Shawn Annarelli stories, Page 5

Quaker Valley’s baseball team has endured a season similar to Western Pennsylvania weather. One minute, it’s sunny and cheerful. The next, it’s raining and dreary. If the Quakers can maintain consistency after their best week of baseball in years — the team outscored three opponents 39-6 last week — it...

Franklin Regional junior midfielders Noelle Boyd and Christina Hodowanec believe they need to have fun to be successful. Win by 8? Lose by 12? Play into overtime? Smile. Learn. And move on. Their twist on the mentality that athletes have to win to have fun is leading to more of...

Sewickley Academy’s softball team didn’t have much time to process the news that Win Palmer was stepping down after 14 seasons as coach. The Panthers had an afternoon game on the same day he told them he was going to dedicate more of his time to the athletic department. Few...

“Grit” started as a motto for the Quaker Valley boys lacrosse team. Their tough talk has translated into a hard-nosed playing style. The Quakers jumped out to a 3-1 start to the season with the lone loss against Canon-McMillan, which plays up a classification. “I think we’re where I thought...

Kristin Semones realized she had a problem early in her coaching tenure. Quaker Valley’s girls lacrosse team was “the most talented” she ever had coached. With a deep roster of skilled players, she knew there would be difficult decisions every game about who started and who sat. “This is the...

With a wealth of returning starters, the Quaker Valley and Sewickley Academy softball teams expect to improve. That’s also where their similarities end. Sewickley Academy advanced to the second round of the WPIAL playoffs in 2018, and Quaker Valley went winless. Sewickley Academy coach Win Palmer said a little bit...

Count Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley among the baseball teams aiming for bounce-back seasons. The Panthers and Quakers earned a combined 8-20 record and missed the playoffs in 2018. Each team believes it has the roster to be a contender this spring, and it starts on the mound. “I see...

At the beginning of the season, seniors Geoff Magin and John Rocco Kazalas weren’t ready to say Quaker Valley’s 3-year-old wrestling program had a tradition of excellence. Their goal was to win WPIAL and PIAA championships. Maybe then they could boast about their accomplishments. Though the pair fell short at...

Jeannette softball won’t field a senior this season, but coach Zac Karas said the team has plenty of leaders. Several juniors will be three-year starters. “I’m not worried about our leadership,” Karas said. “I’ve talked to some of our players individually about having the unique opportunity to be leaders as...

Jeannette’s baseball team has eight returning seniors. The coaching staff has remained largely the same for the last 15 years. And everyone associated with the Jayhawks lives within two miles of each other. They know each other so well that the players can usually predict when the coaches are going...

Quaker Valley’s wrestling program has made its mark three years into its existence. The Quakers will send a school-record six wrestlers, two of whom are Class AA WPIAL champions, to the WPIAL Southwest Regionals. Quaker Valley was the only team with at least four wrestlers in the WPIAL Class AA...

Quaker Valley and Sewickley Academy will concentrate on the qualities that got them into the playoffs and leave their struggles in the rearview mirror. Sewickley Academy recently clinched a playoff berth and will be the fifth or sixth seed in the Class A North division. The spot is a credit...

Hempfield’s rifle team will shoot Tuesday for the opportunity to repeat as WPIAL champions. First-year coach Jason Wilkinson — he was an assistant last season — put his team’s chances of winning another title into simple terms. “If they perform to their ability, we will win WPIALs,” he said. “If...