Michael Love stories, Page 17

The third time didn’t end up being the charm for the Gateway boys volleyball team against No. 1 Mars in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals May 16. “There’s no way around it; Mars has an exceptional, disciplined program that is littered with legitimate athletes,” Gateway coach Phil Randolph said. “Not...

Deer Lakes senior outfielder Ryan Cochran’s fielding and hitting made Section 3-3A coaches stand up and take notice this spring, and the Lancers veteran was awarded in a vote as the section’s MVP. Cochran led Deer Lakes with an average of better than .450 throughout the season and fronted the...

The Plum softball team has grown to not appreciate the field at Gateway High School, considering a trio of recent playoff fates there. Three years ago, as the No. 3 seed for the WPIAL Class 5A tournament, the Mustangs were shut out by Fox Chapel. Last year, in the No....

When Trinity’s Logan Daniels tallied a two-run single for the final runs of a three-run top of the 11th inning in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round playoff game May 15 at Gateway, No. 5 Plum had its collective backs against the wall. The Mustangs did the best they could to...

Burrell senior Allison Smola and Freeport senior Erin Schaeffer have lined up against each other numerous times in the 100-meter hurdles throughout their high school track and field careers. The rivals were together again in the finals at the WPIAL Class 2A championships May 15 at Slippery Rock University. Smola...

Kiski Area senior Eliza Miller will run the 1,600 meters Friday morning and the 800 meters Saturday afternoon at the PIAA Class 3A track and field championships at Shippensburg. John Peterman will be there to watch her compete in her final high school event before heading off to Duquesne. For...

Sophomore third baseman Jack Dolan was the hero for Avonworth on Tuesday in its WPIAL Class 3A baseball semifinal game against Burrell at North Allegheny. He singled to center with one out in the bottom of the eighth to score right fielder Alex Rowe to give the Antelopes a come-from-behind...

The Our Lady of the Sacred Heart baseball team won 11 games in a row to close the regular season. During that stretch, the No. 2 Chargers scored 130 runs and allowed just 15. OLSH didn’t have nearly the offensive success Monday in its WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal matchup with...

Dani Mo is moving up in the world. Literally. The local professional wrestler, also known to friends and family as Danielle Morrison, a Bethel Park graduate and Delmont resident, plans to set a world record Thursday by wrestling in a match at the highest elevation in history. The match is...

Dino Nadarevic went from non-WPIAL qualifier to a double PIAA qualifier in the span of 12 months. The Gateway junior put the work in, and last week at Slippery Rock University, he produced a pair of medal-winning performances. Nadarevic said he’s excited for the opportunity to return to his standards...

It’s been more than a month since Adam Memije punched his ticket to the PIAA Class 3A boys tennis singles tournament at the Hershey Racquet Club. It is, in a way, a redemption story for the Gateway junior after he fell short of making it to states last year. “That...

Jarrett Heilman graduated from Mercyhurst on May 11, closing out four years of academic studies at the Erie university. The Freeport product, who also fashioned a standout three-year collegiate pitching tenure with the Lakers baseball team, now is searching for a place to conclude that career with one year of...

Normally, Michael Braun would’ve had about three hours in between WPIAL runs in the 1,600 meters and the 3,200. But this time, the Freeport junior’s distance events were separated by about 15 hours. Braun and many other individuals and relays waited a day to finish out their events at the...

SLIPPERY ROCK — Mother nature spared Slippery Rock University for the first four hours of Wednesday’s WPIAL track and field championships with the sun coming out and temperatures rising to near 70 degrees. But showers, thunder and lightning arrived about 3:30. The adverse weather caused the WPIAL to suspend competition...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 3A Quarterfinals 11-Freeport (11-6) vs. 4-Mohawk (15-5) 6 p.m. Thursday at Seneca Valley Winner plays: Winner of 1-Avonworth (12-3)/9-Yough (8-4) in semifinals (date/site/time TBD) Players to watch: Addy Caruso, Freeport; Addy Moskal, Mohawk Extra bases: Freeport made the most of its return to the WPIAL playoffs...

Eliza Miller has a faint memory of her first WPIAL event as a freshman in the fall of 2020 amid the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. “I think it was a meet at Kiski against Norwin,” the Cavaliers senior three-sport standout said Tuesday on the eve of what will be her final...

Freeport made the WPIAL softball playoffs 12 straight seasons before missing out last spring. The Yellowjackets so far are enjoying their return to the postseason. The No. 12 seed got on the board first in Tuesday afternoon’s Class 3A first-round matchup with No. 5 Southmoreland at Gateway before withstanding a...

Gateway High School’s softball field isn’t the most popular place for Plum. The Mustangs have seen their season end on that field three of the past four years. Two years ago in the WPIAL Class 5A first round, Fox Chapel blanked Plum. Last year, Thomas Jefferson rallied from three runs...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 3A First round 14-Deer Lakes (9-10) vs. 3-South Park (16-1) 3 p.m. Tuesday at Fox Chapel Winner plays: 6-Central Valley (11-2)/11-Mt. Pleasant (11-8) on Thursday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Maddie Kee, Deer Lakes; Sydney Sekely, South Park Extra bases: South Park capped...

Randy Walters was born and raised in Canada, a product of Grimsby, Ontario. After high school, the current Leechburg head coach quarterbacked the Hamilton Hurricanes to the 1980 Canadian Junior Football League championship game. He then helped the University of Guelph win the 1984 national championship. He then transitioned to...

The Riverview and Greensburg Central Catholic baseball teams met May 6 and 7 with second place in Section 3-2A on the line. The games turned out to be the competitive battles most everyone expected. But the Raiders didn’t get the results they were looking for. Riverview dropped both games in...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 5A First round 8-Connellsville (12-7) vs. 9-Plum (11-6) 4 p.m. Monday at Gateway Winner plays: Winner of 1-Armstrong (14-3)/16-Western Beaver (6-6) on Wednesday in quarterfinals (site, time TBA) Players to watch: Dani Pici, Plum; Iris Burd, Connellsville Extra bases: Plum finished third in Section 1 behind...

Coming down the stretch to the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships at Slippery Rock, there were several qualifying locks among the Gateway boys and girls teams. There also were a few on the bubble hoping to make the championship meet as the WPIAL takes the top 24 in...

Willie Thrower would have stood on the Valley High Memorial Field turf and marveled at the talented quarterbacks and other position players at the third annual quarterback camp named in his memory. That was the assessment of Melvin Thrower, the son of the late New Kensington and Michigan State graduate...

The Riverview and Greensburg Central Catholic baseball teams met May 6 and 7 with second place in Section 3-2A on the line. The games turned out to be the competitive battles most everyone expected. But the Raiders didn’t get the results they were looking for. Riverview dropped both games in...