opener. Since then, the Spartans gradually began pulling together, winning their next five matches heading into the second half of the...
Derry boys volleyball program rebuilding with tenacious team
For years, Derry has resided among the elite high school boys volleyball teams in the WPIAL, challenging for championships and sending players off to college. Then, covid-19 hit, and the Trojans, like many other teams, were knocked down. “Going into the pandemic,” Derry coach Shawn Spencer said, “when everything was...
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Mullaney taking game to new level with regional bowling title
On the day Mike Mullaney won a bowling title, his high school coach at Greensburg Central Catholic suggested he take a bit of time away to reflect and refresh. Hours later, Don Yuhouse walked into Hillview Bowling Lanes on East Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg to visit his son, Aaron, the...
No. 5 Houston ousts No. 4 Illinois to reach NCAA Sweet 16
Houston just kept on dancing Sunday, long after the Cougars saw an opening and pounced. And just like that, they’re headed to their third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance. Taze Moore scored 21 points, and fifth-seeded Houston capitalized on a controversial technical foul call against No. 4 Illinois in the second...
Well-traveled Sampson leads Houston into 2nd-round matchup against Illinois
When the fourth and final game of a long day of first-round NCAA Tournament action ended Friday at PPG Paints Arena, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson went through all the mandated postgame rigmarole, gathered his belongings and headed back to the team hotel with his players. It already was Saturday morning...
No. 4 Illinois avoids upset, rallies past No. 13 Chattanooga for thrilling 1st-round victory
Illinois coach Brad Underwood was in disbelief Friday night at PPG Paints Arena following the fourth-seeded Illini’s 54-53 victory over No. 13 Chattanooga in an NCAA Tournament South Region first-round game. Believe it, coach. In the end, the final score is all that matters. “We live to play another day,”...
NCAA’s stars ready to shine on PPG Paints Arena stage
There’s no denying the treacherous trail that even the most elite of college basketball players encounter when seeking a coveted space on the NBA stage. Obviously, there are only so many roster spots. But if you have what it takes, the NBA will notice. “I try not to make it...
Jeannette softball team works through grief, tries to change fortunes after 1-win season
Sydney Matijevic’s smile hid the pain in her heart. But while the Jeannette senior was smarting, she wasn’t quitting. “I love to be here,” Matijevic said Wednesday after the Jayhawks’ softball practice at the high school. “I totally love it. I’ve always loved the sport. It cheers me up and...
Jeannette baseball team will rely on heart, not numbers
When he was a baseball player at Jeannette — and a fine one at that — Marcus Clarkson drove more than a few pitches into the atmosphere at the city’s Clarkson Field. No, it is not named after Jeannette baseball coach Marcus Clarkson, but rather for his great-uncle, James “Buster”...
Duquesne’s Toby Okani enters transfer portal
Duquesne forward Toby Okani has entered the NCAA transfer portal after spending two seasons with the Dukes. The 6-foot-8 Okani, who has three years of eligibility remaining, averaged 3.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season in 30 games, 15 as a starter. While averaging 20.1 minutes, Okani shot...
Pitt, Duquesne, RMU among local basketball teams stuck in a rut
At a watering hole in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield section over the weekend, Guy Fieri’s “Tournament of Champions” was showing on two TVs. At the head of the room on a main screen, The Players Championship PGA Tour event was in plain view until someone changed the channel to ION, which was...
Senior class hopes to turn around Greensburg Salem baseball’s record in close games
Eight seniors return to Greensburg Salem, hoping to help the Golden Lions’ baseball team back to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2019. With the 2020 season shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, 2021 brought a return to the diamond with little success as Greensburg Salem struggled to...
