Dave Mackall stories, Page 27

As backyard brawls go, this one went overtime. Branden Crosby’s 27-yard screen pass to Logan Gustafson gave Latrobe the go-ahead touchdown in the extra session, and the Class 5A Wildcats came away with a 20-14, season-opening road victory over Class 3A No. 5 Derry on Friday night. The victory ended...

If you notice the Hempfield girls soccer team getting defensive, it’s nothing personal. The Spartans simply don’t want opposing teams to score. “One thing we can definitely improve on is our defensive look,” Hempfield coach Adam Shaffer said. “The phrase we’ve literally been using is, ‘The goals will come.’ ”...

It has been eight years since the Hempfield boys team tasted playoff soccer, and that season ended in a Class 4A, first-round loss to Upper St. Clair. The Spartans, at least, were in the hunt. But there’s been nothing much to show since that 2011 season. “They’ve struggled here. It’s...

How do you erase the memory of a sad season? Turn around the record, of course. Jake Johnson and the Mt. Pleasant Vikings are hoping to begin that process in their high school football opener Friday night against Southmoreland. “We all know we don’t want to feel like we did...

A stretch of productive seasons that began shortly after the turn of the century earned Mt. Pleasant repeated postseason trips before the Vikings’ fortunes went south the past two years. In other words, it’s time to refocus. “We want to make sure the culture is right after our disappointing year...

Some time ago, when Dave Keefer was an assistant football coach at Central Catholic, he received a bit of insight from WPIAL coaching legend Art Walker Sr. And though he didn’t particularly dwell on it at the time, it has stuck with him since: “There’s no substitution for experience.” Years...

Standing on the edge of a field at the athletics complex behind Latrobe High School, Wildcats football coach Jason Marucco couldn’t help but wonder what was in store for the upcoming season. So many questions. Will Latrobe repeat a trip to the WPIAL playoffs, where it made a return in...

A.J. Rock doesn’t hold back his emotions this preseason as he speaks with great conviction about the school’s playoff-hungry football team, insisting the Wildcats are out to change their second-fiddle image. He believes the process already has begun. Latrobe posted four victories in 2018 for a second consecutive season, qualifying...

High school football training camps officially began Monday, but for Greensburg Salem’s Golden Lions, the season started the minute the 2018 campaign concluded with a first-round WPIAL playoff loss to South Fayette. It was the Lions’ first postseason appearance in seven years, and they’re hungry to extend this year’s season...

If Dan Day, one of the first people to play football at Seton Hill, becomes a successful coach at his alma mater — something along the lines of what he did as a senior offensive lineman in 2008, captaining the Griffins during a march to their only postseason appearance —...

Dajauhn Hertzog’s glove was the first one to go. Then, the rest of Hempfield East’s players heaved their mitts as high as they could before rallying around their winning relief pitcher to celebrate. It took 11 innings, but the feeling of winning a second consecutive Pennsylvania American Legion Region 7...

A portable tent buckled under forceful wind gusts as rain began to fall in sheets Monday at Latrobe High School, prompting a lengthy delay at the Region 7 tournament of the Pennsylvania American Legion baseball playoffs. It was a scene in stark contrast to the calm, steamy weather conditions that...

All along this season, Andrew Rosenberg and his Hempfield East teammates have noticed the difference. Now that they’ve opened defense of their American Legion Baseball Region 7 championship with a 14-4 rout of Punxsutawney on Friday at Latrobe Legion-Keener Field, they appear hungrier than ever. Hempfield East, which lost to...

A day after Unity was beaten in the final at-bat by league-leading Hempfield East in a District 31 American Legion baseball game at Pitt-Greensburg, Unity’s players began to trickle onto Whitney Field for a workout, appearing eager to move on. “This is your team. It’s not for me,” said Unity...

LORETTO — Bob Kalp forced a smile not long after his Hempfield softball team fell just short of yet another trip to the state finals. Perhaps the longtime Hall of Fame-caliber coach — Hempfield’s field already has been named for him — somehow was at peace Tuesday despite a 4-1...

Unlike other Westmoreland County softball teams with recent appearances in the PIAA playoffs — Hempfield, Mt. Pleasant, Valley and Yough have won state championships this decade — Penn-Trafford is new to the scene. The Warriors, with just one previous trip to the state tournament back in 1990, have burst into...

When Penn-Trafford learned its PIAA quarterfinal opponent after a Class 5A first-round victory earlier this week, the players were giddy. It was no disrespect to West Allegheny, the three-time defending WPIAL champion, but rather the opposite, said sophomore slugger Brooke Cleland, who belted two home runs to lead Penn-Trafford to...

The second time around was bittersweet for California baseball coach Lou Pasquale, who first experienced a WPIAL championship as a Trojans assistant in 2017 before leading the team to a title Tuesday as its head coach. Top-seeded California held off No. 3 Union, 9-6, in the Class A championship game...

FISHERTOWN — Ligonier Valley softball fans, agonizing with each run allowed by their beloved Rams on Thursday, momentarily were distracted from the reality of a soon-to-be, season-ending 7-1 loss to top-seeded Chestnut Ridge in the District 5/6 Class 3A semifinals. It was a welcome reprieve on an otherwise miserable trip...

If Scott DeBerry thought he might be dreaming Wednesday afternoon, the ice-water bath that drenched the Laurel Highlands baseball coach surely felt real following the Mustangs’ 4-1 upset of Franklin Regional in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals at West Mifflin. Indeed, DeBerry wasn’t dreaming. “I think I needed that,” he...

It took 10 innings for Ligonier Valley to pass its first test in the District 5/6 softball playoffs after it was looking like the Rams didn’t have a prayer. Junior Myrna Breegle said a divine intervention Monday likely enabled No. 4 seed Ligonier Valley to come away with an improbable...

Shades of that PIAA championship victory two years ago kept creeping into Carolyn Alincic’s mind Wednesday as the Mt. Pleasant right-hander navigated her way through another tight game. This was playoff softball at midseason, the top two WPIAL teams in the Trib HSSN Class 4A rankings battling to the wire....

The opportunity to extend its men’s basketball season with a second appearance in the CollegeInsiders.com Postseason Tournament gave Robert Morris something more to play for this year. It lasted two games. The Colonials, who for a fourth year in a row fell short of playing in the Northeast Conference Tournament...

Matty McConnell wasn’t ready to call it his shining moment during a solid, four-year basketball career at Robert Morris, but his third consecutive 3-point shot in an overtime victory Tuesday night over Cornell ranks right up there. While Jimmy Boeheim — yes, the son of Syracuse hall of fame coach...

Two-time WPIAL champion Lincoln Park is headed to another state semifinal round in boys basketball. Andre Wilder scored 26 points, including eight during a crucial fourth-quarter run, and Lincoln Park turned back District 6 champion Richland in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals Saturday at Hempfield. It is the Leopards’ eighth...