Josh Rizzo stories, Page 13

Ben Hallman didn’t want to coast during his senior season. When Hallman had the opportunity to compete for a singles spot with the Fox Chapel tennis team, he was happy to be locked into a competition with his fellow seniors for one of the three singles spots. Hallman, who previously...

Fox Chapel softball coach Chris Olbrich was happy to have a runway before the start of section play. The Foxes have a young team and scheduled seven games before their Section 1-5A opener with defending PIAA Class 5A runner-up Shaler. While the temperamental Western Pennsylvania weather prevented some of those...

Second-year Penn Hills boys volleyball coach Will Piccolino has started to find his footing while leading the program. The Indians have already started moving some players around the court to find a better position to win matches. Penn Hills hopes that can provide some steady play. The Indians went 0-10...

Edward Bowser found the right focus while pitching for the Pittsburgh Rawling Tigers last summer. The Penn Hills senior knew he had his mind on the task at hand. Following one game, Bowser wrapped up the contest and discovered he had thrown the first no-hitter of his baseball career. “To...

Shaler tore down the black-and-yellow curtain that had been surrounding Western Pennsylvania in boys volleyball for the previous five seasons last year. The Titans won against North Allegheny three times, captured the program’s first WPIAL championship, finished with a 19-1 record and reached the PIAA Class 3A championship match before...

Watching fly balls sail over the fence for home runs was something people who follow the Shaler softball team got used to last season. But anyone who comes out to watch the Titans this season can expect a different strategy being employed. Many of the power hitters who helped propel...

The Fox Chapel boys and girls swimming teams wrapped up their seasons at the PIAA Class 3A swimming and diving championships at Bucknell. Sarah Pasquella ended up being Fox Chapel’s top performer. The Foxes senior standout finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 1.8 seconds....

The Fox Chapel baseball team hasn’t been immune to having to postpone games due to the cold snap that has plagued mid-March in Western Pennsylvania. But the Foxes were able to keep their season-opening date with defending Class 5A PIAA champion Shaler. Fox Chapel lost its season opener, 5-2, but...

Penn Hills track coach Lee Zelkowitz is thrilled about the preparation for the upcoming outdoor season. The Indians have had plenty of things bounce their way so far as the seasons begin to change. Having good weather has given everyone an opportunity to get outside and get some work in....

Logan Kennedy was Penn Hills’ top finisher at the Western Pennsylvania regional high school bowling championships. Kennedy placed 47th by bowling an 871 series. Kennedy finished with a high game of 201 at the event. East Allegheny’s JJ Bingham won the championship match after coming into the step-ladder finals as...

The Fox Chapel boys basketball team came within 16 minutes of a trip to the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals. The Foxes’ offense just couldn’t produce enough down the stretch to hold off Bethel Park. Fox Chapel, which beat Bethel Park in a fifth-place WPIAL consolation match in late February, ended...

Mackenzie Borkovich felt like she had been kicked in the face during her freshman year at Slippery Rock. The skills that served her well in the pitcher’s circle at Fox Chapel Area High School were going to take some adjusting to be successful in college. After making seven relief appearances...

The St. Joseph girls basketball team didn’t have to wait until the following morning to feel the pain of the bumps and bruises. The Spartans likely felt the agony on the trip bus back from their PIAA Class A second-round playoff game Wednesday night at Hempfield High School. District 5...

Jeremy Packer believes his two-year project has yielded strong results for the Penn Hills wrestling program. The Indians decided not to compete in a dual meet schedule during the last enrollment cycle to help build the program. Numbers were low because of the pandemic, and Packer felt the Indians needed...

The Penn Hills swim team took a much bigger contingent to Pitt’s Trees Pool this season for the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships. What made Indians coach Morgan Bush excited for next season was the prospect of seeing all of her swimmers turn in their best times of the season...

There were bumps along the way, but the Burrell boys basketball team was where it felt it belonged Saturday afternoon. The Bucs earned a spot in the PIAA Class 3A playoffs by making a surprise run through the WPIAL playoffs as a No. 11 seed. An energized Burrell team surged...

Fox Chapel swim coach Matt Mauclair enjoyed watching Sarah Pasquella turn in a big performance during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Pasquella, a Pitt commit, shattered a 29-year-old school record by winning the 200 free in 1 minute, 51.08 seconds. “You can tell she swam...

Penn Hills wrestling coach Jeremy Packer couldn’t help but admire Julian Lavender’s desire to make his senior year a special one. One day, Packer, who lives in West Deer and works in Pittsburgh, wasn’t planning on coming in to open up the wrestling room. Lavender, a 127-pound senior wrestler, called...

Mackenzie McIntyre has been slowly building toward bigger accomplishments. The Penn Hills junior has been making strong contributions to the track team since her freshman year. McIntyre was one of two members of the Penn Hills indoor track team to reach the PTFCA indoor state championship Feb. 25 at Penn...

The Fox Chapel wrestling team battled some sickness during the section tournament, but that didn’t slow the Foxes from sending a large contingent of wrestlers to the WPIAL Class 3A championships. Fox Chapel had 10 wrestlers move on. While the Foxes didn’t produce a champion, Landon Funk (114 pounds), Alexander...

Fox Chapel track coach Tom Moul felt it was fitting for the Foxes to wrap up the indoor season by having three athletes medal at the PTFCA Indoor State Championship at Penn State. The Foxes have spent all season piling up accolades. Fox Chapel set seven school records during the...

Measuring the St. Joseph offense Monday night was easily accomplished by looking at the Gia Richter scale. The Spartans’ 5-foot-4 junior guard was limited late in the first half by foul trouble. When Richter returned after halftime, her contributions shook the foundation of St. Joseph’s 65-56 win over Aquinas Academy...

Penn Hills girls basketball coach Robert Cash thought his team deserved better than being seeded 17th in the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. But the Indians were forced into a preliminary round game against Thomas Jefferson, which they won, 59-43. In the first round of the playoffs, Penn Hills lost 55-48...

Penn Hills senior guard Robby Thomas wanted to find the right mental space for playing against rival Gateway in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A postseason. The defending WPIAL champion Indians came into this postseason as a younger team that had something to prove. “Honestly, we just needed...