High School category, Page 278
Norwin’s Melani Schmidt shines at WCCA track & field championship
Norwin junior Melani Schmidt had a great day at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association track and field championship Thursday at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium. It was almost a fantastic day. She was .003 of second from winning four gold medals at the annual event. She won the 200- and 400-meter runs...
WPIAL reveals brackets for 2024 team track championships
The North Allegheny boys and girls will try to repeat as WPIAL champions when the track and field team playoffs start Tuesday. The Tigers swept the WPIAL Class 3A titles a year ago, while the Quaker Valley girls and Greensburg Central Catholic boys will try to repeat as 2A champions....
Knoch softball team prepares for huge section showdown
When Knoch softball coach Chris Gardner was asked in a preseason questionnaire what his expectations were for this season, his response was simple and to the point. “Win the section,” he said. A month and a half after that direct appraisal, Gardner’s Knights are on the cusp of an attempt...
Ace David Shields pitches Mt. Lebanon to sweep of Hempfield, 2-game section lead
Mt. Lebanon senior David Shields missed the first few weeks of the season battling mononucleosis, a viral infection that causes a sore throat and fever, often in young adults. While one of the top high school baseball players in the state is just now working back to feeling like himself,...
Norwin completes much-needed sweep of Central Catholic
In an 8-4 victory over Central Catholic that gave Norwin its first three-game Section 2-6A sweep of the WPIAL baseball season, Nate Silberman may have epitomized the Knights’ push for a playoff spot, maybe even their identity, with one swing of the bat and a mad dash around the bases....
Youthful lineup delivering for Leechburg baseball team
Leechburg baseball coach Heath Shimer never has had a roster with no seniors before this season, but he didn’t change the goals he had for his team. He wants his Blue Devils to compete for section and WPIAL titles. Shimer has watched his team grow up as the season has...
Mt. Pleasant softball stays in section playoff race with shutout win over Yough
Behind the two-hit pitching of GiGi Stanek, the Mt. Pleasant softball team defeated visiting Yough, 5-0, on Thursday for its third straight win, which vaulted them back into the WPIAL playoff picture. Mt. Pleasant (9-6, 4-4) used a five-run fifth inning and stellar defense to hold the Cougars at bay...
North Allegheny, Sewickley Academy earn No. 1 seeds for WPIAL boys team tennis tournament
North Allegheny and Sewickley Academy drew No. 1 seeds for the WPIAL boys team tennis tournament when brackets were released Thursday. North Allegheny (12-0) was seeded first in Class 3A ahead of No. 2 Gateway (9-0), No. 3 Upper St. Clair (10-1) and No. 4 Fox Chapel (9-1). Gateway defeated...
Everything clicking for Penn-Trafford baseball on 9-game winning streak
When Lou Cortazzo decided he wanted the interim tag removed from his name and officially became the coach of the Penn-Trafford baseball team, everything started to click. The move felt right. Of course, Cortazzo had to act fast. He had been in rain delays longer than the time it took...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Belle Vernon ace has been ‘lights out’
When senior Colton Lee pitches, Belle Vernon baseball fans show up to watch. Lee is having an impressive spring on the mound for the Leopards (10-2, 7-1), who are in contention for the Section 2-4A title. They trail Latrobe (11-2, 8-0) by one game. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound left-hander is 4-0...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for April 24, 2024
High schools Baseball Wednesday’s results Class 3A Section 1 Beaver Falls 15, Mohawk 1 Nonsection Belle Vernon 13, Thomas Jefferson 5 Brentwood 10, Brashear 9 Ellwood City 10, Laurel 8 Valley 6, Greensburg Salem 2 Thursday’s schedule Class 6A Section 1 Allderdice at Butler, 7 p.m. Seneca Valley at North...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 25, 2024: Surging Mt. Lebanon looks to sweep
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Mt. Lebanon baseball teams starts slow, then hits its stride and runs amok in Class 6A. In 2022, the Blue Devils started the season 1-4 and ended up defeating rival Upper St. Clair to win the WPIAL crown. A year ago,...
High school roundup for April 24, 2024: Plum knocks off Shaler
Riley Stephans struck out nine and allowed one unearned run in seven innings to lead Plum to a 4-1 win over Shaler in Section 1-5A softball Wednesday. Liana Yusko crushed a solo homer in the first and finished with two RBIs and Danielle Pici went 2 for 4 with an...
Westmoreland softball notebook: Hempfield comes back strong
Hempfield put together quite a four-game stretch last week — a positive and productive answer to its first loss of the season. After dropping a 2-0 decision to Seneca Valley in a game where they were no-hit, the Spartans went 4-0 last week and outscored their opponents 42-0. Hempfield labeled...
Trib 10: Busy schedules shake up baseball, softball power rankings
April began with two weeks of wet, cold and snowy conditions that kept a lot of WPIAL baseball and softball teams indoors. However, you blink in April and the weather can change very quickly. Thus Mother Nature has been kind the last two weeks, allowing for plenty of district teams...
WPIAL clinched: Softball playoff qualifiers through April 24, 2024
The WPIAL softball playoff field is starting to fill up as the regular season winds down. Coverage of the 2024 WPIAL softball playoffs here on TribHSSN.TribLive.com starts with the brackets being unveiled during the Playoff Pairings Show on Thursday, May 9. The top four teams in each section qualify for...
Franklin Regional fends off Latrobe in section slugfest
Franklin Regional measured up in its latest softball victory. Toryn Fulton launched a towering, opposite-field home run in the bottom of the first inning that traveled around 200 feet. In the second, third baseman Ceana Copeland made a laser throw 60 feet across the diamond to complete a double play....
New Gateway duo wins WPIAL doubles title; Montour team makes school history
When Gateway junior Adam Memije advanced to the WPIAL Class 3A singles championship match two weeks ago and qualified for the PIAA tournament, and fellow Gators junior Zidaan Hassan lost in the semifinals, Hassan knew immediately that to win a second straight WPIAL doubles title, he would have to do...
Freeport tightens race in softball Section 1-3A with win over 1st-place Burrell
With the Section 1-3A title race heating up down the stretch, Freeport felt it was the perfect time to stir the embers a little more. As section-leading Burrell made the trip to Freeport Community Park, the Yellowjackets tightened the battle for first after defeating the Bucs, 5-2, on Wednesday. Freeport...
Monessen avenges loss to Leechburg to improve playoff position
Monessen put together a strong performance and took advantage of mistakes to pick up an important 9-4 win over Leechburg in Section 3-A softball play Wednesday. Kendra Jones, Joey Hurst, Jaz’mein Parker and Bry’Aunna Cook drove in runs for the Greyhounds (5-5, 5-4). Parker had two of Monessen’s eight hits....
Aliquippa injunction hearing vs. PIAA takes 3-week pause with executive director testifying
If the PIAA competitive-balance rule were nullified, “it would probably cause chaos,” the PIAA’s top administrator said Wednesday during testimony in a Beaver County courtroom. Schools are already planning homecoming celebrations and other special nights based on fall sports schedules, said PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi, who insisted that those...
With ace Cheyenne Piper putting up zeroes, Ligonier Valley jumps back into contention
Section 3-3A softball coaches are wary of the movement on Cheyenne Piper’s pitches. The spin. The rise and drop. The changes in speed. Piper’s team also has thrown a curveball at opponents with a resounding message that has reverberated through the standings and painted the outside corner: “Remember us?” Piper,...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 24, 2024: Section contenders square off in 3A softball
Midweek features plenty of section softball contests around the WPIAL as the sands of time slide through the remaining days of the regular season. The top four teams in Section 1-3A square off Wednesday. Burrell (6-1, 8-3) is even in the loss column with Avonworth (4-1, 6-3) coming into the...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for April 23, 2024
High schools Baseball Tuesday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Butler 4, Allderdice 3 Butler 14, Allderdice 8 Seneca Valley 8, North Allegheny 7 Section 2 Canon-McMillan 10, Baldwin 0 Mt. Lebanon 9, Hempfield 4 Norwin 5, Central Catholic 4 Class 5A Section 1 Franklin Regional 6, Armstrong 2 Penn-Trafford 15,...
23 WPIAL players picked to 2024 all-state boys basketball team, including 2 players of the year
A pair of WPIAL boys basketball standouts were recognized as players of the year in Pennsylvania on Tuesday in a statewide vote of media members. Lincoln Park senior Brandin Cummings, a Pitt recruit, was named the Class 4A Player of the Year after helping Lincoln Park (28-3) win WPIAL and...
