Michael Love stories, Page 135
District 31 Legion baseball heating up entering new week of games
Hempfield East sits atop the District 31 American Legion standings heading into a new week of games. The team is 5-0 and has outscored its opponents by a 52-14 margin. Not far behind in second place is Latrobe at 5-1. It has only surrendered six runs in its six games...
Area golfers cap spring seasons at NJCAA national tournament
Seven area collegiate golfers wrapped up the spring season Friday at the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division III National Championship at Chautauqua Golf Club in Chautauqua, N.Y. Butler County Community College’s Noah Morgan, an Allegheny-Clarion Valley grad, led the way with a tie for 20th out of 90 golfers...
WPIAL girls lacrosse All-Star teams recognize season efforts
The All-WPIAL girls lacrosse teams were selected in a vote of the Class AAA and AA coaches. Eighteen players were tabbed All-WPIAL in Class AAA. Emmie Lau and Abby Todd helped Shady Side Academy capture the WPIAL Class AAA title with a victory over Upper St. Clair. The Indians capped...
Boys lacrosse standouts voted to WPIAL All-Star teams
The All-WPIAL boys lacrosse teams were selected in a vote of the Class AAA and AA coaches. WPIAL Class AAA champion Pine-Richland, runner-up Mt. Lebanon and semifinalist North Allegheny led the way with three selections each. Pine-Richland attacker Dane Dowiak was selected the Class AAA Player of the Year. In...
Highlands Legion team maintains continuity with high school squad
The Highlands baseball team enjoyed a turnaround season with 11 victories and a trip to the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs this spring after winning only four games last year. Golden Rams first-year coach Jeff Campbell wants to build on that momentum this summer, and a group of underclassmen from the...
After turning around season, CCAC-Boyce baseball reached Region XX finals
When members of the CCAC-Boyce baseball team look back on the 2019 season, they are quick to notice a definite shift in fortunes. After a 4-10 start had the squad looking for answers, the team righted the ship and embarked on a winning streak that took them to a Western...
Knoch graduate Jordan Geist using 3rd-place finish at NCAAs as ‘learning experience’
A third-place finish in an event at the NCAA Division I outdoor track and field championships is quite the accomplishment for most people. But most people aren’t Jordan Geist. The Knoch graduate and Arizona sophomore took bronze Wednesday in the shot put in the national competition at the University of...
PIAA Class AAA boys volleyball final preview: North Allegheny vs. Central York
PIAA Boys Volleyball Championship Class 3A North Allegheny (22-0) vs. Central York (19-2) 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena Coaches: Dan Schall, North Allegheny; Todd Goodling, Central York Players to watch: Drew Hunker, Sr., OH, North Allegheny; Braden Richard, Sr., OH, Central York The skinny: North Allegheny...
A-K Valley notebook: Freeport’s Heilman to compete in Big 26 Classic
Jarrett Heilman, who helped the Freeport baseball team capture the Section 1-3A championship and qualify for the PIAA playoffs for the first time in 21 years, will represent the WPIAL on the Pennsylvania team for the Big 26 Baseball Classic on July 25-28, in Harrisburg. The list of players for...
Gateway Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2019 announced
Katrina Streiner won a pair of WPIAL swimming championships in the 50-yard freestyle, added one in the 100 freestyle and was a PIAA medalist during her Gateway career. She went on to compete at Duquesne where she set school records and captured an Atlantic 10 relay title. Streiner’s efforts in...
Kncoh grad Geist takes 3rd in shot put at NCAA track and field championships
University of Arizona sophomore Jordan Geist placed third overall in the men’s shot put at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships Wednesday evening at the University of Texas in Austin. The Knoch graduate, who won his second Pac-12 outdoor title in as many seasons last month, delivered...
Plum Legion team looking to make waves in league play
Evan Sante is pulling double duty this summer. In addition to playing for the Plum Pterodactyls in the Daily News adult baseball league, the soon-to-be high school graduate — he and his Plum senior classmates commence Thursday — is a member of the Plum Legion squad for the first time....
Cincinnati Reds draft Quaker Valley grad Tyler Garbee
The Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday selected Quaker Valley graduate and Mercyhurst University senior right-hander Tyler Garbee in the 19th round of the Major League Baseball draft. Through 17 appearances and 11 starts this season, Garbee owns a 3.08 earned-run average with 109 strikeouts in 73 innings of work. Garbee struck...
WPIAL duo selected for all-star baseball classic
Freeport junior Jarrett Heilman and South Fayette sophomore Ryan McGuire will represent the WPIAL on the Pennsylvania roster for the Big 26 Baseball Classic on July 25-28 in Harrisburg. The list of players was announced Wednesday morning for the four-day tryout-based all-star series. The Pennsylvania team, made up entirely of...
Trip to PIAA playoffs a major boost for Freeport baseball program
In the hours after Freeport baseball’s 3-2 PIAA Class 3A first-round loss to Franklin on Monday at Slippery Rock University, one in which the Knights rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Yellowjackets players and coaches received dozens of calls, texts, emails and Twitter messages of...
Franklin rallies past Freeport on walk-off single in PIAA 1st round
The Freeport baseball team was no stranger to close games, especially in this year’s postseason. All three of the Yellowjackets’ games in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs were decided by two runs or less, and both victories came in the form of one-run shutouts. But on Monday, in the opening...
Local golfers set to compete at NJCAA national championship
Ryan Skladany, a Gateway graduate and student at the Community College of Allegheny County, Boyce Campus, leads a local contingent of golfers to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Division III National Golf Championship on Tuesday through Friday at Chautauqua Golf Club in Chautauqua, N.Y. Skladany earned the trip to...
Freeport baseball hopes unofficial mascot keeps hanging around
After delivering the winning hit in last Wednesday’s 1-0 PIAA-clinching victory over Keystone Oaks in the WPIAL Class 3A third-place game, Freeport junior Bradyn Clark came back to the dugout and rubbed Darlene’s ears for continued good fortune. No, Darlene isn’t human but a two-foot tall plastic Easter bunny, which...
Freeport-Franklin state playoff game holds unique draw for husband, wife
When Tom and Ericca Haynes attend Monday’s PIAA Class 3A first-round baseball game between Franklin and Freeport, they will have familiarity to both sides of the proceedings. As the parents of Franklin’s top pitcher and leading hitter Ian Haynes, they have followed the Knights the past several seasons, including this...
Apollo-Ridge’s Kent Harkleroad ready to face best in all-star game
Kent Harkleroad soon will put on the helmet and jersey of the Waynesburg football team. But before that, the Apollo-Ridge senior will suit up for one more one more high school game. Harkleroad, a 5-foot-9, 260-pound offensive and defensive lineman, will join his teammates on Team Never Fear against Team...
WPIAL lacrosse teams set for PIAA quarterfinals
After several weather-related postponements, the PIAA boys and girls lacrosse first rounds concluded Friday. For some teams, including the Mars and Pine-Richland boys and the Oakland Catholic and Shady Side Academy girls, the turnaround is quick to Saturday’s quarterfinals. Mars, the WPIAL boys Class AA champion, will face District 3...
Plum Legion team looking to make waves in league play
Evan Sante is pulling double duty on the baseball diamond this summer. In addition to playing for the Plum Pterodactyls in the Daily News adult league, the soon-to-be high school graduate — he and his Plum senior classmates commence Thursday — is a member of the Plum Senior Legion squad...
Murrysville Senior Legion baseball team returns to District 31
After a one-year hiatus, the Murrysville Senior Legion team is back in business. Coach Chas Brncic hopes the team assembled can produce winning results in its return to the District 31 league. “I do feel this team can be competitive,” said Brncic, who coached the Murrysville Junior Legion team to...
Springdale’s Zolnierczyk ready to begin next chapter at Robert Morris
Mike Zolnierczyk graduates Friday from Springdale High School. One chapter will close while another continues to build for the Dynamos soccer and basketball standout who will continue his soccer pursuits at Division I Robert Morris. “I’m extremely blessed to be in the situation I am in, being able to play...
Freeport baseball set for 1st state playoff berth in 21 years
When Garrett Ben made contact with an offering from Keystone Oaks pitcher Sammy Tortorella in the second inning of Wednesday’s WPIAL 3A third-place game at Washington & Jefferson, he wasn’t sure what would become of the blooper near the foul line in shallow right field. “The ball kind of hung...
