Michael Love stories, Page 113
Umpire comes through with keepsake after Plum Little League trip to Cooperstown was canceled
As winter turned to spring, Noah Rhoades looked to the upcoming Plum baseball season with excitement. Getting back on the field and playing with his friends gave him a renewed energy. Plans also included a trip to New York this summer as part of this year’s Plum Cooperstown team. But...
The Meadows suspends onsite race wagering; live racing continues without spectators
The Meadows Casino Racetrack Hotel in Washington County announced Friday that onsite race wagering temporarily will be suspended starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday night. Live racing at the 5/8-mile harness track will continue, though public access to the racetrack and racing operations will be prohibited. Live harness racing currently is...
Teenage racing phenom Heim comes to Western Pa. for 1st time
More than a decade ago, Ray Heim tore it up on the asphalt racing track at Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, Ga., and the Pittsburgh area native, who lived in West Deer and Verona and graduated from Riverview, enjoyed numerous top finishes. His son, Corey, watched on at the track...
Shady Side Academy discontinues use of Indians mascot
The Shady Side Academy Indian mascot, in use since 1936, will be discontinued effective immediately, the school announced Wednesday. The school’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday evening to discontinue the use of the mascot. Board of Trustees chairman Jonathan Kamin, a 1991 Academy graduate, said the recent discussion and...
Minor League Baseball season canceled for 2020
Hopes for Minor League Baseball in 2020 officially ended Tuesday as Major League Baseball announced that it will not provide its affiliated teams with players amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The move affects more than 150 such clubs, including Pittsburgh Pirates affiliates in Indianapolis (Class AAA) and Altoona (Class AA)....
Former Freeport lineman Doug Goodman going into Edinboro hall of fame
Doug Goodman is more than 40 years removed from his time at Edinboro University. But the Freeport graduate and Fighting Scots football and track and field standout recently has spent a lot of time reminiscing about his collegiate accomplishments. Goodman, a 1977 Edinboro graduate, is the elder statesman of the...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Tanner Nulph, Summer Rams prevail in WPBL opener
Tanner Nulph first helped the Summer Rams at the plate in Wednesday evening’s Western Pennsylvania Baseball League game at Valley High School. The rising Highlands junior then brought it home from the mound in his team’s 4-3 victory over the Independent Players. Nulph drove in three runs with a single...
Lernerville set for Firecracker 100 festivities
After a long coronavirus hiatus and a successful 2020 season debut last Friday, Lernerville Speedway turns to an annual tradition as it hosts the 14th annual World of Outlaws Late Model Series Firecracker 100 Weekend. The three days of racing begins Thursday and runs through to Saturday’s main event that...
Plum comes out swinging, rolls past Jeannette in Western Pa. Baseball League opener
Plum and Jeannette didn’t let the threat of rain spoil their Western Pennsylvania Summer Baseball League opener Tuesday evening at Buster Clarkson Field in Jeannette. The showers that fell on the region in the late afternoon dissipated as the game began, and Plum’s experienced squad showed its strength with an...
Burrell grad Alaina York makes most of abbreviated 1st season
Alaina York began a summer job Monday as a nursing assistant at UPMC Presbyterian. The next couple of months will build on her experiences studying nursing at Robert Morris. While she makes strides towards her career field, the Burrell graduate also is focused on her opportunities for the Robert Morris...
Summer Rams earn top-5 finish at ACB Open baseball tournament
The Summer Rams, a team consisting of players from the Highlands High School baseball team, earned a top-five finish at the seventh annual Atlantic Coast Baseball Open this past weekend at Wild Things Park in Washington. “We hadn’t practiced much,” coach Jeff Campbell said. “We had gotten on the field...
Return of Little Leagues provides some sense of normalcy
John Russo has been involved with the Latrobe Little League for two decades and is in his second year as the organization’s president. Like many of his counterparts, he has been through it all the past couple of months as the covid-19 pandemic and government-imposed safety restrictions threw a wrench...
Pittsburgh’s National Adult Baseball Association league in full swing
As winter turned to spring, Joe Graff was excited about how the 2020 Pittsburgh National Adult Baseball League was coming together. Then the coronavirus pandemic threw the league, as well as so many other entities, into doubt. But with Gov. Wolf putting southwestern Pennsylvania into the green phase of recovery...
Kiski Area’s Miller finds swim home after being victim of budget cuts
On May 21, East Carolina’s athletic department announced it would reduce the number of athletic programs because of budget restructuring efforts in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. The women’s swimming program was one of the sports affected, and it left recent Kiski Area graduate Naomee Miller scrambling. Miller signed...
West Hempfield team makes return to summer baseball
The West Hempfield baseball players gathered for their first practice Wednesday. The team doesn’t have to wait long for its season debut in the Westmoreland County American League. “We’re just ready to put our cleats on and swing the bats,” said Mitch Miletics, one of more than a dozen players...
Saint Vincent College Bowling to host ‘plastic ball’ tournament
Saint Vincent College Bowling has scheduled a plastic ball tournament July 12 at Lincoln Lanes in Latrobe. The tournament is open to anyone. The format will feature individual competitors, and each will bowl four games in the qualifying rounds. The lowest score will be dropped, so everyone will have a...
Registration open for First Tee Pittsburgh summer golf program
First Tee Pittsburgh’s summer youth golf program will begin July 6, and families are able to register now. The sessions for ages 5 to 18 feature various classes and programs at 10 locations throughout Western Pennsylvania. The First Tee of Pittsburgh, according to president and CEO Eric Amato, is the...
WPIAL alums earn PSAC spring honors
A trio of WPIAL alums were among 10 student-athletes from schools in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference selected as spring 2020 Top 10 Award recipients. Slippery Rock’s Lacey Cohen (tennis, Fox Chapel), Seton Hill’s Tommy Pellis (baseball, Greensburg Central Catholic) and Cal (Pa.)’s Nick Riggle (baseball, Keystone Oaks) were among...
Freeport International Baseball Invitational plans continue to move forward
With counties throughout southwestern Pennsylvania moving forward in the green phase of coronavirus recovery, next month’s Freeport International Baseball Invitational also continues to move forward with its mission to host the 26th annual event. FIBI president Chuck Sarver said Wednesday that while field locations continue to be finalized, more and...
New Western Pa. high school QB award honors trailblazer Willie Thrower
Starting this fall, the top quarterback among schools in the WPIAL and City League will receive an award named in honor of the NFL’s first African-American signal-caller. The annual Willie Thrower Award will honor the memory of the New Kensington native who first gained local notoriety by helping New Kensington...
