Ray Fisher stories, Page 32

Kiski Area coach Tom Berzonsky advocates a fundamental approach to the 2021 cross country season for his runners. Improvement is the key word. “Our top goal is to consistently improve throughout the season,” said Berzonsky, now in his third decade as the Cavaliers’ coach. “Our girls team returns six of...

Officials initially discussed holding the inaugural Thomas Jefferson youth baseball clinic in the spring. However, due to covid restrictions the event was pushed back to a later date — Aug. 29. And it proved to be a thundering hit. The inaugural day-long clinic took place at Andrew Reilly Memorial Park...

Sewickley Academy experienced a productive season in boys soccer a year ago, advancing to the WPIAL semifinals and finishing 10-2-1 overall. The Panthers, now led by first-year coach Alessandro Moreira, are looking to build off last year’s regular-season success. “My expectations are to make the playoffs and try to win...

Quaker Valley boys soccer is synonymous with success. As is second-year coach J.J. Veshio, a longtime assistant in the program. Veshio guided then-defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champ Quaker Valley to an 11-1-1 record last season, as the Quakers outscored the opposition 114-8 and had three double-digit scorers. Unfortunately,...

A new chapter in the Franklin Regional girls volleyball program will be written in 2021 following a season unlike any other. Franklin Regional won its first WPIAL championship in a pandemic-riddled 2020 season and reached the PIAA finals for the first time. Thanks to an abundance of talent, the Panthers...

The Talbots are hoping for more of the same in 2021. Hampton has made the playoffs in girls soccer for five straight years and advanced to the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals last fall. During the pandemic-riddled 2020 season, Hampton won its first section title since 2008 and finished 12-3 overall....

Hampton’s top three competitors at last year’s WPIAL Class 2A cross country finals were Nathan Garrett, Dale Hall and Michael Belch. All three are back this season. “They have done some good work this summer,” coach Dean Longwell said. “Michael started the (2020) season injured and is coming into this...

Max Blanc is a student of the game, particularly at the quarterback position. Blanc is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound strong-armed signal caller at Bethel Park who also plays linebacker. He studies, learns, then executes the Black Hawks’ game-plan to the best of his intellectual abilities. “His football IQ is better than...

Small steps. The Bethel Park boys soccer team isn’t reaching for the sky this season. More on point, the Black Hawks would like to return to the WPIAL playoffs after sitting out the postseason the past four years. “Our goal is to make the playoffs,” said fourth-year coach Doug Fink,...

There are various ways to describe the West Mifflin football team. One would be that the Titans are young and big. Or, on the other hand, they could be categorized as “big but young.” “To be honest, we played a lot of young guys last year,” coach Rod Steele said....

Thomas Jefferson repeated as WPIAL and state titlists in Class 4A last season, finishing 10-1 overall. The Jaguars built on their championship culture, winning their 10th WPIAL title and record-setting fifth PIAA crown. And guess what? There were 18 sophomores and 24 freshmen on the 71-player varsity roster a year...

Three key senior members of the 2019 Baldwin girls volleyball team — outside hitter Allison Murray, middle hitter Ally Schenk and right-side hitter Riley Lenard-Haley — have continued their careers at the next level. After finishing as a back-to-back section champion and WPIAL runner-up in 2016 and 2018, Baldwin was...

Notebook items from around the South Hills: Thomas Jefferson • TJ is 60-5 overall and 41-2 in regular-season play over the past five football seasons, including one 10-0 and two 9-0 records. The Jaguars have won 19 of 22 playoff games, along with four WPIAL and two PIAA titles, and...

Lexi Dadig graduated with honors from Thomas Jefferson this spring. A quick, sharpshooting senior guard on the girls basketball team in 2020-21, Dadig plans to extend her playing days at the next level. The 5-foot-5 Dadig will continue her hoops career and education at Saint Vincent, which won the Presidents’...

A quick dose of Bethel Park football, by the numbers: • There are three quarterbacks listed on this year’s 70-player team roster — senior Max Blanc, a Youngstown State recruit, junior John Barr and freshman Jack Bruckner. “Max will be our leader on offense. We expect great things from him,”...

There’s a significant number of new faces in the Brentwood lineup this season. But first, returning starters include seniors Jase Keib (QB/DB), Lamarr Williams (WR/LB), Mitchell Fox (WR/DB), Jack Wisenauer (OL/LB), Alec Troy (OL/LB), Tate Jones (RB/NG) and junior Jason Redlinger (FB/DL). “As always, we expect to make the the...

Interim coach Chris Siegle is hoping to restore stability to the Seton LaSalle football program. The senior athletes on the 2021 squad have had four head coaches in their varsity careers, starting with Rob Carter in 2018, followed by Mike Zmijanac the past two seasons. Mauro Monz was hired to...

Bethel Park has been a perennial WPIAL playoff contender on the gridiron. The 2020 season was an aberration. The Black Hawks, coming off 18 consecutive WPIAL playoff appearances and eight winning seasons in a row, did not win a game last fall and finished 0-7. They expect to turn things...

Gavin Youkers just keeps climbing off the charts. Youkers began rock climbing four years ago at the age of 9 while at Climb North in Wildwood. It was there that his love of climbing was launched by his coach, Justin Mech, and his teammates. “It was fun,” Youkers said. “We...

Taylor Lee and Steve Evans were co-race directors of the 38th annual Brentwood Firecracker 5K Run. It was their first year at the helm. “Considering all the unknowns during the planning process and not having enough time to do the traditional big race and celebration, I’m so happy with the...

Alina Stahl has been an accomplished student-athlete since her freshman year at Baldwin. She maintained that status throughout high school and now through three years of competition on the West Virginia women’s soccer team. Stahl, 21, has been a prized recruit for the Mountaineers, both in the classroom and on...

Bethel Park graduate Reagan Milliken will be taking a loaded resume with her to the Ohio State softball program in the fall. An athletic shortstop who led the Black Hawks to their first WPIAL softball title in school history, Milliken recently was named the Class 6A Player of the Year...

The Chalus brothers can almost be considered mirror images. Eric Chalus, 19, stands 6-foot-1, weighs 180 pounds and is a left-handed pitcher. John Chalus, 17, goes 6-foot, 180 pounds as a right-handed hitting catcher. The two were instrumental in the Bethel Park baseball team’s thrilling PIAA championship run in 2021....

Chris Rampolla has graduated from all-state to all-universe status. Rampolla, a former standout volleyball player at Baldwin, is employed as a robotics software engineer for a company called Astrobotic Technology Inc., with headquarters located on Pittsburgh’s Northside. Astrobotic is the world’s leading lunar logistics company. It specializes in developing space...

After much deliberation, Baldwin graduate Sean Kealey decided to leap into the financial business world with BNY Mellon following a stellar baseball career at Allegheny College. That is, until fate steered him onto a different path with the independent Washington Wild Things. As it turns out, Kealey’s professional baseball aspirations...