Michael Love stories, Page 42

The Riverview baseball team lost just two starters from last year’s WPIAL playoff qualifier. While catcher Taylor Zellefrow and pitcher/outfielder Vinnie Shook will surely be missed after producing strong varsity careers, veteran coach Bill Gras said the returning starters and others ready to step up and step into new roles...

The Plum baseball team is in Florida this week for some practice time and game play under sunny skies and in temperatures expected to reach the upper 70s. The excursion south, veteran coach Carl Vollmer said, is expected to serve as an extension to an already productive series of workouts...

Faced with roster numbers that would be far fewer than required, Riverview softball will not field a team at the varsity level this spring. Athletic director Corey Thomas said this week that there was an initial sign-up meeting for the spring season, and only four girls were there. A second...

PIAA basketball playoffs Girls Class 4A First round Highlands (16-9) vs. Penn Cambria (12-12) 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Mt. Aloysius College, Cresson District finish: Highlands 7-4; Penn Cambria 6-1 Winner plays: Winner of Fairview (19-8)/Beaver (15-10) Wednesday in second round (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Kate Myers, Highlands; Abby...

Ally DeJidas is enjoying a strong start to her softball season with Mercyhurst. The Freeport graduate and Lakers senior pitcher/outfielder led the team in batting with a .528 (19 of 36) average through her team’s first 10 games. She collected four doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs as Mercyhurst...

Ten high school Unified bocce teams will gather Thursday at Geneva College’s Metheny Fieldhouse for the Three Rivers Region playoffs. Matches begin at 11 a.m. and will feature more than 100 athletes, partners, coaches and volunteers from qualifying schools Bethel Park, South Park, Chartiers Valley, Central Valley, Beaver, Grove City,...

Camille Gigon and Augustina Gutierrez-Collado became fast friends when they met in August and joined the Highlands girls volleyball team. “I had never played (volleyball) before,” Gigon said. “But it was a great experience for me. I got to learn a new sport, and I got to meet a lot...

The Kiski Area hockey team rallied twice against Avonworth last week to claim a PIHL Penguins Cup Class A first-round victory. The Cavaliers rode that momentum Monday against No. 1 North Hills in a quarterfinal matchup at Robert Morris University’s Island Sports Center. Sophomore Ethan Bombalski scored a go-ahead goal...

A several-month long series of matches culminated last Friday in the Pittsburgh Interscholastic Fencing Association playoffs at Allderdice High School, and the Allderdice girls and Shady Side Academy boys claimed team championships. The Shady Side Academy girls came into the playoffs as the top seed after finishing the regular season...

The PIAA released the at-large (time) qualifiers Sunday afternoon for the Class 2A and Class 3A state swimming championships March 15-18, at Bucknell University. The WPIAL is well represented in every boys and girls event and owns numerous top seeds. Only the champion in each event at all of the...

Plum girls basketball coach Rich Mull said he knew his team had its work cut out for it when it took on No. 1 South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round matchup Feb. 21. “South Fayette had a great reputation that precedes them, obviously, and it was a challenge...

Kaleb Pryor still feels the sting of the Gateway boys basketball team’s loss to top-seeded Peters Township in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Feb. 25. “In a playoff atmosphere like that, in the final four or five minutes of the fourth quarter, it comes down to half-court possessions and playing...

The Gateway baseball team entered last year’s WPIAL Class 5A playoffs as the 15th seed after tying for fourth place in Section 1 with McKeesport at 3-7. But the Gators didn’t let their seed get to them as they took on No. 2 Bethel Park. Gateway took the eventual PIAA...

The Mt. Pleasant girls swim team completed Friday what they started Thursday. Swims at the top and throughout a deep lineup produced points in nearly every race, and it translated to the Vikings’ second straight WPIAL Class 2A championship. “It is awesome,” said a soaked Mt. Pleasant coach Sandy Felice...

The Kiski Area boys swim team trailed Indiana by 12 points heading into the 400-yard freestyle relay Friday at the WPIAL Class 2A championships. The top-seeded Cavaliers quartet of sophomore Justin Tucker, junior Landon Seman, and seniors Parker Sterlitz and Levi Hansen raced to the championship with a strong final...

The Mt. Pleasant girls swim team is halfway to back-to-back WPIAL Class 2A titles. Fronted by four WPIAL Day 1 titles — two individual and two relay— with four WPIAL records, the Vikings sit atop the standings by 50 points over Quaker Valley. “It was a great first day for...

Fox Chapel senior and Brown commit Sophie Shao had another big day at the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. With two more individual titles during Day 1 on Thursday, her total WPIAL-title haul in her four years now stands at nine, individually and relays. Shao defended...

Title defenses, breakout performances and cheering crowds, oh my. Pitt’s Trees Pool will be alive Thursday and Friday as the site of the WPIAL Class 3A and 2A swimming championships. In the Alle-Kiski Valley, the Fox Chapel girls seek a championship in Class 3A after giving North Allegheny all it...

There weren’t many secrets Tuesday at Gateway as section rivals North Catholic and Highlands met in a WPIAL Class 4A girls semifinal with a trip to Saturday’s championship game on the line. The sixth-seeded Golden Rams hoped the third time would be the charm after the No. 2 Trojanettes took...

WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 4A Third-place consolation 5-Highlands (21-4) at 2-Laurel Highlands (21-3) 7 p.m. Wednesday at Laurel Highlands High School, Uniontown Winner plays: District 9 champion in PIAA first round March 11 (site/time TBD) Loser plays: District 5 or 6 champion in PIAA first round March 11 (site/time...

The Pittsburgh Interscholastic Fencing Association concluded regular-season play Friday, and the final qualifiers and seeding for Friday’s league playoffs at Allderdice were determined. The top four boys and girls teams earned playoff spots. The Shady Side Academy girls completed the regular season undefeated (7-0) with a 6-3 win over Pine-Richland....

The St. Joseph girls basketball team took down the top seed in last year’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinals. The Spartans attempted to do it again Monday, this time in a semifinal matchup against Union at North Allegheny. But the Scotties, who used a big first quarter to open a 19-point...

WPIAL basketball playoffs Girls Class 4A Semifinals 2-North Catholic (20-3) vs. 6-Highlands (16-7) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Gateway High School, Monroeville Winner plays: Winner of 1-Blackhawk (20-3) vs. 4-Quaker Valley (16-7) in championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center Players to watch: Kate Myers, Highlands; Dacia Lewandowski,...

Ray Bartha said he knew it was time. “Pretty much at the beginning of the season, I made up my mind that this would be it,” said Bartha, the longtime Apollo-Ridge girls basketball coach who officially retired last week after his second stint leading the Vikings. “At the end of...

WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 4A Semifinals 1-Lincoln Park (23-1) vs. 5-Highlands (21-3) 8 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel High School, Fox Chapel Winner plays: Winner of 2-Laurel Highlands (21-2)/6-North Catholic (18-6) in championship game at 9 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center Players to watch: Meleek Thomas, Lincoln Park;...