High School category, Page 1047
High school softball players finding diamonds to play on in pop-up summer leagues
Brooke Cleland is back to doing what she does best on the softball field: launching towering home runs. And she is doing so again in Penn-Trafford green and gold. The rising senior and several of her high school teammates found a way to play some games together after the coronavirus...
Plum bats stay dangerous in WPBL victory
A six-run fifth inning turned out to be the difference for Plum in an 11-7 victory over the Independent Players in Western Pennsylvania Baseball League action Monday at Valley High School. It was the second time in as many games to start the season that Plum (2-0, 2-0) tallied 11...
Getting chance to play is great, but Plum’s WPBL team gunning for a title, too
Denny Ayres is getting ready to attend West Virginia with a mechanical and aerospace engineering course of study. College baseball is not in his plans. He hoped successful high school and American Legion seasons would be part of his final year before moving on to Morgantown. Those plans were dashed...
Oakmont’s Rocco Salvitti tied for lead at state junior championship
Oakmont Country Club’s Rocco Salvitti is tied for first place with Carson Bacha after round one of the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Junior Championship at Hershey Country Club. Each shot a 2-under par 69 on the East Course. South Fayette’s Luke Lestini was tied for seventh at 1-over, Fox Chapel’s Adam...
Delmont’s Nuzzo takes first in Isaly’s event at Hannastown
The Tri-State PGA Isaly’s Junior Tour was at Hannastown Golf Club on Monday, and Delmont’s Anthony Nuzzo took the 17-18 division with 4-over 74. Justin Scally of Moon placed second at 5-over 75. Mitchell Sarsfield of Greensburg and Nathan Schachner tied for third at 8-over. Johnstown’s Lukas Cascino took the...
Penn Hills hires former Seton Hill star Chris Giles as boys basketball coach
When Chris Giles found out he would be Penn Hills’ new boys basketball coach, he immediately shared the news with the coach he was hired to replace. “Out of respect,” Giles said. “It was his program. Coach DeRose was a mentor of mine. I’m a big ‘respect’ guy.” Penn Hills...
Mt. Pleasant hires T.J. Kravits as new boys basketball coach
T.J. Kravits has been involved in coaching basketball at various levels for more than 10 years. In one season at Marion Center, he took a team that went 0-22 two years ago to 8-14 last year. Now he hopes to take that success to Mt. Pleasant, where he plans to...
2019-2020 Trib Cup: North Allegheny dominates Class 6A again
It is time to begin announcing the 2019-2020 HSSN Trib Cup winners, which means it’s time to honor North Allegheny in Class 6A again. Every year there has been a chase for the cup, schools in the WPIAL’s highest classification have been taking a back seat to NA. Even a...
Norwin lineman Giansante commits to Western Kentucky
With each video clip he posted on social media, bulked-up Anthony Giansante shared another step on his path to Division I football. Whether he was lifting weights, jumping rope, or improving footwork and hand technique, he let people follow along, including college coaches who could not meet him in person...
Trib HSSN boys athlete of the year: Pine-Richland’s Spencer transforms from star QB to champion wrestler
It’s not uncommon for Pine-Richland’s Cole Spencer to be heavier in the fall than in the winter, a transformation that takes him from standout quarterback to champion wrestler. His accomplishments, however, loom large year round. As a junior, Spencer ranked third among all WPIAL passers last fall with 2,994 yards....
Trib HSSN parade of champions: Remembering the WPIAL’s 2019-20 state champs
WPIAL STATE CHAMPIONS CROSS COUNTRY INDIVIDUAL GIRLS CLASS A Haley Hamilton, Sr, OLSH GIRLS CLASS AAA Mia Cochran, So, Moon BOYS CLASS AAA Daniel McGoey, Sr, North Allegheny TEAM GIRLS CLASS AA South Fayette GIRLS CLASS AAA North Allegheny BOYS CLASS A Winchester Thurston FOOTBALL CLASS 4A Thomas Jefferson GOLF...
Trib HSSN looks back at the top high school sports stories of the 2019-20 school year
11.1.19 West Greene running back Ben Jackson became the first WPIAL football player to rush for 3,000 yards in a season. The senior finished with 3,076 yards on 203 carries and also scored 50 touchdowns. 11.4.19 Mt. Lebanon senior Patrick Anderson defended his PIAA Class AAA cross country title, becoming...
Trib HSSN girls athlete of the year: Morningstar shines bright for champion North Allegheny
Paige Morningstar came to North Allegheny three years ago ready to fill the big shoes left behind by both of her two-sport star older sisters. Now she is following in the footsteps of another Tigers two-sport star in Rachel Martindale. That is because a year after Martindale won the honor,...
Quaker Valley swimmer Sophie Besterman to join sister at Bloomsburg
After turning down an offer to play soccer, Quaker Valley graduate Sophie Besterman will join her sister Amelia on the Bloomsburg women’s swimming team. Besterman, 18, committed to compete for the Division II school next season. Besterman was part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that placed third in this...
Turowski brothers win back-to-back Isaly’s Junior tournaments
Alex and Nick Turowski are coming off a productive week on the golf tournament circuit. The Harrison City natives, who are brothers, won consecutive Tri-State PGA Isaly’s Junior Tournaments — at Glengarry Golf Links on Wednesday and South Hills Country Club on Thursday. Alex won the 16-18 age division and...
Valley News Dispatch girls athlete of the year: Shemanski leaves lasting legacy at Freeport
From the time she stepped on the soccer field at Freeport in fall of 2016 to when she put on her Yellowjackets girls basketball uniform for the final time this season, Sidney Shemanski was a difference maker. As a freshman, she became a starter in basketball and soccer, helping lead...
Westmoreland County boys athlete of the year: GCC’s Nate Ward showed will to win in 4 sports
Nate Ward scored goals in soccer, kicked extra points and caught passes in football, hit 3-pointers on the basketball court and carried the baton around the track oval. With each sport, he made his mark. It was like the Greensburg Central Catholic multi-sport athlete had an extra gear and could...
Westmoreland County girls athlete of the year: Mt. Pleasant’s Gardner adds to medal collection in unusual wayVideo
It wasn’t the way Heather Gardner wanted to receive a PIAA gold medal, but because the coronavirus denied her a chance to earn it in the pool, she will take it. In March, the PIAA canceled its championship meet after most Class AAA events had taken place but before Gardner’s...
Report: West A’s Austin Hendrick signs $4 million contract with Cincinnati Reds
Former West Allegheny star Austin Hendrick signed with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. Hendrick, picked in the first round of the MLB Draft this month, signed for $4 million, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis. The slot value for the 12th overall pick was $4,366,400. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound outfielder is the...
Leechburg’s Andre Carter takes over athletic director post at challenging time
When Andre Carter came to Leechburg in August 2018 to coach the girls basketball team, he noted player development as one of his strengths. Now, as he gets ready to take over as the athletic director after Mark Jones announced he is retiring after 15 years in the position, the...
Rebel Yell Podcast: Best of the Century salute to Spencer Lee and Maura Huwalt
The WPIAL Battle of the Century was born during a pandemic as a combination to fill the void of the missed March Madness and a way to salute many of the great area scholastic athletes from the now-completed first two decades of the 21st century. Thirty-two athletes were selected to...
Western Pa. Baseball League gives Summer Rams seniors last chance to take field together
Highlands baseball coach Jeff Campbell was heartbroken knowing his players were not going to have their high school season when schools were shut down in late March in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The disappointment continued when the American Legion season was scrapped. But when the Western Pennsylvania Baseball League...
New coach A.J. Corso’s love of basketball was sparked at Serra Catholic
Growing up in Ohio, A.J. Corso admits he didn’t exactly have a love for basketball. Corso thrived on the football field, playing at Struthers High School before continuing his career at Thiel College. It wasn’t until he received an opportunity to serve as a basketball assistant coach at Serra Catholic...
Canon-McMillan girls soccer coach David Derrico resigns after 2 decades
Canon-McMillan girls soccer coach David Derrico, who won a state title with the Big Macs, resigned this week after two decades with the team. Athletic director Frank Vulcano announced Derrico’s departure Friday. The school board officially accepted his resignation Thursday night. “Dave was a state champion coach that will be...
Sto-Rox hires football coach LaRoi Johnson as AD, opens coaching jobs
The Sto-Rox school board hired football coach LaRoi Johnson as athletic director Thursday night and voted to hand him a clean slate of coaches. The board voted to open the coaching positions for all sports except football, board member Ken Hohman said. However, opening the positions to applicants doesn’t mean...
