Michael Love stories, Page 58

District champions, when they enter the PIAA playoffs, always are afforded the opportunity to play their first game in their home district. Sometimes, the benefit extends to a home game in the opening round. Deer Lakes, the WPIAL runner-up, must deal with that scenario when it travels to District 10...

Class 4A First round 7-3 Burrell (13-2) vs. 10-1 Villa Maria Academy (17-3) 3 p.m. Monday at Penn State-Behrend Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Beaver Area (19-0) vs. 3-3 Fleetwood (16-6) Thursday in quarterfinals (site and time TBD) Players to Watch: Katie Armstrong, Burrell; Jenna Wagner, Villa Maria Academy Extra...

Riverview’s boys 3,200-meter relay runners stood on the medals stand at last year’s PIAA Class 2A championships having just completed a strong performance on the track at Shippensburg University. Parker Steele, Amberson Bauer, Ty Laughlin and the now-graduated Mason Ochs ran to a time of 8 minutes, 16.58 seconds and...

Riverview baseball players had winning playoff experiences under their belts as they began this year’s WPIAL Class A tournament with a first-round matchup against Bishop Canevin. The Raiders, hoping for a second straight run to the WPIAL finals, checked in as the No. 10 seed, but coach Bill Gras knew...

Amaya Robinson graduated from Gateway on Wednesday. But before she took those all-important steps from one journey to begin another, she had some business to take care of on the biggest track and field stage in the state. Robinson was one of 25 sprinters who challenged themselves in the Class...

Gateway graduate Kayla Gratton, a sophomore on the Waynesburg University softball team, enjoyed a strong season at shortstop, and she was rewarded for her efforts with selection to the Presidents Athletic Conference all-star team as an honorable-mention pick. Nine players in all were selected after helping lead the Yellow Jackets...

With its season on the line and a trip to the PIAA playoffs at stake, the Burrell softball team came up big Tuesday against Montour at Mars. The Bucs scored early, and their defense, coupled with the pitching of junior ace Katie Armstrong, made it hold up in a 3-1...

Shawn Liotta’s passion for coaching football and striving for success has no downtime. It’s a year-round venture. It’s his job. And he wouldn’t want it any other way. A veteran mentor in the sport for more than two decades at the high school, collegiate and professional levels, including work in...

Jenna Bisegna was at the meeting point between disappointment over Deer Lakes’ 8-1 loss to Avonworth on Wednesday in the WPIAL Class 3A softball title game and getting energized for Monday’s PIAA first-round game as the Lancers met for practice Thursday afternoon. “We were feeling rather defeated yesterday, and the...

Avonworth softball is back on top of the WPIAL Class 3A mountain. The top-seeded Antelopes were strong at the plate, on defense and in the pitching circle, with sophomore standout Alivia Lantzy leading the way, in an 8-1 victory over Deer Lakes in the championship game Wednesday afternoon at Lilley...

For the first time in 11 years, the Burrell softball team will be a part of the PIAA playoffs. The Bucs scored three times in the first inning of Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 4A third-place game against Montour at Mars. The lead held up behind the pitching of junior Katie Armstrong...

Anna Bokulich remembers Deer Lakes’ 2015 WPIAL softball championship well. The Deer Lakes junior, along with a number of other young, up-and-coming players in the Deer Lakes area youth program, including seniors Shayne Cerra, Keeghan Cook and Lydia Guthrie, were on hand to see the Lancers rout Mohawk, 13-5, to...

Bella Stewart said it all was a bit nerve-wracking at first when she jumped in head first as the Burrell softball team began the season. “We knew that there were spots that needed to be filled,” said Stewart, the team’s starting catcher from Day 1 and one of six freshmen,...

The Gateway boys volleyball team was on the doorstep of a big victory in a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal match against Ambridge on May 19 at North Allegheny. The Gators, champions of Section 2 and the No. 4 seed, led the No. 5 Bridgers, 2-1, in their best-of-five match. Game...

Plans are in motion for the Gateway Sports Hall of Fame to resume honoring athletic greats this year. The committee charged with selecting the Class of 2022 tentatively is scheduled to meet this month to finalize the class and also discuss other matters relating to the banquet and induction ceremony...

The Plum baseball team was no stranger to a close game even before it played its WPIAL Class 5A first-round playoff game against No. 6 Shaler on May 17 at North Allegheny. The 11th-seeded Mustangs battled to keep their season alive, but the Titans were just that much better in...

The Penn-Trafford softball team will play for a WPIAL Class 5A title against Armstrong on Thursday at Cal (Pa.). The Warriors were dominant in the regular season, losing just a pair of one-run games, and as the No. 2 seed, they were favored to make a deep postseason run. Plum...

While the Burrell softball team failed to reach one of its goals Wednesday, another one remains very much in play. The Bucs saw their pursuit of a WPIAL Class 4A title halted in a 2-1 semifinal loss to No. 2 Elizabeth Forward at Norwin. But No. 3 Burrell’s season isn’t...

Deer Lakes senior Carson McCoy doesn’t have to wait long to run at the PIAA track and field championships at Shippensburg University. He will be on the track at 9 a.m. Friday morning in defense of his Class 2A boys 1,600-meter title. It is the first of many events on...

The Deer Lakes softball team is back where it has been several times over the past decade. The Lancers, the No. 3 seed in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs, punched their tickets to their sixth WPIAL title game since 2012 with a 5-4 victory over No. 2 South Allegheny on...

Class 4A Semifinals 2-Elizabeth Forward (15-2) vs. 3-Burrell (12-1) 3 p.m. Wednesday at Norwin Winner plays: Winner of 1-Beaver Area (17-0) vs. 5-Montour (14-4) Players to Watch: Carlee Soukup, Elizabeth Forward; Pyper Ferres, Burrell Extra bases: The Warriors won their first WPIAL title in 2019 when they shut out Mt....

Caroline Dynka didn’t want her varsity career to end Monday on the turf at Norwin High School. The lone senior on the Burrell softball team, a mainstay and leader for four years and three seasons, Dynka did whatever she could to help her team get a run or two on...

The Burrell and Belle Vernon softball teams went well beyond regulation to decide their WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game Monday at Norwin. As dusk approached and the teams were locked in a scoreless battle with a trip to the semifinals on the line — Belle Vernon’s Talia Ross and Burrell’s...

Class A semifinals 1-West Greene (13-3) vs. 4-Springdale (11-1) 6 p.m. at Boyce Mayview Park, Upper St. Clair Township Winner plays: Winner of 2-Union (18-3) vs. 3-Greensburg Central Catholic (12-5) in championship game June 1 at Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) Players to watch: Alexis Hrivnak, Springdale; London Whipkey, West Greene...

Class 4A quarterfinals 6-Belle Vernon (12-7-1) vs. 3-Burrell (11-1) 5 p.m. at Norwin Winner plays: Winner of 10-West Mifflin (12-9) vs. 2-Elizabeth Forward (14-2) on Wednesday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Ashley Joll, Belle Vernon; Katie Armstrong, Burrell Extra bases: Belle Vernon registered its first playoff win...