High School category, Page 671
Clutch efforts in close games help Pine-Richland softball to 5-1 start
Natalie Zentz and Alexia Brown both pointed to the bond within the Pine-Richland softball team as one of the factors to their early season success. While the team is close off the field, they’re pulling together between the lines as well. The Rams have been solid in all three phases...
Pine-Richland baseball team builds confidence after sweeping Seneca Valley
Pine-Richland baseball has a bunch of underclassmen in the lineup, but the Rams also have a lot of fight. Proof of their resilience was on display in a big sweep of Seneca Valley April 12 and 13. It’s not just that they won. It’s how they did it. They earned...
Bethel Park girls lacrosse aims to defend section championship
More of the same. Bethel Park’s girls lacrosse team last year won its first section championship since 2012. And it was a junior-driven squad. The Black Hawks, with nine seniors on this year’s team, aim to make another strong push for a section title in 2022, followed by a deep...
Senior-heavy Bethel Park boys lacrosse ready to make postseason run
Bethel Park’s boys lacrosse team placed third in Section 1-3A at 6-2 last season, behind only Mt. Lebanon (8-0) and Upper St. Clair (7-1). The Black Hawks edged Fox Chapel, 5-4, in the WPIAL first round before losing a 14-7 decision to North Allegheny to finish 10-6 overall. “I think...
Plum baseball rebounds after dropping series to Mars
The Plum and Mars baseball teams set the standard for close and competitive games the past two seasons. That was evident when the Section 2-5A rivals met April 12 and 13. The Mustangs swept the Planets last year — both games ending in one-run results — and Mars returned the...
Early season trip gets title defense off to good start for North Hills softball
Forty-two years ago, Dolly Parton released the hit song “9 to 5.” In the song, Parton sings, “Well you got dreams and you know they matter.” The North Hills softball team, which started its defense of its 2021 Class 5A softball title just minutes from Parton’s hometown, has just that...
North Hills baseball hoping bats heat up with weather
Jon Pedrosky didn’t have to look far for his newest job. Pedrosky, a psychology teacher at North Hills, is in his first season as head coach of the school’s baseball team. “I was thinking about taking a couple of years off, and then this job opened up and it was...
North Allegheny notebook: Boys volleyball keeps section streak going
The top-ranked North Allegheny boys volleyball team scored a 3-0 victory over Fox Chapel on April 19. It was the Tigers’ 69th straight win in section play. The 25-10, 25-12, 25-21 victory helped NA improve to 4-0 overall and in Section 2-3A. Nico Sfeir had five kills, Caleb Schall had...
Murrysville Star notebook: DiFalco picks up WPIAL scholar-athlete honor
Anthony DiFalco’s goals aren’t just limited to the soccer field. The Franklin Regional star also excels in the classroom. The WPIAL announced winners of its James Collins Scholar-Athlete Awards and DiFalco was a recipient. Each will receive a $1,000 scholarship. DiFalco was a three-time All-American, three-time All-Region and three-time all-state...
Hampton sophomore skates to national hockey championship
Hampton sophomore Sean Sullivan felt a range of emotions after the Steel City Ice Renegades won a 2022 USA Hockey 16U national championship earlier this month. “It was crazy,” he said. “It was awesome.” Sullivan was part of the Harmarville-based travel team that topped the Chicago Hawks, 2-0, in the...
Pair of Hampton standouts win WPIAL scholar-athlete awards
A banner year for Hampton athletics just got even more special. Hampton volleyball standout Kai Herchenroether and state champion swimmer Will Retsch were among 20 WPIAL student-athletes to be named James Collins Scholar-Athlete award winners April 13. The seniors were selected from a pool of 142 nominees from 80 schools,...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for April 22, 2022
High schools Baseball Friday’s schedule Class 6A Section 1 North Allegheny 13, Central Catholic 7 Section 2 Upper St. Clair 2, Baldwin 1 Canon-McMillan 4, Norwin 1 Hempfield 11, Mt. Lebanon 10 Class 5A Section 3 North Hills 3, Moon 0 South Fayette 8, Shaler 3 West Allegheny 1, Chartiers...
Home team, Indiana runner star at Butler Invitational
The host team jumped on the competition to win the team title at the Butler Invitational on Friday. Alli Morrow won the long jump with a leap of 17-10 and Megan Baggetta hit 37-3 in the triple jump to lead Butler to a first-place finish in the girls team competition....
High school roundup for April 22, 2022: North Allegheny mounts massive comeback to beat Central Catholic
Trailing 7-1 after four innings, North Allegheny scored six runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth to pull off an improbable 13-7 victory over Central Catholic in Section 1-6A baseball Friday night. The Tigers (6-3, 4-2) took the lead on a bases-loaded walk by Ian Zahorchak in...
No 1. West Greene softball team routs No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic
West Greene players and their coach, Billy Simms, hung out in a dusty gravel parking lot near the Greensburg Central Catholic softball field Friday afternoon waiting for their ride home. Simms sat Indian style as he tallied up the scorebook while players giggled and passed the time. The fact that...
Highlands softball shakes off rust, builds momentum with win over Freeport
The Highlands softball team returned to game action Friday after a nine-day, weather-related layoff, and it put a second win on the board against Section 1-4A rival Freeport. Playing just their second home game of the season, the Golden Rams got solo home runs from Jaycee Haidze and Maera Williams...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 23, 2022: Top 2 teams in Class 4A softball to meet
A long and soggy week of WPIAL softball will conclude on a bright note with the sun shining on one of the top Class 4A game to this point in the season. No. 1 Beaver visits No. 2 Montour at high noon Saturday with first place in Section 3-4A up...
Gino Palmosina resigns at Canevin weeks after winning PIAA boys basketball title
Boys basketball coach Gino Palmosina is a candidate for a job elsewhere, so he resigned Thursday from alma mater Bishop Canevin, where he won WPIAL and state titles this winter. Palmosina said he resigned “to explore another opportunity,” but for now declined to say where he might be headed next....
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 22, 2022: Slugging softball teams to square off
Following a wet week and assuming the fields are playable, it will be a busy Friday on the diamonds in both WPIAL softball and baseball. One of the top games in the district is a battle for first place in Section 4-5A softball as Trinity visits West Allegheny. Both teams...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for April 21, 2022
High schools Baseball Thursday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Seneca Valley 9, Allderdice 2 Pine-Richland 2, Butler 0 Central Catholic at North Allegheny, ppd. Section 2 Canon-McMillan at Norwin, ppd. Mt. Lebanon at Hempfield, ppd. Upper St. Clair at Baldwin, ppd. Class 5A Section 1 Penn-Trafford at Kiski Area, ppd....
High school roundup for April 21, 2022: Pine-Richland escapes jam in 7th, beats Butler
Jacob McGuire pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, to lead Pine-Richland to a 2-0 victory over Butler in Section 1-6A baseball Thursday night. Tristan Farrar got the final two outs to earn the save, working out of a bases-loaded jam for the Rams (5-6, 4-2)....
Latrobe softball wins big section showdown with Thomas Jefferson
Latrobe earned a section softball split with first-place Thomas Jefferson on the strength of three factors: 1. Sound pitching, 2. Crisp defense and 3. Power hitting. That trio can win a lot of games. Or, maybe it was three other things that powered the Wildcats. “I always say to be...
Construction, weather, youth can’t keep Leechburg baseball from solid start
Several weeks ago, the Leechburg High School baseball team was searching for a place to play its home games after the renovation timetable at the West Leechburg field slowed. Now, the Blue Devils are just looking to get a game in anywhere. Leechburg’s game with Riverview was postponed for the...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: 3-game series on horizon for Hempfield, Norwin
Teams are still adjusting to playing two-game series on back-to-back days, but the WPIAL is switching to a new format next season. There will be three-game series in the largest classification, which fields the fewest teams. Class 6A will play three games in a row against each section opponent, a...
Senior’s return gives energy boost to Hempfield baseball
Joe Fiedor missed most of the basketball season for Hempfield with a mysterious injury he sustained in a home game against Penn-Trafford. It was a big hit to the Spartans’ backcourt. The strange, noncontact injury was later diagnosed: A piece of cartilage broke off under his kneecap and caused discomfort....
