Josh Rizzo stories, Page 33

Logan Parker made the most out of his winter competitions. The Plum senior built momentum heading into his senior season by placing 13th in the shot put at the Adidas Indoor Nationals in late February. Parker’s best throw of 53 feet, 9 inches placed him 13th overall and second of...

Tom Sorce cackled at the idea of using a designated player to hit for Shaler pitcher Bethany Rodman. The Shaler coach wants to utilize Rodman in every capacity. “If I did that, they’d run me out of here,” Source said. “She did well this summer. We’ve played two scrimmages, and...

Shaler sophomore Josh Jashinski was happy to be the last player on the tennis court. Dragged into a battle while playing No. 1 singles for the Titans against Plum on March 17, Jashinski needed a little extra support. Jashinski dropped a self-described error-filled second set in a tiebreak and would...

Melanie Mienke was set to take over as the workhorse of Plum’s pitching staff last spring. Losing a year because of the pandemic means Mienke, now a senior, steps into a much different situation. The Mustangs will have three new starters in the infield. This is a Plum squad that...

Jim Ashbaugh isn’t sure what to expect from the Riverview softball team this season. He’s not alone in that concern among WPIAL softball coaches. Having an inkling of what could occur is difficult to ascertain because of the effects from the coronavirus pandemic. Missing a season guaranteed there will be...

Duquesne assistant coach Jeff Gibson went scooting toward the finish line of the Atlantic 10 Championship course March 5 at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Va., to deliver good news. Brianna Schwartz and her fellow Dukes were surprised at what he had to say. Duquesne coach Jim Lear told the...

Throughout the season, the Shaler girls bowling team demonstrated its depth. At the Western Regional Championships, the Titans were once again led by a different competitor. Megan Schwab bowled an 847 series with a high game of 204 to place a team-high 17th at the event. Due to the pandemic,...

Shaler girls basketball coach Cournelious Nesbit believed Bethel Park’s Olivia Westphal provided a valuable lesson for his Titans. Westphal, a Duquesne recruit, established her presence early and poured in 33 points to lead the Black Hawks to a 64-37 win in the first round of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs...

Twenty-one days of waiting followed by a playoff game felt how Shaler coach Rob Niederberger believed it would. “It was weird,” Niederbeger said of the Titans’ 85-64 win over Ringgold in the preliminary round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. “It was a home game, and there was no atmosphere....

Lizzy Groetsch’s pass to the perimeter allowed Jasmine Timmerson to snap a cold spell midway through the first quarter for the North Allegheny girls basketball team. Timmerson knocked down a 3-pointer that pulled the Tigers within one and stopped a string of four team misses from the perimeter. Even when...

Bishop Canevin coach Gino Palmosina avoided giving any history lessons before the Crusaders’ WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game Tuesday night at home. Having the opportunity to earn a trip to the district final for the first time since 2006 wasn’t a major motivator. Palmosina was more worried about Union’s...

Cory Sakolsky knew a 19-day break was going to make things difficult for the Shaler hockey team. The Titans’ chances of making the PIHL Class AA playoffs were slim even if they had a chance to play out the regular season as previously planned. Shaler dropped a 6-1 decision to...

Sydney Lang enjoyed having an opportunity to ease into being a member of the Shaler varsity bowling team. Watching and learning and learning from a deep Titans team that qualified for states last season gave Lang, whose primary sport is softball, time to learn. That eagerness to learn hasn’t faded...

Eddie Daniels met South Fayette freshman point guard Nate Deanes at mid-court, quickly sliding his feet into better defensive position before seizing an opportunity. The Penn Hills senior guard punched the ball away from Deanes before gliding for a layup late in the third quarter. “I notice a lot of...

Lydia Nebiolo knew every meet would matter. Qualifying for the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships would require having one of the 16 fastest times because of the covid restrictions in place. During the Shaler senior’s final home meet Feb. 22 against Pine-Richland, Nebiolo swam her best time in the 200...

Shaler bowling coach Shawn Pilyih gave freshman Braden Scott a quick hook in the Titans’ final regular-season match. Pilyih was “average watching” and knew after Scott threw a 220, his cumulative mark was over the 170 threshold that would qualify for the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League championships last Wednesday...

Filling time between the final regular season game and the start of the WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball playoffs required some guesswork for Shaler coach Cornelious Nesbit. The Titans can’t improve their seed because the team was shut down for covid-19 related issues in the school district. Shaler’s last game...

Developing chemistry after a long layoff won’t be such a foreign concept for Shaler junior guard Dylan Schlagel. In preseason, the Titans’ boys basketball team would have benefited from having name tags on their jerseys with the number of freshmen vying for varsity playing time. Seven freshmen have played for...

Jack Keenan didn’t seek an opportunity to follow in his dad’s footsteps. When the Shaler Area junior hurdler landed on the hurdles as his primary event in middle school track and field, the idea was to try and exceed his dad’s accomplishments. “I started in middle school because my dad...

Lexi Pilyih doesn’t dwell on what could have been. The Shaler Area sophomore was a major cog of a Titans’ girls bowling team that made school history by qualifying for the state bowling championships as a team. Days before states were scheduled to commence, the Titans saw their first trip...

Lydia Nebiolo always did a little bit of everything when competing in Allegheny Mountain Swimming meets. Since starting high school meets, the Shaler senior has primarily specialized in distance events. But with the schedule setting up differently, the Titans have been moving Nebiolo around. She’s adapted well, hitting secondary WPIAL...

Shaler girls basketball coach Cornelious Nesbit believes for the Titans to be successful, they need to value the ball and limit their opponents’ possessions. Thus far, Shaler still is searching for a way to take care of the basketball. Before the Titans’ squared off with North Hills last Thursday, Shaler...

Stopping and starting the basketball season hasn’t made for an easy personnel situation for Shaler coach Rob Niederberger. Since the Titans’ resumed play Jan. 8, they have had four games postponed and had seven players miss time with various injuries. Having so many people coming in and out of the...

Eloise Facher lined up at the starting line, peering down at a black shirt and shorts before the start of her 60-meter sprint at Youngstown State University. Competing as an unattached runner meant Facher couldn’t be fitted in her typical blue-and-red Shaler Area track attire. “It was definitely weird,” Facher...

Ryan Callahan enjoys the Shaler bowling team having two matches a week. The pandemic-forced, compact section schedule keeps the Titans sophomore on his toes. In a normal year, Shaler would have one match a week. So far, the boys are off to a 1-3 start. Shaler’s girls team is 3-1....