Michael Love stories, Page 10
Plum softball reflects on power-packed season after WPIAL playoff exit
The Plum softball team had designs on breaking a tough playoff losing streak when it took on Chartiers Valley at West Mifflin in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round game May 12. The Mustangs were the No. 8 seed as they hoped to snap a six-game playoff skid. The game with...
Longtime coach Joe Lafko hired to lead Knoch boys basketball team
Joe Lafko looked to the future and also the past for motivation to return to coaching high school boys basketball. Lafko, who was hired at Knoch on Wednesday, said his upcoming retirement in June after 35 years of teaching social studies at Hampton helped him in his decision. The WPIAL...
Apollo-Ridge’s Jaden McCray, Freeport’s Mackenzie Magness among A-K Valley champs at WPIAL meet
Apollo-Ridge junior Jaden McCray earned a fifth-place medal in the javelin at last year’s WPIAL Class 2A track and field championships. That came with an automatic trip to states. But in his return to WPIALs on Wednesday at Slippery Rock University, McCray was shooting for more. And more is what...
Alle-Kiski Valley softball playoff preview capsules: Games for May 14, 2025
WPIAL softball playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals 12-Fox Chapel (13-6) vs. 4-North Hills (16-4) 3 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny Winner plays: Winner of 1-Penn-Trafford (18-2)/9-Chartiers Valley (12-6) in semifinals (date, time, location TBD) Players to watch: Natalie Anzaldi, North Hills; Summer Burkhart, Fox Chapel Extra bases: Fox Chapel pulled a...
Freeport pole vaulter seeking repeat among A-K Valley athletes set for WPIAL meet
Mackenzie Magness capped her first varsity track and field season last year with a WPIAL Class 2A pole vault championship and a trip to states. She has not slowed down this spring, and the Freeport sophomore who extended her own school record with a top attempt of 12 feet, 3...
Slugger’s 2-run homer propels Chartiers Valley past Plum in Class 5A 1st round
For Lily Duffill, seven was heaven, but eight is great. The Chartiers Valley junior catcher and clean-up hitter crushed a two-out, two-run home run – her eighth of the season – in the top of the third inning of a WPIAL Class 5A first-round matchup with Plum on Monday at...
A-K Valley WPIAL softball playoff capsules: Games for Tuesday, May 13, 2025
WPIAL softball playoffs Class 3A First round 8-Deer Lakes (7-13) vs. 9-Charleroi (9-8) 5 p.m. Tuesday at Norwin Winner plays: 1-South Park (18-0) in quarterfinals (date. Site and time TBD) Players to watch: Siena Plummer, Deer Lakes; Lyla Brunner, Charleroi Extra bases: Charleroi returns to the WPIAL playoffs in Class...
Busy final stretch helps Gateway volleyball prepare for WPIAL playoffs
A couple of postponements created a busy scenario for the final week of the regular season for the Gateway boys volleyball team. Four matches in four days, starting with a crucial Section 4 clash with Central Catholic and continuing with matches against Plum, Penn Hills and Fox Chapel, decided the...
Gateway boys tennis celebrates return to top of WPIAL mountain
The North Allegheny and Gateway boys tennis teams expected to play a close match down to the wire when they met to decide the WPIAL Class 3A title for a third year in a row. Each team scored 3-2 victories the previous two seasons, Gateway claiming gold in 2023 and...
Plum sports notebook: Max Grice, Will Beckner to play basketball at next level
After four years spent on the same court helping the Plum boys basketball team improve, seniors Max Grice and Will Beckner have both found a home at the next level. Grice will take his talents to Division II Seton Hill, while Beckner will play at Division III Saint Vincent. Grice...
‘Anything can happen’: 2nd-seeded Plum, 8 other A-K Valley teams learn WPIAL baseball playoff assignments
Nine Alle-Kiski Valley baseball teams qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, and at the top of that list, Plum is the No. 2 seed in Class 5A. The Mustangs (18-2), the outright Section 1 champions, found out they will take on No. 15 Mars at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Fox Chapel...
North Allegheny, Shaler awarded No. 1 seeds for WPIAL boys volleyball tournament
North Allegheny and Shaler are the top seeds for their respective WPIAL boys volleyball tournaments. The WPIAL released the Class 3A and Class 2A brackets Friday afternoon after the regular season concluded with section finales Thursday evening. There will be a new WPIAL champion in Class 3A with Shaler, the...
WPIAL to decide eligibility for Bauman brothers, who transferred from Knoch to Moon
The WPIAL Board of Directors will meet Monday afternoon, and the eligibility of two former Knoch students and basketball players is one of the items on the agenda. Jackson Bauman, a rising senior point guard who led the Knights to a runner-up finish in Section 1-4A, a fifth-place finish in...
Plum golfer Lorish commits to Marshall, pursues U.S. Open
The U.S. Open golf championship is coming back to Oakmont Country Club on June 12-15, and Plum’s Wes Lorish is going to do his best to be there on the course with the game’s greatest players. “That would be a dream come true, to play there right in my back...
Valley boys tennis advances past Hampton to WPIAL team finals
Valley will get a chance to win its first WPIAL boys tennis championship as it punched its ticket to Wednesday’s Class 2A finals with a 3-2 victory over Hampton in a semifinal contest Monday afternoon on the courts at North Allegheny High School. The Vikings improved to 13-0. “I am...
Coaches association releases final WPIAL boys volleyball rankings
The last week of the WPIAL boys volleyball regular season is here, and the final playoff picture will take shape over the next four days. With that in mind, the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its final top-10 team rankings for both Class 3A and Class 2A. The WPIAL...
Jane Bareikis defends title, photo finish among highlights at 2025 Pittsburgh Marathon
Jane Bareikis had a title defense on her mind as she took to the streets of Downtown Pittsburgh and its surrounding neighborhoods Sunday morning as part of the Pittsburgh Marathon’s series of races. The Chicago resident and American citizen who is a native of Kenya made her Dick’s Sporting Goods...
Gateway grad Sarah Corrie has sights set on trip to NCAA championships in final season
With one more collegiate outdoor track and field season of eligibility left at Slippery Rock, Sarah Corrie weighed her options about whether to hang it up after a plethora of standout performances at all levels the previous four years or continue on for one more shot at reaching lofty goals...
Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic betters meet record at South Fayette Invitational
For the second year in a row, Dino Nadarevic established a new meet record at the South Fayette Invitational on April 26. The Gateway senior throwing standout won the shot put with a top attempt of 58 feet, 4.5 inches, almost a foot further than the record 57-6 he tallied...
Plum grad Lauren Ferragonio motivated during 10th season with Pittsburgh Passion
The Pittsburgh Passion women’s football team enjoyed an undefeated 2024 regular season and was victorious in its Women’s Football Alliance first-round playoff game against Tampa Bay. The victory over the Inferno propelled the Passion to the National Conference Championship game against the Boston Renegades. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, it wasn’t able...
Plum baseball riding high ahead of WPIAL playoffs
Plum and Franklin Regional are known for having one of the more competitive rivalries in all of WPIAL baseball. But the Mustangs made sure they established themselves as the superior team this season with a Section 1-5A series sweep that upped their section-leading record to 9-1 and helped them remain...
Elite runners aim to defend titles at Pittsburgh Marathon
Andrew Bowman came to Pittsburgh on Thursday ready to enjoy its various attractions and to prepare to challenge for another victory on the city’s streets and bridges. Last year, the 31-year-old Michigan resident covered the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 15.52 minutes. He is switching...
Winchester Thurston grad Will Loevner ready to again contend at Pittsburgh Marathon
Will Loevner returned to long-distance running two years ago after five years of success in mountain bike racing. The 2016 Winchester Thurston graduate who ran two years at Penn State won the Cleveland Marathon in 2023 and qualified for the Olympic marathon trials at the Philadelphia Marathon later that year....
Deer Lakes overcomes early deficit to defeat Ligonier Valley
Things started out well for Ligonier Valley in a Section 1-3A softball game Monday at Deer Lakes High School. The Rams tallied three runs in the top of the first as Natalie Bizup and Abby Springer paced the early uprising with an RBI apiece. But the homestanding Lancers rallied from...
Top boys volleyball teams record big wins, hold on to spots in boys volleyball rankings
A pair of top-five boys volleyball matchups in Class 3A highlighted the WPIAL section slate last Thursday as North Allegheny topped Butler, 3-0, and Seneca Valley swept Pine-Richland. Those four teams remained at the top in the latest Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s WPIAL boys top-10 rankings released Monday morning....
