Michael Love stories, Page 89
List dominates as Beaver bests Highlands in PIAA Class 4A semifinal
Runs and hits were at a premium when Highlands and Beaver met for the WPIAL Class 4A softball championship June 2. It was shaping up the same way through five innings of Monday’s rematch in the PIAA semifinals at Mars. Bobcats junior pitcher Payton List and her counterpart, Golden Rams...
Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny to swim in 100 breaststroke finals at U.S. Olympic Trials
Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny kicked off his first U.S. Olympic Swim Trials competition Sunday night with a pair of top-eight swims in the preliminaries and semifinals of the Wave II men’s 100-meter breaststroke. Those finishes propelled him to Monday evening’s finals and a chance to earn a spot on...
Hard-hitting Highlands gets rematch with WPIAL champ Beaver in PIAA Class 4A semifinals
Jess Cekada was mobbed by her Highlands teammates as the junior shortstop crossed home plate after hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning of Thursday’s PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal game against Bishop McDevitt under the lights at Central Cambria High School. An inning earlier, senior second...
A-K Valley PIAA playoff preview capsules for June 14, 2021
Class 4A Semifinals Highlands (18-5-1) vs. Beaver (19-0) 2 p.m. Monday at Mars Coaches: Jen Koprivinikar, Highlands; Amy Haggart, Beaver Winner plays: Winner of 11-1 Bethlehem Catholic (16-8)/2-1 Tunkhannock (22-2) Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the finals at Beard Field, Penn State University. Players to watch: Jess Cekada, Jr., SS,...
Gateway baseball players look forward to summer season in WPBL
Last summer, a group of baseball players from Gateway High School and one from South Fayette formed the Monroeville Gators team in the Western Pennsylvania Baseball League. The WPBL came about after the cancellation of the spring high school season because of the covid pandemic, and players from throughout the...
Monroeville’s Ritson to join Team Pennsylvania teammates at Las Vegas tournament
Beau Ritson is no stranger to high-level youth hockey as a member of the Pens Elite travel program. The 11-year-old Monroeville resident now is gearing up for play as part of Team Pennsylvania at a top-flight youth tournament in Las Vegas on July 6-9. The Kings of Vegas tournament was...
Freeport grad Brestensky gets his shot at pro baseball
Growing up, J.J. Brestensky was no different than many other young baseball players in that he had aspirations of one day playing professionally. The Freeport graduate is getting that chance for the first time this summer as a member of the Trinidad Triggers in the Pecos League, one of the...
After persevering through suspended game, Ligonier Valley softball team focused on PIAA semis
After a delay of 1 hour, 45 minutes, the Ligonier Valley softball team began Thursday’s PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal against District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge at Mt. Aloysius College. Through five innings, the Rams held a 1-0 lead. Then, in the sixth, the rain returned, and the game was delayed...
Fox Chapel softball exceeds expectations with deep playoff run
After losing 2020 to the covid pandemic, the Fox Chapel softball team entered this spring with optimism that it could get to the Class 5A playoffs and make a run. Foxes coach Chris Olbrich was confident his team would be competitive in each game it would play. Both of those...
Plum spring athletes earn postseason honors
Rayla Smith was an offensive force for the Plum girls lacrosse team this spring. The freshman attacker didn’t shy away from going to the goal, and she finished the season with more than 40 goals for a Mustangs squad that had designs on the WPIAL playoffs from the start of...
Nearly 6 hours of down time ‘worth the wait’ for Highlands softball players
Cloudy skies and rain greeted the Highlands softball team Friday afternoon as they gathered for practice in preparation for Monday’s PIAA Class 4A semifinal against Beaver. The Golden Rams, who are focused in on the WPIAL title game rematch, saw enough rain Thursday to last a lifetime in a state-tournament...
Highlands softball beats Bishop McDevitt, earns rematch with Beaver in state semifinals
EBENSBURG — The Highlands softball team had to wait through a four-hour delay from the original 4 p.m. start of its PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal game Thursday against Bishop McDevitt. It also practiced patience as the game was moved from Mt. Aloysius College to nearby Central Cambria High School. In...
Ligonier Valley moves into PIAA semifinals with rain-shortened win over Chestnut Ridge
CRESSON — The record will show Ligonier Valley secured a 1-0 victory over Chestnut Ridge in the PIAA Class 2A softball quarterfinals Thursday. That only begins to tell the story. Rain first delayed the start of the game by 1 hour and 45 minutes. The teams then started and quickly...
Defense proves invaluable to Highlands softball team
The Highlands softball bats and the players swinging them have proven themselves all season with high hit and run totals. The Golden Rams offense continued that trend Monday with 13 hits and seven runs against Clearfield in a PIAA Class 4A first-round victory in DuBois. Just as key, but sometimes...
A-K Valley PIAA playoff preview capsule for June 10, 2021
Softball Class 5A Quarterfinals 7-2 Highlands (17-5-1) vs. 3-1 Bishop McDevitt (23-2) 4 p.m. Thursday at Mt. Aloysius College in Cresson Coaches: Jen Koprivinikar, Highlands; Tim Bowen, Bishop McDevitt Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Beaver Area (18-0)/7-3 Elizabeth Forward (18-3) Monday in the semifinals (site and time, TBD) Players to...
WPIAL products fare well at U.S. Olympic Swim Trials
North Allegheny graduate Jack Wright said he was taken aback when he entered the CHI Health Center in Omaha for the Wave I U.S. Olympic Swim Trials last week. “It is a one-of-a-kind pool that is built up, and it is unlike anything I’ve swam in before,” said Wright, a...
North Allegheny rowers fare well at national championship regatta
Several members of the North Allegheny rowing team competed at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national championship regatta over Memorial Day weekend on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The Tigers were represented with qualifiers for the girls varsity lightweight double and the girls varsity quad races. Charlotte Bentrim (stroke)...
Furious rally falls short as Leechburg softball falls to DuBois Central Catholic
Things didn’t start out well for the Leechburg softball team in Monday’s PIAA Class A first-round game against DuBois Central Catholic at Heindl Field in DuBois. The District 9 champion Cardinals scored 13 runs over the first two innings and kept the Blue Devils off the scoreboard. Leechburg didn’t fold...
Highlands keeps making history, wins 1st PIAA playoff game
Already in uncharted territory, the Highlands softball team added to its historic season Monday against Clearfield in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. The Golden Rams, playing in the first state playoff game in program history, scored runs in the third and fourth, three more in the...
Leechburg softball team ready for 2019 PIAA rematch
For the second time in as many seasons, the Leechburg softball team survived a pressure situation in the WPIAL consolation final to earn a trip the PIAA playoffs. This time, South Side fell victim to a Blue Devils team that roared back from a tough Class 1A semifinal loss. Leechburg’s...
Gateway seniors cap high school career at East-West all-star game
Gateway football seniors Jacques Taylor and Chamor Price teamed up one final time May 30 to cap their high school careers in the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East-West Football Classic at Landis Field in Harrisburg. While the West team didn’t come out on top — the East scored a...
Highlands softball team hopes to continue brilliant season in PIAA playoffsVideo
This been a season of firsts for the Highlands softball team. The Golden Rams capped the regular season with their first section championship since 2005 and secured their first playoff victory since that same season. Highlands played in its first WPIAL semifinal May 26 and competed in its inaugural WPIAL...
Beaver Area shakes off Highlands rally, walks off with WPIAL softball crown
The first three WPIAL softball championship games played at Cal (Pa.) on Wednesday ended by way of the mercy rule, with the winning teams scoring 17, 15 and 12 runs. The nightcap between Highlands and Beaver Area for the Class 4A title was much closer. In a pitchers’ duel between...
Fox Chapel’s Skirboll, Highlands’ Bonnett ready for Olympic trials
Zoe Skirboll was among the spectators at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb., and she watched the best in the nation compete for spots on the team that competed a month later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “It was breathtaking,” said Skirboll, an Aspinwall resident. “I had...
South Fayette grads help James Madison softball reach NCAA Women’s College World Series
The 2021 James Madison softball team has made history with its first-ever trip to the NCAA Women’s College World Series, and two South Fayette graduates, Sara Jubas and Lauren Bernett, have helped the Dukes in their journey to Oklahoma City. JMU took two of three games in a best-of-three Columbia...
