High School category, Page 274
Makayla Etling’s hot bat powers Southmoreland past Yough
If teams continue to pitch inside to Makayla Etling, they are probably going to continue to pay the price. Etling’s bat is making a different sound right now. “I’m a little surprised to see (inside pitches),” said Etling, the Southmoreland junior catcher and leadoff hitter. “I feel like I am...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for May 2, 2024
High schools Baseball Thursday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Seneca Valley 7, Butler 4 Pine-Richland 9, North Allegheny 8 Section 2 Mt. Lebanon 6, Baldwin 0 Central Catholic 6, Canon-McMillan 4 Hempfield 10, Norwin 9 Class 3A Section 4 Greensburg Salem 14, Brownsville 0 Class 2A Section 2 Northgate 15,...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 3, 2024: Baldwin Invitational celebrates 50 years
One of the oldest and most prestigious track and field meets in the country celebrates a big anniversary this season. The 2024 Baldwin Track & Field Invitational turns a half-century old Friday. Some of the top athletes from Western Pa. will gather at Baldwin for the annual event starting at...
Pine-Richland celebrates section title with walk-off win over rival North Allegheny
Pine-Richland had already left the bases loaded three times, but that’s not what Jake Waddell was thinking about when he came to the plate in seventh. “You’ve got to have a next-pitch mentality,” said Waddell, who drove in the winning run with a two-out, bases-loaded single as Pine-Richland outlasted rival...
High school roundup for May 2, 2024: Central Catholic sweeps Canon-McMillan, clinches playoff spot
CJ Proch doubled, homered and drove in five runs as Central Catholic defeated Canon-McMillan, 6-4, to clinch the fourth and final WPIAL playoff spot in Section 2-6A baseball Thursday. Adam Sarkis added two hits and an RBI for the Vikings (10-9, 7-8). Sam Meredith went 3 for 3 with three...
Hempfield wins sloppy game vs. Norwin with walk-off single
A cloud of dust settling around him after an exciting finish on his home baseball diamond, Adam Hess was preparing to rake the pitcher’s mound when he was called over for an interview. He set down the rake and jogged toward the dugout. Moments earlier, Hempfield walked off Norwin. Before...
Plum Mustang mountain bike team gears up for season of growth, camaraderie
Jim Yurek gets excited when talking about the continued growth of the Plum Mustang mountain bike team. “I love what this team has done for my sons and what it still does for my daughter,” said Yurek, a retired police officer who runs The Bike Lab shop in Plum and...
Fox Chapel, Plum baseball teams meet again with high stakes
It is becoming an annual tradition that the Fox Chapel and Plum baseball teams meet in the final section series with something on the line. This is the fourth year in a row that there’s playoff implications for their two-game set. Fox Chapel and Plum are 8-2 in Section 1-5A,...
Norwin baseball team rides up-and-down regular season into playoffs
A three-game losing streak — the product of a Section 2-6A sweep by Mt. Lebanon — stung in the short term, but it did not deter Norwin baseball from its long-range goals. After the Knights lost Game 3 at home, second-year coach Craig Spisak held his chin high and showed...
Penn-Trafford boys track team advances to WPIAL finals after mistake corrected
Penn-Trafford track and field coach Eric Reger had just put his children to bed about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when he got a text from team captain Matt Sarnowski. “I think they made a mistake,” it read. “I was going over the scoring, and I have us winning.” Reger quickly pulled...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Mt. Pleasant vaults into 1st place
Mt. Pleasant lost its first three games of the season while playing at the Ripken Experience at Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Vikings left the beach, and the setbacks, in the rearview mirror. They only lost one of their next 12 games and vaulted into first place in Section 4-3A with...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for May 1, 2024
High schools Baseball Wednesday’s results Class 6A Section 2 Hempfield 14, Norwin 3 Class 5A Section 1 Fox Chapel 7, Armstrong 4 Section 2 Connellsville 4, Peters Township 2 Class 4A Section 2 Belle Vernon 6, Latrobe 5 Class 3A Section 3 Valley 9, Derry 6 Section 4 Mt. Pleasant...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 2, 2024: Winner takes all when North Allegheny, Pine-Richland meet
One game will decide a section championship while another will determine a playoff spot. WPIAL Class 6A baseball concludes Thursday with two postseason-style matchups. The Section 1 crown will be determined when North Allegheny visits Pine-Richland. The two district powers were tied for first place coming into this week’s section...
High school roundup for May 1, 2024: Belle Vernon walks off Latrobe to win section title
Adam LaCarte hit a walk-off RBI single and also recorded the final two outs of the top of the seventh to earn the win on the mound as Belle Vernon beat Latrobe, 6-5, to clinch the Section 2-4A baseball title Wednesday. Connor Bergman had two hits and an RBI for...
Trib 10: Changes afoot after No. 1 baseball, softball teams suffer 1st losses
The first power rankings in May have a different look for district baseball teams while the song remains the same in the softball Trib 10. Several top teams losing one or two games this past week caused a shuffling of the deck in the baseball rankings with Montour and Shaler...
WPIAL clinched: Softball playoff qualifiers through May 1, 2024
The WPIAL softball playoff field is filling up as the regular season winds down. Coverage of the 2024 WPIAL softball playoffs here on Trib HSSN starts with the brackets being unveiled during the Playoff Pairings Show on Thursday, May 9. The top four teams in each section qualify for the...
WPIAL track notebook: Depth key in Norwin’s success
The Norwin boys and girls track and field teams are headed back to the WPIAL Class 3A team championship Tuesday at West Mifflin. The boys defeated Kiski Area (131-19), Connellsville (107-38) and Baldwin (119.5-30.50) in the semifinals Wednesday. Connellsville finished second by defeating Kiski Area (93-57) and Baldwin (76-74). The...
Top WPIAL track & field performances as of May 1, 2024
Here are the top running times, throwing distance and jumping distances in Pennsylvania this season. Also included are the top three WPIAL and City League athletes and their rankings in the state. WPIAL/City League best Boys (Times and distances are what have been reported to PennTrackXC MileSplit by May 1.)...
3-point takedown, rule changes to promote offense coming to high school wrestling
When the National Federation of State High School Associations announced rule changes in wrestling last week, official Tom Manns was thrilled. “It’s going to make things a lot simpler to call,” Manns said. “I’m all for it.” Beginning next season, wrestlers will be considered in bounds with only one point...
Hempfield softball team dominates No. 1 Seneca Valley
Hempfield went from the wrong end of a no-hitter to the right end of a no-doubter. Nobody saw this coming. In quite the turn of events, the second-ranked Lady Spartans had their way with No. 1 Seneca Valley in their Class 6A softball section rematch Wednesday, spraying base hits all...
Freshman pitcher Shelby Novak helps Burrell softball lock up 18th straight playoff appearance
Shelby Novak said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue pitching. She had battled in the circle since she was 7 and was there in junior high and travel softball. “I wanted to quit pitching and just be an outfielder because I was thinking down the road for college,...
Westmoreland County high school softball notebook: Hempfield has pair of aces
Hempfield softball has a number of talented hitters. In fact, 1 though 9 in the batting order can connect at any time. There are days when coach Tina Madison has an embarrassment of riches on her lineup card. But the Spartans also have pitching depth. Junior Riley Miller is tremendous,...
Franklin Regional softball gets locked in late in season
As he watched the WPIAL softball regular season wind into its final two weeks, Jim Armstrong saw a change in his team. The Franklin Regional coach noticed a more positive vibe in the dugout. Players were showing more emotion during big innings, more enthusiasm for fellow hitters and even more...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for April 30, 2024
High schools Baseball Tuesday’s results Class 6A Section 1 North Allegheny 5, Pine-Richland 3 Seneca Valley 4, Butler 2 Section 2 Mt. Lebanon 9, Baldwin 1 Central Catholic 12, Canon-McMillan 2 Hempfield at Norwin, ppd. Class 5A Section 1 Armstrong at Fox Chapel, ppd. Penn-Trafford 10, Gateway 1 Plum 12,...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on May 1, 2024: Belle Vernon, Latrobe to play for section title
It was the game that would not end. Belle Vernon scored a run in the top of the seventh inning Monday night to tie its Section 2-4A baseball showdown game with Latrobe, 3-3. The teams then played four more tense scoreless innings before senior Adam LaCarte scored the go-ahead run...
