High School category, Page 831
Bishop Canevin baseball takes step forward with playoff berth
There was a time when making the playoffs was no big deal for Bishop Canevin baseball. It was expected as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Three times in the last two decades, the Crusaders played in a WPIAL championship baseball game, last winning gold in 2000. However,...
Quaker Valley 6th grader excels at Junior Olympics swim meet
At age 5, Amelia Suhayda started swimming just for fun. Never did she or her parents imagine that six years later, she’d become one of the top swimmers in the country in her age group. Suhayda, a rising sixth grader in the Quaker Valley School District, recently won two events...
Bethel Park closer Cody Geddes wraps up state title with clutch performance
Bethel Park’s Eric Chalus and Evan Holewinski proved to be one of the most dynamic pitching tandems in the state this season. Chalus, a left-handed senior headed to Kent State, racked up an impressive 11-0 record and 0.97 ERA, striking out 91 in 72 innings while issuing only four walks....
Bethel Park baseball checked all boxes en route to a state championship
The foundation of a state championship high school baseball team is an outstanding pitching corps, paced by a strong one-two punch. The club also needs solid, clutch hitting. Defensively, it must be steady. All are facets coordinated by a dedicated coaching staff. Bethel Park’s baseball squad successfully checked off all...
Highlands’ Jaycee Haidze named Valley News Dispatch Softball Player of the Year
2021 Valley News Dispatch Softball All-Stars Player of the Year Jaycee Haidze Highlands, Jr., P At the start of the 2021 season, Jaycee Haidze set goals for herself and helped establish them for her team. The Golden Rams were young with only three seniors, and with 2020 wiped out, the...
Valley’s John Luke Bailey chosen as Valley News Dispatch Baseball Player of the Year
2021 Valley News Dispatch Baseball All-Stars Player of the Year John Luke Bailey Valley, Sr., P Valley senior pitcher John Luke Bailey came into his final high school baseball season motivated. After a sophomore season where he didn’t necessarily perform to the standards he wanted to, he got to work...
Mt. Pleasant’s Haylie Brunson honored as Tribune-Review Westmoreland Softball Player of the Year
2021 Tribune-Review Westmoreland Softball All-Stars Player of the year Haylie Brunson Mt. Pleasant, Sr., IF Haylie Brunson has to be filed under “toughest softball players to get out in the state.” The Mt. Pleasant senior, who hit second in a fully loaded lineup that propelled the Vikings to WPIAL and...
Franklin Regional’s Louie Kegerreis named Tribune-Review Westmoreland Baseball Player of the Year
2021 Tribune-Review Westmoreland Baseball All-Stars Player of the year Louie Kegerreis Franklin Regional, Sr., SS Franklin Regional senior Louie Kegerreis received a lot of interest and some offers from college teams during his senior baseball season. An injury hindered his sophomore season and the coronavirus pandemic canceled his junior season,...
Green gets Olympic reprieve; Williams, Wiltrout come up short
Latrobe native and graduate Hanna Green received good news late Friday at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. Her appeal in the 800-meter semifinals was upheld, and she went from missing the finals Sunday to becoming the ninth runner in the field. Green finished fourth in her heat of...
George Guido: 50th anniversary of the Great High School Disappearing Act
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Great High School Disappearing Act. Six Mon Valley high schools — most making up one basketball section — vanished overnight to become part of mergers. Here’s what happened: Braddock, North Braddock Scott, Rankin, Homestead, Munhall and East Pittsburgh high schools all officially...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: GCC’s Joe Blahovec on the rise
Behind the scenes, Joe Blahovec could be carving out a path to a Division I football career. The incoming senior at Greensburg Central Catholic has been raiding prospect camps as the summer forges ahead toward a new season, and recently he caught the eye of an FCS program that recruits...
TribHSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team: Landon Alexander, Central Valley
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. A TikTok account that pays tribute to the former kid stars of “Friday Night...
Oakland Catholic, area student-athletes honored as 2021 Positive Athlete award winners
Positivity wasn’t the easiest character trait to maintain over the past year. The plights of the coronavirus pandemic tested even the most jovial high school student-athletes. Still, many persevered and went above and beyond the call of duty in leading their teams and making an impact in their school and...
Norwin long snapper Xander Smith garnering national attention
Xander Smith is chasing a dream to play college football at the highest level possible. But his vehicle to get there differs from most. While the sophomore at Norwin plays wide receiver and defensive back, his specialty is long snapping. He lives it, breathes it and works tirelessly at it....
South Hills Record notebook: Senior sees potential in Baldwin softball squad
Catching up with some notebook items from the grounds of the Baldwin and Thomas Jefferson athletic programs: Baldwin • Lindsay Bonetti, one of three seniors on the Baldwin softball team, manned the second base position for the past three years. Bonetti foresees a bright future for the Highlanders. “We had...
2-sport standouts named Brentwood’s top athletes
Nine seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and one freshman landed individual or team honors in 2020-21 at Brentwood. A video presentation of the annual all-sports banquet sponsored by the Brentwood High Athletic Boosters was created and made available for viewing, at which time the Brentwood award winners were announced. Steven...
Norwin long snapper Xander Smith garnering national attention
Xander Smith is chasing a dream to play college football at the highest level possible. But his vehicle to get there differs from most. While the sophomore at Norwin plays wide receiver and defensive back, his specialty is long snapping. He lives it, breathes it and works tirelessly at it....
North Allegheny baseball appreciates contribution of seniors, looks to bright future
North Allegheny’s Cole Young shared hugs and handshakes with teammates near the first base dugout at Penn State’s baseball field, season-ending thank yous to the seniors whose high school careers were ending there. But after falling one run short in the state finals, the junior shortstop added that a return...
Summer league basketball gives Hampton chance to build chemistry
High school basketball season is still five months away, but the Hampton boys are getting a running start. Hampton competed in the Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s 28th annual summer league, which attracted roughly 40 schools from around the WPIAL for a month-long return to the court. The teams played two 20-minute...
Hampton football carries momentum into offseason program
Success is becoming contagious for the Hampton football team. Coming off their first WPIAL playoff season in five years, the Talbots have attracted an increased number of players during spring and summer workouts. “It was awesome,” coach Jacque DeMatteo said. “Our numbers are up, and we are getting some more...
After appeal, Latrobe’s Hanna Green makes finals in 800 at U.S. Olympic trials
After an appeal, Latrobe’s Hanna Green advanced to the finals in the 800-meter run at the U.S. Olympic team trials Friday in Eugene, Ore. Green finished fourth in her semifinal heat in a time of 2:01.19. The top three finishers in each heat and the top two remaining times qualified...
Hempfield’s Williams, Latrobe’s Green advance at U.S. Olympic trials
Bridget (Guy) Williams is headed to the U.S. Olympic trials women’s pole vault finals after clearing 14 feet, 9 inches during qualifying Thursday in Eugene, Ore. Latrobe’s Hanna Green, meanwhile, advanced to the semifinals in the 800-meter run. Williams, a Hempfield grad, needed to finish in the Top 12 to...
Trib 10: 4 WPIAL teams win state gold, top final power rankings
A record 10 WPIAL baseball and softball teams advanced to Penn State last week to play for a PIAA championship. Six returned west with silver while four district teams struck state gold. Of those four, New Castle baseball, Beaver softball and Mt. Pleasant softball hit double diamond gold by winning...
Boys basketball coach Buddy Valinsky resigns at Norwin
Norwin boys basketball coach Buddy Valinsky resigned Wednesday after two seasons on the job. The Knights were 19-23 under Valinsky and lost to Butler in the WPIAL 6A playoffs this past season. They were 6-14 in the section. Valinsky previously coached at Allderdice in Pittsburgh City League. Norwin athletic director...
Hempfield grads, lifelong friends chase Olympic dreams together
They were neighbors in the Heather Ridge plan of Hempfield Township with adjacent backyards. They grew up together and competed together for the Hempfield track team. They were state and national track champions. They were NCAA Division I All-Americans. Now they are trying to make the United States Olympic team...
