High School category, Page 848
Late-season winning streak gives Penn Hills baseball hope for future
Anthony Scuilli thought the season finale was a good representation of this year’s Penn Hills baseball team. The Indians showed plenty of glimpses of their offensive potential during a wild 10-8 nonsection win over Knoch on May 13 at home. Penn Hills also had several lapses — on defense and...
Pine-Richland celebrates long-awaited WPIAL playoff victory
No matter the sport, starting the game strong is crucial to a team’s victory, especially when it’s in the playoffs. That’s what the Pine-Richland softball team did in its WPIAL quarterfinal playoff game, taking down Mt. Lebanon, 6-1, on May 19 to earn the program’s first playoff win in more...
A closer look at 2021 Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete honorees
BELLE VERNON Grace Henderson Sports: Cross country, soccer and track and field Parents: Scott and Denise Henderson Class rank: 34 of 193 GPA: 4.3 College: Akron Extracurricular activities and honors: Highest honors, National Honor Society, Youth Summer Track volunteer Ian Christopher Shahan Sport: Swimming Parents: Christopher and Lisa Shahan Class...
Avonworth baseball rolls past Valley in WPIAL Class 3A quarters
Second-seeded Avonworth used a five-run fourth inning to pull away for a 9-1 victory over No. 7 Valley in the WPIAL 3A baseball quarterfinals Saturday at North Allegheny. Sean McAleer pitched four shutout innings to earn the win. The senior right-hander gave up five hits, struck out three and didn’t...
Hempfield baseball survives up-and-down inning, stops Central Catholic
No matter how far this playoff runs goes, Hempfield will remember that nerve-racking yet fun-filled fifth inning from the quarterfinals when the Spartans turned a negative into a positive. The third-seeded Spartans went from an unsavory performance in the top of the frame to reversing course and taking control in...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for May 22, 2021
High schools Baseball WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Saturday’s results Butler 5, Mt. Lebanon 1 Hempfield 6, Central Catholic 4 North Allegheny 12, Upper St. Clair 2 Norwin 4, Seneca Valley 2 Semifinals Monday’s schedule North Allegheny (18-3) vs. Butler (14-6) at Shaler, 4:30 p.m.; Norwin (14-3) vs. Hempfield (14-7)...
McGuffey baseball beats Derry in WPIAL quarters
McGuffey’s historic baseball season continued Saturday afternoon in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals. The Highlanders scored twice in the bottom of the fifth, and that was all Austin Beattie needed as the right-hander blanked Derry, 2-0, at West Mifflin. After the first two wins in school playoff history the past...
High school roundup for May 22, 2021: Clement brothers lead Butler past Mt. Lebanon
Madden Clement tossed a complete-game three-hitter while his brother, Mattix, went 3 for 4 with two RBIs to lead No. 5 Butler to a 5-1 victory over No. 4 Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball quarterfinals Saturday. Madden Clement struck out five and walked one, giving up Mt....
Jake Bazala’s strong outing helps Norwin down Seneca Valley in WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinalsVideo
After the baseball season is over, Jake Bazala plans to cut his long, auburn-colored locks and donate them to a good cause. Until then, the Norwin senior pitcher and his trademark curly hair will try to keep moving forward in the WPIAL playoffs. And the Knights will keep trying to...
Franklin Regional tops Mars in suspended Class 5A playoff game
A WPIAL Class 5A baseball quarterfinal between top-seeded Franklin Regional (17-1) and No. 8 Mars (13-7) that started Friday night had to be finished Saturday afternoon after a bank of lights went out at North Allegheny. The delay did not bother Franklin Regional’s Chris Pagano and Timmy Quinn. Pagano was...
George Guido: Fox Chapel hall welcomes new class
A person who showed leadership skills during his high school years and parlayed that into a 6-1/2 year tenure as an Army Ranger will be among six inductees at this year’s Fox Chapel Area School Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet. The 24th event will take place June 5 at...
Former Kiski Area coach Chuck Tursky to get Ferrante award
Chuck Tursky dedicated his life to helping high school students and athletes. It’s something he learned from his high school coaches — football coach Chuck Wagner and wrestling coach Randy Taylor — at Riverview. “They did a lot for me,” Tursky said. “It’s my time to pay it forward.” Tursky...
Top-seeded Hopewell defeats Deer Lakes in WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals
Heading into its WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Hopewell, the Deer Lakes baseball team knew it had a big challenge. The Vikings had gone to the WPIAL championship two years ago and came into Saturday afternoon’s game at North Allegheny losing five games all season. Despite playing from...
Bethel Park girls lacrosse celebrates 1st section title since ’12
Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair battled for first place in Section 1-AAA in girls lacrosse all season. So perhaps it was only fitting the three South Hills rivals ended up in a three-way tie atop the standings, all with 9-1 records. The Black Hawks clinched a share...
Riverview’s distance relay looks forward to PIAA meet
Mason Ochs knew he had another long race ahead of him — the individual 3,200-meter run — at Wednesday’s WPIAL Class AA championships when he anchored the 3,200 relay in the morning’s heated temperatures under sunny skies. But the Riverview senior didn’t take it easy and rolled through his 800...
After upset loss, Plum softball turns attention to promising future
The Plum softball team hoped for a long stay in the playoffs as it kicked off the WPIAL Class 5A tournament against Fox Chapel in the first round May 18 at Gateway. The Mustangs, the No. 3 seed in the bracket, came into the game winners of nine in a...
Norwin baseball turns up offense at right time
Norwin had made a habit out of eking one-run baseball games, which is fine with the coaching staff, as long as the Knights are winning. Some expected another tight finish when the Class 6A No. 3 Knights hosted Franklin Regional, the state’s top-ranked team in Class 5A, in a late-season...
Quick corrections lead North Allegheny’s Taylor to WPIAL triple jump title
There’s plenty about junior Dwayne Taylor that impresses North Allegheny’s track and field coaches: He’s 6-foot-5 with long limbs and the speed of a sprinter. Taylor has all the physical tools needed to be one of the state’s top jumpers. But it’s quiet conversations at practice that make coach John...
North Journal notebook: North Hills’ Apodaca takes 2nd in javelin
North Hills junior thrower Alec Apodaca earned a silver medal in the javelin at the WPIAL Class AAA championships May 19, at Slippery Rock University. Seeded 10th entering the meet, he unleashed a toss of 168 feet, 4 inches to qualify for the PIAA championship meet Saturday. Butler’s Landon Kretzer...
Franklin Regional baseball works to ‘flush’ late-season loss
For Franklin Regional baseball coach Bobby Saddler and his players, it must have been like having the theme from “Psycho” pierce their ears. Ree, ree, ree. The Panthers’ first loss of the season hit hard, like a stabbing pain. Norwin, the third-ranked team in Class 6A at the time, roughed...
Joy, pain for Hampton track team at WPIAL meet
Two Hampton seniors showed at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships that a fraction of an inch or a hundredth of a second can be the difference between elation and heartache. Gage Galuska shocked Butler star Guinness Brown to win the 400-meter title by one-hundredth of a second,...
Power-hitting Hampton softball squad cools down at inopportune time
The most prolific home run-hitting Hampton softball team in at least two decades picked a lousy time to go quiet. The Talbots, who this season hit a “mind-boggling” number of home runs, struggled down the stretch and saw their year end with a 10-0 five-inning loss to top-seeded Penn-Trafford (15-4)...
Shady Side Academy baseball looks to future after bounce-back season
Two years ago, the Shady Side Academy baseball team won less than 30% of its games, including two of 12 section matchups. But after a year off because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Bulldogs completely flipped the script. In the 2021 season, the Bulldogs won eight of their 10 section...
Mother-daughter duos coach Bethel Park softball to spectacular season
The Bethel Park coaching staff is unique in WPIAL softball. It is made up of a pair of mother-daughter tandems. Heather Semplice-Scott is head coach; her daughter, Geana Scott, is an assistant and statistician. Donna DeCarlo, the team scorekeeper, and Carly Schoenstein, Donna’s daughter, are assistants. “It’s exciting to have...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 22, 2021: Storied programs meet in 6A baseball
Central Catholic faces Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon meets Butler, and Norwin battles Seneca Valley in three of the four Class 6A quarterfinals baseball games slated for Saturday afternoon. They’re six schools with great baseball traditions that have only missed the playoffs a handful of times in the last decade and a...
