Michael Love stories, Page 57

2022 Valley News Dispatch Softball All-Stars Player of the Year Katie Armstrong Burrell, Jr., P If the regular season didn’t already show it, then a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game against Belle Vernon proved just how dominant Burrell junior pitcher Katie Armstrong was throughout the spring. Armstrong held a potent...

Ellie Jarrett was smiling ear to ear after the PIHL girls hockey championship game June 11 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township. The rising sophomore at Burrell proudly held the trophy after she helped Team East, with players also from Armstrong, Elizabeth Forward, Hempfield, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Windber,...

Terence Parham called it one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make. Citing changing work requirements, the veteran Deer Lakes boys basketball coach has resigned after seven years at the helm of the program. The Deer Lakes School Board voted to accept his resignation at Tuesday’s meeting. “My...

Caleigh Rister made quite a splash in her debut for the Cal (Pa.) softball team this spring. The two-way standout from Bucyrus, Ohio, recently was selected the Schutt Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II National Freshman of the Year. Rister is the first player from the Atlantic Region, comprised...

A dozen athletic greats comprise the Class of 2022 for the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, and half of the class was nominated by state-affiliated chapters located in the Western Region. PA Sports Hall of Fame State Executive Director Dale Hamer, a Murrysville resident, former NFL official and a 2012...

Editor’s note: The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 15 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Brad Birch led the WPIAL in passing in 2021, throwing for 2,623...

Dietrich Zeisloft was a leader on the field for several seasons for the Gateway boys soccer team with his ability to put the ball in the back of the net, help control possession and facilitate his teammates on the attack from his midfield position. But the Gators senior also was...

Mark Marino is no stranger to coaching basketball teams from the United States in overseas competition. Marino, who coached the Plum varsity boys basketball team the past three seasons, will make his fourth trip to Europe this week as he helps coach a team of Division I, II and III...

There will be a lot on the line at Lernerville Speedway on Friday evening as the Fab4 Revved Up with Marburger Farm Dairy lineup — featuring the Peoples Natural Gas Sprints, Precise Racing Products Late Models, Diehl Automotive Big Block Modifieds, and the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stocks — will have...

Sarah Bonelli Christopher graduated from Apollo-Ridge in 2013 and went on the play four years as a midfielder at Lock Haven. She just missed the opportunity to play for her high school alma mater, as the Vikings girls soccer program was formed a couple of years later. “I was sad...

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced Wednesday that club president Vic Gregovits will step down from his front office position this week. Gregovits joined the Riverhounds in April 2021 and helped the team return to full operations after the covid pandemic-affected 2020 season. He helped fans return to Highmark Stadium with several...

Kiski Area athletic director John Peterman knows his school’s student-athletes are energetic competitors on the field and make a difference off the field, both in the classroom and the community. He wasn’t surprised when 21 athletes were nominated in several sports for this year’s Western Pennsylvania Positive Athlete Awards. The...

For two months this spring, Kim Johnson balanced her duties as a ninth-grade honors biology and AP biology teacher at Valley High School with newly gained responsibilities as the interim athletic director after the resignation of Muzzy Colosimo in March. Through her work with the spring sports teams and advanced...

The Duquesne men’s basketball roster expanded Monday as 6-foot-8 forward Joe Reece will join the program for the 2022-23 season. Reece is the 10th member of the current recruiting class. He has enrolled and has joined his new teammates in summer workouts. “I expect Joe to be a real asset...

Deer Lakes softball coach Rick Cerra saw the pieces for a strong season and postseason run come together back in September, six months before preseason practices began. “Things were really falling into place, and we were really looking forward to having this team on the field,” Cerra said. His expectations...

The Monroeville Junior Legion baseball team had played a number of close games in the early portion of its Westmoreland County Youth Legion schedule, so it probably came as no surprise to the Gators that they found themselves in a close battle against Fox Chapel on June 8, at Monroeville...

The Plum Junior Legion baseball team found itself right in the mix for a playoff spot as it closed in on the midway point of its schedule. A dramatic 4-3 extra-inning victory June 6 against rival Fox Chapel put Plum at 4-3 in the North Division and also got the...

When one looks just at the scores of a majority of the games for the Gateway softball team this spring, thoughts might develop of a team that went nowhere in developing on the field. But first-year coach Donny Holl said that was far from the case in examining his youthful,...

A youthful lineup this spring didn’t stop the Burrell softball team from reaching the playoffs for the 17th season in a row, and when the Bucs arrived in the postseason, they made the most of their opportunity. Coach Rick Nealer said the team, which faced lower-than-usual roster numbers this year,...

RJ Beach and Dom Holmes knew the feeling of teaming up to help win a rugby championship. The Burrell graduates — RJ in 2019 and Holmes in 2020 — were teammates on the Kiski Valley club team that captured the Rugby Club Division II championship in May 2019. Fast forward...

Deer Lakes entered Thursday’s PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal matchup with Bald Eagle hoping to punch its ticket to the state semifinals for the first time since 2015. But the Eagles and freshman pitcher Sierra Albright had other ideas. Albright limited Deer Lakes to five hits and struck out nine over...

A quartet from the Deer Lakes softball team — Jenna Bisegna, Reese Hasley, Keeghan Cook and Lydia Guthrie — took one of the biggest walks of their lives and graduated Wednesday evening. As one journey comes to a close, the graduates hope another keeps rolling along. They will join their...

Today’s games Class 4A Quarterfinals Burrell (14-2) vs. Beaver (20-0) 3 p.m. at Mars Winner plays: Winner of Hamburg (20-3) vs. Clearfield (19-3) in semifinals Monday (site and time TBD) Players to watch: Caroline Dynka, Burrell; Payton List, Beaver Extra bases: Burrell won its first state playoff game since 2011...

The Beaver softball team currently owns one of the longest winning streaks in WPIAL history. The Bobcats, last year’s PIAA Class 4A champs, defeated District 3’s Fleetwood, 3-2, on Monday to extend their unbeaten run to 41 games. Burrell (14-2) has its chance to stop Beaver in its tracks Thursday,...

ERIE — It was déjà vu for the Burrell softball team Monday afternoon in its PIAA Class 4A first-round game against District 10 champion Villa Maria Academy at Penn State Behrend. The Bucs scored three times in the first inning of last Tuesday’s consolation-game victory over Montour that clinched a...