Michael Love stories, Page 110
Frank Morea, pillar of Kiski Area football program, dies at age 90
Richard “Dick” Dilts and Frank Morea were opponents on the football field in high school in the mid 1940s. Dilts played at Butler, and Morea represented Vandergrift. “We had a little verbal confrontation on the field one time, and later in college (at Slippery Rock), I heard his voice,” said...
Program-building Point Park soccer coach announces retirement
Jeroen Walstra, the all-time winningest coach in the history of men’s soccer at Point Park University, announced his retirement Thursday. Walstra coached the Pioneers men’s team, which included many WPIAL alumni among numerous international standouts, for the past 13 seasons (2007-19) and also served as the Point Park women’s coach...
MotoAmerica Championship Series returns to Pittsburgh International Race Complex
When Ben Smith raced at Pittsburgh International Race Complex for the first time in 2017, he had a lot of momentum on his side with top finishes throughout the first half of that year’s MotoAmerica KTM RC Cup motorcycle series schedule. The Downingtown, Pa., native and rising sophomore at Penn...
Registration open for 2021 Pittsburgh Marathon
Registration is open for the 2021 Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon. “We’re excited to get people back to the start line in May,” said Troy Schooley, CEO of P3R, the organization that puts together the Pittsburgh Marathon each year. “Hopefully, we are able to do that. Registration has been open...
AD job at Eden Christian leads Latrobe grad back to Western Pennsylvania
Mark Ackerman’s journey both in and out of sports the past three decades has brought him home to western Pennsylvania. The 1987 Latrobe graduate continues to settle into his role as the new athletic director at Eden Christian Academy. His career as an athletic administrator and a coach for both...
Belle Vernon edges Summer Rams in WPSBL quarterfinals
The Summer Rams (Highlands) baseball team saw its run in the Western Pennsylvania Summer Baseball League playoffs come to an end in the quarterfinals Monday evening. Garrett Greco singled home Martin Marion in the bottom of the seventh to lead Belle Vernon to a 3-2 walk-off victory at John Divirgilio...
Plum’s Matolcsy to reveal his college choice SaturdayVideo
The college football recruiting process for Max Matolcsy is close to coming to an end. The Plum senior tight end, wide receiver and outside linebacker recently said on Twitter he will announce a verbal commitment this Saturday, his 18th birthday. Matolcsy owns offers from 22 schools. They include all eight...
Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League cancels 2020 season
The Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League announced Monday morning it has canceled its 2020 season. A message on Twitter said the decision was made after the league’s board of representatives expressed and discussed concerns over several months and also presented ways to possibly have a season amid the ongoing coronavirus...
Mike Wilder drives Catch The Fire to Adios victory
Mike Wilder knows the track at The Meadows very well. The harness racing veteran and Washington resident also knows what it is like to compete for one of the sport’s premier championships. Wilder, who owns more than 8,000 career victories, had previously recorded a trio of fourth-place finishes in the...
Plum 12U Cooperstown team earns runner-up finish at Cal Ripken tournament
When one door closed, another opened for the Plum 12U Cooperstown baseball team. When the team found out its spring Cooperstown, N.Y., tournament trip was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, it hoped to find other opportunities to compete. One opportunity came in the form of a tournament at the...
Summer Rams rally past Thomas Jefferson for berth in WPSBL quarterfinals
The Summer Rams (Highlands) baseball team stayed alive in the Western Pennsylvania Summer Baseball League playoffs Thursday evening with a come-from-behind 8-6 victory over Thomas Jefferson in a second-round game halted after six innings because of darkness. The umpires made the decision to call the game, and after a rules...
Local swim club hosts a return to competition with USA Swimming-sanctioned event
USA Swimming in late June released a comprehensive plan for a return to competition for local clubs throughout the country after the national organization halted events in March in the wake of the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic. Racer-X, a member of Allegheny Mountain Swimming, is one of the first clubs in...
Irwin Area wins 2, advances to WPSBL semifinals
The Irwin Area summer baseball team doubled its pleasure Thursday evening at Gateway High School, and it now is just two wins away from a Western Pennsylvania Baseball League tournament title. It started with an 11-0 victory over Plum and completed the sweep with a 5-2 quarterfinal win over the...
With world record-holder injured, field opens up for Adios at the Meadows
Despite the absence of one of harness racing’s fastest and most decorated horses, Saturday’s $375,000 Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at the Meadows in Washington is shaping up to be a competitive race. Papi Rob Hanover was the likely favorite after setting a world record (1:47.1) for 3-year-old...
Summer Rams open WPSBL playoff tournament with victory
Playing their first game in more than two weeks, the Summer Rams (Highlands) topped Bethel Park, 9-5, on Wednesday at Gateway High School in a first-round contest in the Western Pennsylvania Summer Baseball League playoff tournament. The Summer Rams, now 9-6 overall this summer, advance to the second round and...
New coach Sakolsky brings experience, enthusiasm to Shaler hockey program
After two seasons away from coaching high school hockey, Cory Sakolsky is back. The Plum and Cal (Pa.) graduate and former Butler assistant and head coach is the new man in charge at Shaler, and he is excited to see where the Titans program can go. “I’ve not seen any...
Energized FIBI organizers already looking forward to next year’s tournament
The chalk that surrounded home plate and trailed down the first- and third-base lines at Freeport Borough’s James Swartz Memorial Field hadn’t begun to fade away before Freeport International Baseball Invitational officials were thinking ahead to next year’s weeklong event in the Alle-Kiski Valley. “There’s a lot of positive energy...
Baldwin-Whitehall area youth baseball, softball organizations merge
For the first time in the nearly seven decades of youth baseball and softball in the communities that serve the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, players will compete under the umbrella of a single organization. The Baldwin Whitehall Athletic Association has agreed to merge into the Greater Baldwin Whitehall Athletic Association, effectively...
AMS club swimmers earn All-American status
Allegheny Mountain Swimming recently announced its swimmers who earned scholastic All-American honors for the 2018-19 academic year based on requirements set by USA Swimming. The All-American recognition combines the swimmer’s accomplishments in the pool for his or her club programs as well as achievements in the classroom. To make the...
Under the lights, Old-Timers Game gives past stars another chance to shine
Joe Rice stepped to the plate and swung for the fences. He made contact with a second-inning offering from pitcher Rob Toy. The ball sailed into shallow center and dropped in for an RBI single. While he didn’t crush the ball, it turned out to be an effective at-bat. For...
Deep field set for 54th Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at The Meadows
Another deep field featuring 21 top 3-year-old colts and gelding pacers are set for Saturday’s Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at The Meadows. The 54th edition will have an estimated purse of $450,000 on the line. The field will be split into a trio of elimination races, each...
WPIAL baseball players flock to Youngstown summer league
From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Youngstown Class B league held to its intention to be a place for scholastic-age players, including numerous from the WPIAL, to go this summer. Veterans of the league and newcomers have made the most of the season since early last month, when...
East Boros Sports Hall of Fame banquet canceled for 2020
The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, East Boros Chapter, announced Tuesday it has canceled its annual induction banquet scheduled for Oct. 8 at Edgewood Country Club. The covid-19 pandemic and the logistics of hosting a ceremony of that size, East Boros president Bob Ford said, was the main reason for...
WPIAL swimmers earn NISCA All-American laurels
Several WPIAL swimming standouts recently were honored as All-Americans by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association for times recorded during the 2019-20 season. The lists are compiled based on individual and relay times recorded at sanctioned high school meets during the season and submitted by the programs during the application...
Minus international players, FIBI forges ahead with full schedule of baseball
For nearly four months, Freeport International Baseball Invitational officials closely monitored updates on the coronavirus pandemic. All the while, the 26th annual event, set to begin Tuesday and continue through Saturday, remained alive. Now, on the eve of the start of a full slate of games involving nearly two dozen...
