Chris Harlan stories, Page 8
2025 WPIAL Class 3A baseball championship breakdown: Riverside vs. Quaker Valley
WPIAL Class 3A baseball final No. 1 Riverside vs. No. 7 Quaker Valley 5 p.m. Wednesday, EQT Park, Washington On the air: Audio: Trib HSSN; Video: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: Riverside 6 (2023, ‘17, ‘16, ‘11, ‘06, 1996), Quaker Valley 1 (1984) Riverside (16-2) Coach: Dan Oliastro Projected starting lineup...
2025 WPIAL Class 2A baseball championship breakdown: OLSH vs. Freedom
WPIAL Class 2A baseball final No. 2 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart vs. No. 8 Freedom 2 p.m. Wednesday, EQT Park, Washington On the air: Audio: Trib HSSN; Video: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: OLSH 0, Freedom 0 OLSH (15-7) Coach: Phil McCarren Projected starting lineup 8, Bruno Williams, C,...
2025 WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship breakdown: Seneca Valley vs. Norwin
WPIAL Class 6A baseball final No. 3 Seneca Valley vs. No. 4 Norwin 1 p.m. Tuesday, EQT Park, Washington On the air: Video: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: Seneca Valley 4 (2014, ’12, ’11, 1994), Norwin 2 (2016, 1960) Norwin (14-8) Coach: Craig Spisak Projected starting lineup 22, Trevor Vitsas, C,...
2025 WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship breakdown: Pine-Richland vs. Shaler
WPIAL Class 5A baseball final No. 1 Pine-Richland vs. No. 3 Shaler 7 p.m. Tuesday, EQT Park, Washington On the air: Audio: Trib HSSN; Video: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: Pine-Richland 6 (2019, ‘17, ‘10, ‘06, ‘05, ‘04), Shaler 6 (2023, ’19, ’99, 1981, ‘80, ‘64) Pine-Richland (20-3) Coach: Kurt Wolfe...
WPIAL announces schedule for 2025 softball finals, 3rd-place games
The WPIAL announced start times for the six softball finals Wednesday and Thursday at PennWest’s Lilley Field in California. The championship schedule starts with the Class 4A final at noon Wednesday, followed by Class 6A at 2:15 p.m. and Class 5A at 4:30 p.m. The Thursday schedule begins with the...
WPIAL sets schedule for 2025 baseball championships, 3rd-place games
The WPIAL announced times for its six baseball championship games Tuesday and Wednesday at EQT Park in Washington. The schedule includes an earlier than usual start Wednesday to accommodate Class A finalist Serra Catholic, which has a graduation ceremony that evening, WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino said. The Class 6A, 5A...
Riverside outlasts South Park in epic 12-inning pitchers’ duel in Class 3A semifinals
There were moments in Friday’s semifinal when Riverside coach Dan Oliastro and his players wondered if either team would ever score. The scoreboard ran out of innings, and they were all full of zeroes. The stadium lights were even turned on. But in the 12th inning, Riverside’s Jackson Barber finally...
WPIAL postpones baseball, softball semifinals to Friday
For the second day in a row, the WPIAL postponed its baseball and softball playoffs because of rain. An unfavorable weather forecast led the WPIAL to move the Class 3A, 2A and A semifinals in both sports to Friday. There were two sites changes: • In Class 2A baseball, Freedom...
PIAA track preview: Quaker Valley athletes seeded 1st in 6 state championship events
Here are storylines to follow when the PIAA track and field individual championships are held Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University. The meet starts at 9 a.m. each day. Special season for Quakers Quaker Valley might spark another gold rush. The Quakers have the top qualifying time or height in...
Aliquippa ousts 2-time state champion Nick Lackovich as boys basketball coach
Aliquippa boys basketball coach Nick Lackovich was holding an open gym Wednesday, unaware that the school board gathered nearby was voting him out. Lackovich said he was told his coaching contract was not renewed despite leading the Quips to the WPIAL finals and the state semifinals this past season. The...
Inclement weather leads WPIAL to postpone baseball, softball, lacrosse games scheduled Wednesday
An unfavorable weather forecast led the WPIAL to postpone all baseball, softball and lacrosse games scheduled for Wednesday. The baseball and softball semifinals moved to Thursday. The Class 2A girls and boys lacrosse finals are now Friday with the 3A finals remaining on Thursday. Sites and times for the softball...
Riverside’s Zach Hare no-hits Burrell as short-handed Panthers advance to Class 3A semis
It takes more than rain to mess up Riverside’s Hare. Riverside senior Zach Hare ignored the dismal weather and threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts Tuesday night as the top-seeded Panthers defeated No. 8 Burrell, 11-0, in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at North Allegheny. The rain-soaked game ended under...
Swinging bunt helps Norwin rally past Butler and into Class 6A semifinals
Norwin celebrated a walk-off win in nine innings thanks to a swinging bunt that rolled only a few feet. In a way, it summed up the Knights’ grittiness. “There are no style points,” Norwin coach Craig Spisak said after the fourth-seeded Knights rallied late to defeat No. 5 Butler, 5-4,...
Transgender girl from Eastern Pa. fails to qualify for PIAA track and field championships
A transgender high school student from Eastern Pennsylvania authorized by a judge to compete in girls track did not qualify for the state championships. Plymouth Whitemarsh senior Luce Allen, an openly transgender girl, finished 12th in the 200 meters at the PIAA District 1 championships Saturday. The top five finishers...
H.S. notebook: PIAA survey on shot clocks will be ‘good litmus test’ for hotly debated topic
Shot clocks or no shot clocks? The PIAA is tabulating results from its recent survey of schools and game officials to gauge their interest in adding the timing devices for high school basketball. But the survey alone won’t decide whether Pennsylvania ultimately adds the clocks, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi...
Johnstown arena to host PIAA team wrestling, competitive spirit championships from 2026-28
State champions in team wrestling and competitive spirit will be crowned in Johnstown for the next three years. The PIAA announced 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial will host the championships for the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. Championship venues for other winter sports were announced last...
Transgender girl can qualify for state track championships, PIAA says, citing judge’s order
The PIAA will let a transgender girl compete in the state track and field championships next week if the Eastern Pennsylvania student qualifies, the PIAA’s top administrator said Friday. The state association for high school athletics changed its policy in February to classify students by “sex” rather than “gender” in...
Waynesburg’s Tyler Groves settles in after rocky start, shuts down Freeport in Class 3A
Waynesburg pitcher Tyler Groves gave up a triple, a double and a single to consecutive batters in the first inning Thursday night, but that wasn’t a sign of things to come. Rather, Freeport got one hit the rest of the way as Groves dug in. The senior right-hander pitched a...
Mohawk distance runner Jaxon Schoedel, other record-breakers live up to hype at WPIAL meet
Mohawk’s Jaxon Schoedel’s teammate turned into his hype man at the WPIAL track championships, shouting his name as the senior climbed atop the medals stand for the second time. Schoedel could only laugh. The Penn State recruit was understandably the center of attention after breaking WPIAL Class 2A championship meet...
Laurel sprinter Tori Atkins makes history with unprecedented WPIAL 4-peat
The drawstring in Tori Atkins’ warmup pants was maybe the toughest opponent the Laurel sprinter faced in her four years at the WPIAL track championships. It’s a freshman year story that the senior can laugh about now as a 10-time champion. Atkins cemented her track legacy Wednesday by winning four...
WPIAL track preview: Laurel sprinter could make history with ‘quadruple-double’
Record breakers, repeat winners and rain? Here are some storylines to follow when the WPIAL track and field individual championships are held Wednesday at Slippery Rock University. The meet starts at 11 a.m. Again and again and again … and again? Laurel sprinter Tori Atkins can achieve a WPIAL first...
WPIAL postpones Tuesday’s baseball, softball games; some quarterfinal sites announced
The WPIAL has moved all of Tuesday’s baseball and softball playoff games to Thursday because of rain. The day’s schedule had included first-round games in Class A, 2A and 3A for both sports. Games were rescheduled at the same sites and times. The WPIAL also announced quarterfinal sites and times...
WPIAL delays decision about Moon basketball transfers’ eligibilityVideo
The basketball eligibility of Moon transfers Jackson and Brody Bauman won’t be decided until next month. The WPIAL board on Monday voted to delay a decision until its next meeting. The Bauman brothers transferred from Knoch to Moon after their father, Alan, resigned in April as Knoch boys basketball coach....
Breaking down the 2025 WPIAL baseball playoffs
Class 6A Favorite: North Allegheny is the defending champion and owns a record nine WPIAL titles. The Tigers have relied on a trio of college-bound seniors in pitchers Jackson Walsh (Gannon), Nico Varlotta (North Alabama) and Nate Persinger (Cal, Pa.). The three have combined for 111 strikeouts in 84 1/3...
WPIAL announces pairings for 2025 baseball playoffs
North Allegheny was the only defending champion to draw a No. 1 seed Friday when the WPIAL released brackets for the upcoming baseball playoffs. The Tigers were seeded first in Class 6A. The other top seeds went to Pine-Richland in 5A, Indiana in 4A, Riverside in 3A, Neshannock in 2A...
