Michael Love stories, Page 91
Furious rally falls short as Leechburg softball falls to DuBois Central Catholic
Things didn’t start out well for the Leechburg softball team in Monday’s PIAA Class A first-round game against DuBois Central Catholic at Heindl Field in DuBois. The District 9 champion Cardinals scored 13 runs over the first two innings and kept the Blue Devils off the scoreboard. Leechburg didn’t fold...
Highlands keeps making history, wins 1st PIAA playoff game
Already in uncharted territory, the Highlands softball team added to its historic season Monday against Clearfield in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. The Golden Rams, playing in the first state playoff game in program history, scored runs in the third and fourth, three more in the...
Leechburg softball team ready for 2019 PIAA rematch
For the second time in as many seasons, the Leechburg softball team survived a pressure situation in the WPIAL consolation final to earn a trip the PIAA playoffs. This time, South Side fell victim to a Blue Devils team that roared back from a tough Class 1A semifinal loss. Leechburg’s...
Gateway seniors cap high school career at East-West all-star game
Gateway football seniors Jacques Taylor and Chamor Price teamed up one final time May 30 to cap their high school careers in the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East-West Football Classic at Landis Field in Harrisburg. While the West team didn’t come out on top — the East scored a...
Highlands softball team hopes to continue brilliant season in PIAA playoffsVideo
This been a season of firsts for the Highlands softball team. The Golden Rams capped the regular season with their first section championship since 2005 and secured their first playoff victory since that same season. Highlands played in its first WPIAL semifinal May 26 and competed in its inaugural WPIAL...
Beaver Area shakes off Highlands rally, walks off with WPIAL softball crown
The first three WPIAL softball championship games played at Cal (Pa.) on Wednesday ended by way of the mercy rule, with the winning teams scoring 17, 15 and 12 runs. The nightcap between Highlands and Beaver Area for the Class 4A title was much closer. In a pitchers’ duel between...
Fox Chapel’s Skirboll, Highlands’ Bonnett ready for Olympic trials
Zoe Skirboll was among the spectators at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb., and she watched the best in the nation compete for spots on the team that competed a month later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “It was breathtaking,” said Skirboll, an Aspinwall resident. “I had...
South Fayette grads help James Madison softball reach NCAA Women’s College World Series
The 2021 James Madison softball team has made history with its first-ever trip to the NCAA Women’s College World Series, and two South Fayette graduates, Sara Jubas and Lauren Bernett, have helped the Dukes in their journey to Oklahoma City. JMU took two of three games in a best-of-three Columbia...
WPIAL Class 4A softball championship preview: Highlands vs. Beaver
2-Beaver (16-0) vs. 5-Highlands (16-4-1) 6:45 p.m. today at Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) Road to the finals • Beaver — After receiving a bye into the quarterfinals, the Bobcats began their postseason journey with a 7-3 victory over No. 7 Yough behind a pair of RBIs from Anna Blum and...
WPIAL Class 5A softball championship preview: North Hills vs. Armstrong
Softball Class 5A 7-Armstrong (15-4) vs. 8-North Hills (15-5) 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) Road to the finals • Armstrong — The River Hawks came out strong in the first round, scoring 16 runs in a 16-3 rout of No. 10 South Fayette. They continued to roll...
Gateway grad Dylan Urban earns AMCC postseason honors at La Roche
Dylan Urban made the most of his senior season with the La Roche baseball team. The Gateway graduate and Redhawks center fielder was selected the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference all-star first team after a season in which he finished third on the team in batting with a .366 average. In...
Gateway boys volleyball looks toward future with talented returning lineup
The Gateway boys volleyball team was the underdog as the No. 14 seed when it traveled to Ambridge on May 18 to take on the No. 3 Bridgers, WPIAL champions in 2018 and ’19, in the first round of this year’s Class AA tournament. Gators coach Phil Randolph said the...
Highlands softball team enjoys rest after beating No. 1 seed
Maera Williams arrived to school Thursday and soon was greeted with a plethora of well-wishes and congratulations for her and her Highlands softball teammates. Roughly 12 hours earlier, the Golden Rams rallied past top-seeded Elizabeth Forward, 6-4, in eight innings in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals and earned the program’s...
Successful season ends early for Plum baseball
The Plum baseball team had different designs on the 2021 WPIAL postseason than what played out May 19 against Latrobe in a WPIAL first-round game at Norwin. The Wildcats stunned the fifth-seeded Mustangs by jumping out to a 7-1 lead after two innings. Plum coach Carl Vollmer appreciated the fight...
Plum native Bjorn Fratangelo qualifies for French OpenVideo
Plum native Bjorn Fratangelo will play in this year’s French Open after winning a qualifier Thursday in Paris. The nine-year pro secured his spot with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over Australia’s Alexsandar Vukic. Fratangelo, 27, will enter his 11th Grand Slam tournament. He is 2-10 in 12 Grand Slam...
A-K Valley contingent takes medal aspirations into Class AAA state meet
The Kiski Area girls 3,200-meter relay knocked nearly 15 seconds off its seed time at last week’s WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships at Slippery Rock. Their time of 9:31.92 put the quartet of seniors Jordan Fairman and Emily Schrag, junior Payton Sullivan and freshman Eliza Miller in fourth...
North Allegheny fends off Seneca Valley challenge, wins 4th straight WPIAL boys volleyball crownVideo
The North Allegheny boys volleyball team defeated section rival Seneca Valley twice in the regular season, and it sought to add a third victory as the Tigers and Raiders met Wednesday evening to decide the WPIAL Class AAA title at Fox Chapel. Seneca Valley, on the other hand, hoped to...
Seton LaSalle captures program’s 1st WPIAL boys volleyball championshipVideo
A first-time WPIAL champion was crowned as North Catholic and Seton LaSalle met Wednesday to decide the Class AA boys volleyball title at Fox Chapel. The teams had split two nonsection matches in the regular season. The rubber match went the way of the Rebels. Paced by a dominant performance...
Deer Lakes’ Carson McCoy among A-K Valley athletes ready for state track meet
Deer Lakes’ Carson McCoy knows the feeling of running at the PIAA Class AA track and field championships. As a freshman in 2019, he took part in the 800 meters at Shippensburg and placed 21st. Now, McCoy is one of the hunted at states as the No. 2 seed for...
A-K Valley softball playoff capsules: Games for May 27, 2021
Thursday’s games Class A Third-place consolation 2-Leechburg (12-5) vs. 4-South Side (12-4) 4 p.m. at Mars Coaches: Debbie Fleming, Leechburg; Amy Pieto, South Side What’s at stake: The winner qualifies for the PIAA playoffs, and the loser is done for the season. Players to watch: Madison Hanan, Sr., INF, Leechburg;...
Union takes down Leechburg, advances to WPIAL Class A title game
The Union softball team has another crack at unseating West Greene from its WPIAL Class A throne. The Scotties advanced to next week’s championship game at Cal U. with Tuesday’s 7-2 semifinal victory over Leechburg at Mars. “This is fantastic,” Union coach Doug Fisher said of his team’s run to...
Walk-off win propels Armstrong softball to Class 5A title game
The Armstrong softball team hit eight home runs and scored 27 runs over its first two WPIAL Class 5A playoff victories. It was a different offensive story Tuesday against Fox Chapel in a semifinal game at Mars. The No. 7 River Hawks found runs at more of a premium against...
Elizabeth Forward hits 3 home runs, rallies past Knoch in Class 4A quarterfinal
Elizabeth Forward, the top seed in the WPIAL Class 4A softball playoffs, hit 15 home runs in 17 regular season games. The Warriors added three to that total Monday in a 7-5 come-from-behind victory over No. 8 Knoch in a quarterfinal game at Plum. “We can hit the long ball...
West Mifflin rallies past Burrell in Class 4A softball
The West Mifflin softball team’s return to Plum was a successful one. The Titans fell to Indiana on an extra-inning walk-off at Plum in the first round of the 2018 WPIAL Class 4A playoff. On Monday, West Mifflin rallied from a two-run first-inning deficit to top Burrell, 6-2, in a...
A-K Valley softball playoff capsules: Games for Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Class A Tuesday 2-Leechburg (12-4) vs. 3-Union (11-7) 4 p.m. at Mars Coaches: Debbie Young, Leechburg; Fred Settle, Union Winner plays: Winner of 1-West Greene (16-2) vs. 4-South Side Area (12-3) in championship game June 2 or 3 at California University of Pa. Players to watch: Anna Cibik, Soph., P/1B,...
