Chris Harlan stories, Page 74
Central Catholic defensive tackle Donovan Hinish commits to Notre Dame
Notre Dame bought billboard space around Pittsburgh this spring, touting the many Western Pennsylvania football players who’ve joined the Fighting Irish in recent years. Make room for one more. Central Catholic’s Donovan Hinish announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Friday, choosing the same school that recruited his brother, Kurt,...
Sites, times announced for PIAA 1st-round softball playoff games
The six WPIAL softball champions will start their state tournament runs at Norwin, Peterswood Park or North Allegheny next week. The PIAA scheduled doubleheaders at all three venues. All first-round games are Monday. PIAA softball playoffs Class 6A 1-1 Spring-Ford vs. 11-2 Whitehall at Boyertown, 11 a.m. 2-1 Hazleton vs....
PIAA reveals 1st-round sites, times for state baseball playoffs
The PIAA on Friday released sites and times for next week’s first-round games in the state baseball playoffs. All games are Monday. Among the opening round games is an all-WPIAL matchup in Class 5A that pairs champion Franklin Regional against fourth-place finisher West Allegheny. They’ll meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday...
New Pine-Richland football coach predicts ‘smooth transition’ after meeting players
There were some sleepless nights this week for Steve Campos as Pine-Richland was about to make him the school’s new football coach. But after meeting with the players for the first time Thursday afternoon, Campos predicted he’d sleep soundly later that night. “I told my wife when I came home,...
Woodland Hills athletic director Ron Coursey leaving WPIAL for Chambersburg job
Woodland Hills athletic director Ron Coursey has always wanted to chat with the PIAA leadership about its transfer rule. He’ll soon be working almost in their backyard, once he becomes athletic director at Chambersburg, so maybe he’ll knock on their door. “I would love to have that conversation, if they’ll...
New Castle’s Rocco Bernadina mows down Montour in WPIAL Class 4A championshipVideo
New Castle owns the most boys basketball titles in WPIAL history, and the football team ranks third on the league’s all-time championships list. But the Red Hurricanes never had won a baseball title, until now. Senior Rocco Bernadina pitched a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts Wednesday night and led seventh-seeded New...
PIAA rules Gateway QB Brad Birch eligible, returns Seton LaSalle appeal to WPIAL
The PIAA overturned one WPIAL decision and told the WPIAL board to reconsider another. Gateway freshman Brad Birch, a football standout who transferred from Jeannette, was ruled eligible Wednesday following an appeal hearing with the PIAA, reversing a WPIAL decision that would’ve made Birch ineligible for one year. Separately, the...
North Allegheny ace shuts down Hempfield, leads Tigers to record 8th WPIAL title
Hempfield got an early look at right-hander Kyle Demi a few weekends ago, but that sneak peek at the North Allegheny ace didn’t help much Tuesday night. Once again, Demi was dominant. The hard-throwing senior struck out 11 in six shutout innings as top-seeded North Allegheny defeated No. 3 Hempfield,...
Seneca Valley assistant could be Pine-Richland’s next coach, source says
Steve Campos, an assistant football coach at Seneca Valley, is expected to be the recommended candidate to fill the vacant head coach job at Pine-Richland, according to a source. The school board has called a special meeting for Wednesday to replace ousted coach Eric Kasperowicz. According to the source, when...
South Fayette’s Amy Allen claims 4 PIAA medals, wins gold with 400-meter relay
SHIPPENSBURG — When Amy Allen qualified for states as a sophomore, she ran one event and went home. “I didn’t even medal,” said the South Fayette senior, thinking back to 2019. “I was ninth and I was like, ‘So close.’ I just put in the work my junior year since...
Plum’s Parker medals in shot put at PIAA championships
SHIPPENSBURG — Plum thrower Logan Parker returned Saturday to Seth Grove Stadium and felt right at home. Soon, it will be his home. A Shippensburg recruit, Parker placed fifth in the boys shot put at the PIAA Class AAA track and field championships. “I got there, and I was walking...
West Mifflin’s Dontae Lewis celebrates 300 hurdles title on future college track
SHIPPENSBURG — While his competitors endured the cold rain and wind inside Seth Grove Stadium, West Mifflin hurdler Dontae Lewis found a way to escape. “I kind of sat in my coach’s car all day with the heat all the way up,” Lewis said with a laugh, “and wasted a...
Beaver’s Emma Pavelek earns PIAA high jump silver wearing borrowed shoesVideo
SHIPPENSBURG — Emma Pavelek didn’t walk a mile in someone else’s shoes but she did high jump in someone else’s sneakers. Rain forced the high jump indoors Saturday at the PIAA track and field championships, meaning the Beaver senior couldn’t wear her spikes. Pavelek didn’t have any suitable indoor shoes,...
Quaker Valley’s Nora Johns wins state gold in 1st year running 300 hurdles
SHIPPENSBURG — Nora Johns ran the 300 hurdles for the first time this spring, and the Quaker Valley sophomore can remember the thoughts running through her head at the time. “I was like, I just hope to make it to the finish line,” Johns said with a laugh. Two months...
Gallon thrives in cleanup role for North Allegheny
Batting cleanup comes with added responsibility in any baseball lineup, but there’s a little extra burden for North Allegheny’s No. 4 hitter. He’s got to make teams pay a price for avoiding No. 3 batter Cole Young, a Duke recruit and one of the WPIAL’s top juniors. Tigers senior Danny...
North Catholic sprinter Trevor Paschall wins 1st PIAA gold in 200, silver in 400
SHIPPENSBURG — Trevor Paschall’s state championship meet wasn’t going quite how he’d imagined. The North Catholic sprinter saw his relay team disqualified for a missed handoff, and then he was edged at the line in the 400 meters, finishing second by six-hundredths of a second. But along came the 200,...
Waynesburg’s Taylor Shriver clears 13 feet, wins long-awaited PIAA pole vault title
SHIPPENSBURG — Waynesburg pole vaulter Taylor Shriver needed three tries to clear her first bar at the state championships, an 11-foot jump that’s normally routine for the senior. But then she soared to new heights. Shriver cleared 13 feet to set an outdoor personal record Friday and won the state...
Thoughts of hospitalized teammate carry Aliquippa relay team to 5th-place finishVideo
SHIPPENSBURG — He should have been here, said the four sprinters on Aliquippa’s relay team, whose thoughts were with their fifth teammate, hospitalized in Pittsburgh. Aliquippa placed fifth in the 400-meter relay Friday at the PIAA Class AA track and field championships, but instead of cheers, the Quips tried not...
Shady Side Academy’s Melissa Riggins joins elite list with 6 PIAA gold medals
SHIPPENSBURG — Matching the speed she showed circling the track, the public address announcer at Seth Grove Stadium declared Melissa Riggins a three-time state champion in the 1,600 meters as soon as she crossed the finish line. A little later Friday, Riggins also won the 800 meters for the third...
Patience pays off in PIAA gold for Deer Lakes runner Carson McCoy
SHIPPENSBURG — In hindsight, Carson McCoy decided he probably made his move too early at the WPIAL championship, ultimately finishing second. Given a do-over at the state meet, the Deer Lakes junior took a more patient approach to the 1,600 meters. McCoy ran with a crowd for much of the...
Aliquippa to compete at state track meet with teammate, critically injured in shooting, in thoughts
Aliquippa’s track team arrived Thursday in Shippensburg, a day ahead of the state championships, but the Quips made the trip with one fewer sprinter than they’d hoped. Antonyo Anderson wasn’t with them, yet his teammates were thinking about him, coaches Sherman McBride and Vashawn Patrick said. The 16-year-old was shot...
PIAA might seek alternate site for softball championships at Penn State
The state softball championships are scheduled for next month at Penn State, but there’s a chance the PIAA will need to find an alternate site. The university currently has the total capacity at Nittany Lion Softball Park capped at 190 people, PIAA associate executive director Melissa Mertz said Wednesday when...
WPIAL reveals championship schedule for baseball finals
The WPIAL baseball finalists in Class 6A and 4A will play under the lights at Wild Things Park next week. The schedule for the six championship games has North Allegheny and Hempfield playing at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, and Montour and New Castle meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Also playing Tuesday...
Bethel Park’s walk-off win caps fierce pitchers’ duel with West AlleghenyVideo
Bethel Park’s Zack Sackett stood in the first-base dugout at Matulevic Field and watched two of the WPIAL’s gutsiest pitchers duel for 41 outs Tuesday without allowing a run. Inning after inning in a WPIAL Class 5A semifinal, West Allegheny right-handler Gavin Miller and Bethel Park lefty Eric Chalus kept...
North Allegheny returns to WPIAL finals after 10-run win over Butler
North Allegheny’s Joe Manesiotis surely was a little surprised when Butler intentionally walked the batter ahead of him to load the bases. The senior already was 3 for 3 with three RBIs before delivering the game-ending hit, a run-scoring single in the sixth that brought on the 10-run rule as...
