Chris Harlan stories, Page 15

Here’s a look back at the biggest high school sports stories of the 2023-24 school year. Oct. 11, 2023 Moon’s Bill Pfeiffer, in his 28th season, became the first girls soccer coach in the WPIAL to win 500 career games. Pfeiffer and the Tigers later celebrated winning a third straight...

The WPIAL must amend its girls basketball section alignment for next season to move Greensburg Central Catholic from Class 2A to 3A. The reigning WPIAL champs were promoted to the higher classification by the PIAA competitive-balance rule. However, that move wasn’t known by the WPIAL administration and basketball committee while...

When Brandon Sensor resigned at Chartiers Valley four months ago, the boys basketball coach insisted that wouldn’t be the end of his coaching journey. His tenure there ended undesirably, but that didn’t mean he’d take just any job. “I wanted the right opportunity,” said Sensor, who believes he has found...

Former Chartiers Valley boys basketball coach Brandon Sensor is close to returning to the WPIAL. Sensor is the recommended candidate to be hired at Shaler, according to the agenda for Wednesday’s school board meeting. He would replace Rob Niederberger, who resigned in April after nine seasons. Shaler is coming off...

The big-school classification in WPIAL boys basketball is getting a little bigger this winter, but not big enough for more than two sections. The addition of Fox Chapel, North Hills, Connellsville, Woodland Hills and Imani Christian gave the WPIAL 16 boys teams in Class 6A, which the basketball committee chose...

The PIAA is taking its legal battle with Aliquippa to Commonwealth Court, hoping to undo a Beaver County judge’s ruling that says the Quips can play football in Class 4A next season. Common Pleas Judge James Ross on Monday denied a request from the PIAA to put his May 23...

STATE COLLEGE — Every bit of momentum was on Neumann-Goretti’s side when Andrew Dankanich bounced a game-ending grand slam off the left-field foul pole, handing Avonworth a 12-0 loss in five innings. What shifted that momentum in the PIAA Class 3A final is maybe up for debate. Avonworth coach Jeff...

STATE COLLEGE — One imperfect inning dashed Eden Christian’s thoughts of playing the spoiler. Instead, Faith Christian scored four runs in the fifth inning and completed a perfect season with a 4-1 victory over Eden Christian in the PIAA Class A final Friday at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano...

STATE COLLEGE — Indiana reached the state finals for the first time, but like the WPIAL championship two weeks earlier, the Little Indians again watched someone else celebrate. Holy Ghost Prep’s Mathew Riendeau lined a seventh-inning double into left field for a walk-off win over Indiana, 6-5, in the PIAA...

The PIAA baseball championships return Thursday and Friday to Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, where the games have been held since 2011. The WPIAL is sending three teams to Happy Valley this season, including Eden Christian in the Class A final. The Warriors are trying to become the...

The PIAA baseball championships return Thursday and Friday to Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, where the games have been held since 2011. The WPIAL is sending three teams to Happy Valley this season, including Avonworth in the Class 3A final. The Antelopes are trying to help the WPIAL...

The PIAA baseball finals return Thursday and Friday to Penn State, the state championship host since 2011. The WPIAL is sending three teams to Happy Valley this season starting with Indiana in the Class 4A final. The Indians are trying to become the third WPIAL team in four years to...

WPIAL basketball standout Meleek Thomas is leaving Lincoln Park to join Overtime Elite, a professional league and academy for 16- to 20-year-olds based in Atlanta. Thomas, a rising senior, is considered a top 10 college recruit in the 2025 class. The 6-foot-4 guard won consecutive WPIAL and PIAA titles at...

HOMER CITY — Extra-inning wins had become Avonworth’s specialty in these playoffs, but the Antelopes weren’t waiting around this time. Leadoff batter Brandon Sapolsky drove the game’s first pitch to the fence for a double, keying a three-run inning as Avonworth took an early lead in a 5-3 win over...

The worst day for any high school baseball coach is cut day, says North Allegheny’s Andrew Heck. That’s when the roster gets whittled down before the season opener. But in his mind, there is also a close second. That’s whenever the season ends short of the state finals. For North...

Former WPIAL baseball player James Meeker, a North Allegheny graduate who got his professional start with the Washington Wild Things, was called up to the major leagues Friday for the first time. The Milwaukee Brewers promoted the right-handed pitcher from Triple-A Nashville, where he was 1-0 this season with a...

Neshannock and Laurel won’t travel far for the next round of the PIAA softball playoffs and neither will Chartiers-Houston or Carmichaels. Those four teams will square off in two all-WPIAL matchups in the state semifinals Monday. Neshannock and Laurel meet at Mohawk while Chartiers-Houston and Carmichaels play at Peterswood Park...

WPIAL baseball teams Avonworth, Eden Christian and Indiana learned the site and time of their state semifinal games when the PIAA released the schedule Friday. The semifinals are Monday. Avonworth’s bus is headed to Homer City, Eden Christian travels to Slippery Rock and Indiana will ride to Bellefonte. The semifinal...

Seneca Valley pitcher Lexie Hames was named Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year on Friday, making her the first WPIAL athlete to win the award in six years. The junior is a two-way standout for the Raiders, who won the WPIAL Class 6A title for the second time in...

Carson Franc kept working on his pitches and believing his time on the mound could come, despite having thrown very few innings all season. The Avonworth sophomore turned out to be right, he was ready and his Antelopes are headed to the state semifinals after grinding out another extra-innings win....

Aliquippa’s Jamar Allen, an all-conference football player who transferred from North Hills, was ruled ineligible Thursday by the WPIAL. The WPIAL held an eligibility hearing for the rising junior and found “the transfer had some athletic intent to it,” WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said. The ruling left Allen ineligible...

The PIAA has announced sites and times for the the state softball quarterfinals with 10 WPIAL teams still in contention for a title. Thursday’s playoff schedule includes two all-WPIAL matchups in a tripleheader at Gateway. In Class 4A, Chartiers Valley plays Elizabeth Forward at 2 p.m., and Bentworth faces Laurel...

The PIAA has announced sites and times for the next round of the state baseball playoffs with only eight WPIAL teams having survived to reach the quarterfinals. The schedule for Thursday includes an all-WPIAL matchup in Class A: Eden Christian faces Avella at Washington & Jefferson’s Ross Memorial Park in...

The WPIAL has finalized its postseason plans for next football season and on Tuesday revealed a new system for choosing wild card teams. Rather than rely on tiebreaking formulas such as Gardner Points, the WPIAL will empower its football committee to choose those at-large qualifiers. That’s a big change since...

The WPIAL released updated football schedules Tuesday that put defending state champion Aliquippa back in Class 4A for next season, but that move also affected about two dozen other schools. The new schedules were issued after a ruling last month by a Beaver County judge. The WPIAL removed the Quips...