Chris Harlan stories, Page 25
No. 12 Shenango credits strength of its section after upset win over No. 5 Valley
Shenango was the underdog on paper as a fourth-place finisher from one section facing the champion of another. But the Wildcats didn’t play like underdogs. Led by junior Joe Campoli, who had an RBI double and scored twice, No. 12 seed Shenango upset No. 5 Valley, 5-3, Tuesday night in...
Chartiers Valley ‘checked all of the boxes’ for new boys basketball coach Corey Dotchin
Corey Dotchin used to listen to podcasts on his drive to basketball practice, but he won’t have the time anymore. “Now I’ll listen to them when I cut the grass,” said Dotchin, who was hired Tuesday night as boys basketball coach at Chartiers Valley, which gives him a much shorter...
Sewickley Academy athletes to play football for Moon under co-op agreement
Sewickley Academy students will be playing football for Moon next fall under a plan the private school announced Tuesday. Pending approval from the WPIAL and PIAA, the schools will form a cooperative sponsorship of a sport — known informally as a co-op — for middle school and high school football...
Chartiers Valley poised to hire Corey Dotchin as boys basketball coach
Former Highlands boys basketball coach Corey Dotchin is poised to take over Chartiers Valley’s program. Dotchin is listed on the Chartiers Valley school board agenda as the recommended candidate to be hired at Tuesday night’s meeting. He went 55-22 in three seasons as Highlands’ coach and spent the previous nine...
Knoch stays patient at plate, rallies past Greensburg Salem in 4A 1st round
Staying patient was Knoch’s winning strategy in a playoff opener against Greensburg Salem, especially after falling behind by three runs early. Knoch drew 10 walks, added four timely hits and capitalized on four errors to rally back and defeat Greensburg Salem, 8-3, in a WPIAL Class 4A first-round game Monday...
WPIAL baseball committee seeds 5A bracket by ‘throwing out the numbers,’ focuses on matchups
The WPIAL for many decades released playoff brackets that had no seed numbers, a tradition that ended several years ago. Now, the top seeds have a No. 1 next to their name, the second seeds have a two and so on. But WPIAL baseball committee chairman Bob Bozzuto said this...
Breaking down the 2024 WPIAL baseball playoffs
Class 6A Favorite: Mt. Lebanon and coach Patt McCloskey are trying to win their third straight WPIAL title. The Blue Devils return senior ace David Shields, a lefty committed to Miami (Fla.) who threw a no-hitter in last year’s finals. Shields is 4-0 with a 0.43 ERA but is not...
WPIAL releases brackets for 2024 baseball playoffs
Defending champions Mt. Lebanon and Riverside were tabbed as favorites to repeat when the WPIAL on Friday released brackets for the upcoming baseball playoffs. Mt. Lebanon was seeded No. 1 in Class 6A and Riverside was first in 3A. The other No. 1 seeds went to West Allegheny in 5A,...
WPIAL bracketology: Don Rebel, Chris Harlan forecast 2024 baseball playoff pairings
The 2024 WPIAL baseball playoff field is set with 77 teams, including all six defending champions: Mt. Lebanon, Shaler, Hopewell, Riverside, Seton LaSalle and Bishop Canevin. The postseason begins next week and concludes with six title games May 28-29 at Wild Things Park in Washington. The brackets will be announced...
Mars, Mt. Lebanon, Shady Side Academy earn No. 1 seeds in 2024 WPIAL lacrosse playoffs
Defending champion Mars, which swept the WPIAL Class 2A lacrosse titles a year ago, will start this season’s playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the boys and girls tournaments. The Mars boys are seven-time defending WPIAL champions, and the girls have won two titles in the past three years....
WPIAL reveals brackets for 2024 softball playoffs
Four defending champions are favored to repeat in the upcoming WPIAL softball playoffs. Reigning champions Hempfield in Class 6A, Avonworth in 3A, Neshannock in 2A and Union in A were among the six teams that received No. 1 seeds when the WPIAL revealed playoff brackets Thursday. The two other top...
WPIAL bracketology: Don Rebel, Chris Harlan forecast the 2024 softball playoff pairings
The 2024 WPIAL softball playoff field is set with 76 teams, including all six defending champions ready to begin playing for gold. The postseason begins next week and concludes with six title games May 29-30 at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.). The brackets will be announced at 2 p.m. Thursday...
Depth carries North Allegheny girls, Drew Griffith leads Butler boys to WPIAL 3A team titles
As a former computer science teacher, North Allegheny coach John Neff built a nifty spreadsheet to keep a running score of the WPIAL team track championship. “This is why it looks like I’m on my phone all the time,” he said with a laugh. When Neff checked the numbers late...
Fox Chapel lefty shuts down Plum as 4-way battle for section title rages on
Fox Chapel lefty Jeremy Haigh worked fast, threw strikes and sometimes bopped along to Plum’s walkup songs. There was no doubt Haigh had found his groove. The junior needed fewer than 80 pitches to finish off a dominant one-hitter Monday afternoon as Fox Chapel strengthened its section title hopes with...
WPIAL to hold eligibility hearing for Aliquippa football transfer Jamar Allen
The WPIAL will hold an eligibility hearing for Aliquippa sophomore Jamar Allen, an all-conference football player who transferred there from North Hills. WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said the North Hills administration didn’t endorse the transfer in paperwork, raising questions of athletic intent. “North Hills didn’t sign off,” Seltzer said....
WPIAL rules Imani Christian basketball’s R.J. Sledge eligible for senior year
Three-time WPIAL and state basketball champion R.J. Sledge of Imani Christian will have a chance to go four for four next winter. The WPIAL board ruled the junior eligible for his senior season following a hearing Monday at the league office in Scott. Sledge repeated a grade in middle school...
WPIAL Softball rankings: Week ending May 5, 2024
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Hempfield, 16-1, 2 2. Seneca Valley, 17-1, 1 3. North Allegheny, 11-5, 4 4. Pine-Richland, 9-9, 3 5. Norwin, 8-9, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Armstrong, 14-1, 1 2. North Hills, 13-2, 2 3. West Allegheny, 16-2, 3...
Trib HSSN baseball rankings for May 4, 2024
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Mt. Lebanon, 16-3, 1 2. Pine-Richland, 16-4, 3 3. North Allegheny, 13-5, 2 4. Hempfield, 14-5, 4 5. Seneca Valley, 10-7, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn-Trafford, 15-1, 3 2. West Allegheny, 13-3, 1 3. North Hills, 10-4,...
Deep group of North Allegheny sprinters breaking speed ‘minimums’ this season
There are miles per hour signs posted at North Allegheny track practices, but these aren’t speed limits. They’re speed minimums. “If you run 17 miles per hour, you get to sign the 17 miles per hour sign,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said. “If you run 18, you sign the...
‘Get one day better, every day’: Coach Ed Helbig inspires Baldwin athletes through cancer battle
Baldwin track coach Ed Helbig has a favorite saying that he offers up as motivation to athletes on his team: “Get one day better, every day.” With tears in his eyes Friday at the Baldwin Invitational, Helbig shared a story about how the cross country team took a detour to...
Pine-Richland celebrates section title with walk-off win over rival North Allegheny
Pine-Richland had already left the bases loaded three times, but that’s not what Jake Waddell was thinking about when he came to the plate in seventh. “You’ve got to have a next-pitch mentality,” said Waddell, who drove in the winning run with a two-out, bases-loaded single as Pine-Richland outlasted rival...
With focus on staying healthy, Riverside ace Christian Lucarelli works tirelessly on craft
Christian Lucarelli arrived at Riverside baseball practice with a clear, plastic sphere that was partially filled with water. The peculiar fitness tool, which has handles on the sides, is designed to strengthen core muscles. Lucarelli uses it while simulating the twist he does on the pitcher’s mound. “You’re supposed to...
WPIAL cancels eligibility hearings for 2 Aliquippa transfers after Central Valley drops opposition
The WPIAL has canceled eligibility hearings for Aliquippa sophomore Joseph “J.J.” Work and freshman Khalil Ellerbee, saying Central Valley no longer contests their transfers. The two students were among seven football players who transferred to Aliquippa from various schools in recent weeks. The hearings for Work and Ellerbee were scheduled...
Former Bishop Canevin standout Daiveon Taylor, now at Aliquippa, commits to West Virginia
Daiveon Taylor wasn’t traveling to Morgantown this weekend just to watch West Virginia’s annual Gold-Blue spring game. He was there to commit. “I had it planned all week,” said Taylor, a 6-foot-2, 227-pound sophomore linebacker who recently transferred from Bishop Canevin to Aliquippa. Taylor shared his decision with WVU head...
WPIAL baseball rankings: Week ending April 28, 2024
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Mt. Lebanon, 13-3, 3 2. North Allegheny, 12-3, 1 3. Pine-Richland, 13-3, 4 4. Hempfield, 12-4, 2 5. Seneca Valley, 7-6, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. West Allegheny, 10-2, 2 2. Shaler, 11-3, 1 3. Penn-Trafford, 12-1, 3...
