Chris Harlan stories, Page 9
2025 WPIAL bracketology: Chris Harlan, Don Rebel forecast the baseball playoff pairings
The 2025 WPIAL baseball playoffs are set with 80 teams, including five of the six champions from a year ago — North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford, Avonworth, Seton LaSalle and Bishop Canevin — hoping to defend their crowns. Seton LaSalle and Bishop Canevin are looking to three-peat this spring. The postseason begins...
WPIAL reveals brackets for 2025 softball playoffs
Reigning WPIAL softball champions Neshannock and Elizabeth Forward start their title defenses as favorites to repeat. The Lancers in Class 2A and the Warriors in 4A were among the teams earning No. 1 seeds in playoff brackets released Thursday by the WPIAL. The other top seeds went to Hempfield in...
Mt. Lebanon, South Fayette draw top seeds in 2025 WPIAL boys lacrosse playoffs
Two-time reigning boys lacrosse champion Mt. Lebanon will start its latest title defense as the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL playoffs. The Blue Devils (12-4) drew the top spot in WPIAL Class 3A, and South Fayette (17-0) was seeded first in 2A in brackets released Thursday. The playoffs start...
Mars, Pine-Richland earn No. 1 seeds in 2025 WPIAL girls lacrosse playoffs
Two-time defending champion Mars was picked as the favorite to win another WPIAL girls lacrosse title in playoff brackets revealed Thursday. Mars (15-1) received the No. 1 seed in Class 2A, and Pine-Richland (15-2) drew the top spot in 3A. The playoffs start Monday and Tuesday with first-round games, leading...
Norwin takes home 2 trophies from WPIAL 3A team track and field championships
The Norwin boys hadn’t won a WPIAL team track title in almost 50 years, but senior hurdler Ryan Schiller had hungered for one for months. A title and maybe a steak dinner. “I made a bet with some friends,” he said. “I told them they were going to have to...
Texas Tech recruit Greg Minnick, battalion of live arms have Indiana primed for playoffs
Indiana pitcher Greg Minnick was offered a chance to see the red rocks of West Texas while in geology class last spring. It started with a telephone call. A Texas Tech assistant baseball coach was on the other end, offering the hard-throwing right-hander a scholarship to pitch in Lubbock. He...
WPIAL puts 19 on all-state boys basketball teams
The WPIAL had 19 boys basketball players earn all-state honors Sunday, and two were voted as the player of the year for their PIAA classifications. Neighborhood Academy senior Courtney Wallace was named as the top player in Class A, and Aliquippa’s Josh Pratt earned the honor for 3A in a...
WPIAL softball rankings: Week ending May 4, 2025
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Seneca Valley, 14-2, 2 2. Hempfield, 18-1, 1 3. North Allegheny, 12-7, 3 4. Pine-Richland, 12-6, 4 5. Canon-McMillan, 10-8, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Penn-Trafford, 15-1, 1 2. West Allegheny, 13-4, 5 3. Shaler, 12-4, 3 4. North Hills, 14-3, 4...
WPIAL baseball rankings: Week ending May 4, 2025
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 12-6, 1 2. Seneca Valley, 11-6, 3 3. Canon-McMillan, 13-5, 4 4. Norwin, 12-7, 2 5. Butler, 10-7, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Shaler, 12-4, 1 2. Pine-Richland, 15-2, 2 3. Plum, 15-2, 3 4. Bethel Park, 14-4, 5 5....
Not just a ‘Single-A’ athlete: California long jumper Lee Qualk clears 23 feet for Baldwin Invite gold
California’s Lee Qualk rushed for 383 yards in a football game last fall, and on Friday posted another extraordinary number when he long jumped more than 23 feet. If his football stats weren’t already enough, there’s no denying his athleticism now. “That’s what I absolutely love about track,” said Qualk,...
As Baldwin Invite’s meet director, Rich Wright strives to honor late coach Ed Helbig
On the night before the Baldwin Invitational, track coach Rich Wright talked with longtime friend Ed Helbig on the drive home from the stadium. The two Baldwin coaches had run the event for years as a terrific tandem. Helbig died in August after a difficult battle with esophageal cancer, but...
Forgot about Scoop? Woodland Hills sprinter reintroduces himself at Baldwin Invitational
Scoop Smith is confident he’s still the fastest man in the WPIAL, even if the speedy Woodland Hills junior hadn’t had a chance to show everybody lately. “If they forgot about me, they forgot about me,” Smith said. “I’ll wake them up at Wips.” Sidelined for a month with a...
Lincoln Park freshman basketball player Damar Johnson recovering after drive-by shooting
Lincoln Park boys basketball coach Mike Bariski said he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt Damar Johnson, a freshman standout who was shot in the arm Wednesday night in Farrell. “I can’t even understand who wouldn’t like him,” Bariski said. “A kid with braces. Always smiling. Fifteen years old. Come...
Clutch outing from pitcher Carson Franc delivers section title to Avonworth
An 0.68 ERA is proof that Avonworth pitcher Carson Franc has had other great outings, but his coach called this one his best yet. “Under the circumstances, you have to,” Antelopes coach Jeff Bywalski said. In a battle for the section title, Franc tempted batters to chase high fastballs while...
WPIAL postpones team track semifinals to Wednesday
The WPIAL has postponed the team track and field semifinals to Wednesday because of unfavorable weather Tuesday. Sites and times remain the same. The winner from each semifinal site advances to the WPIAL team finals May 6 at West Mifflin. The North Allegheny girls (Class 3A) and Quaker Valley girls...
Pine-Richland defensive back Jay Timmons commits to Indiana, coach Curt Cignetti
Pine-Richland junior Jay Timmons committed Monday to play football for Indiana and coach Curt Cignetti, who’s already familiar with Western Pennsylvania. Timmons announced his decision on social media. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound defensive back had drawn nearly two dozen college offers. He chose Indiana from a list of scholarships that included...
Stanford lands commitment from Lucas Shanafelt, 2nd football recruit from Peters Township in 2 years
Western Pennsylvania seems like unusual recruiting territory for a West Coast college, but ACC newcomer Stanford is fond of one South Hills school district. Peters Township junior Lucas Shanafelt committed to Stanford on Saturday, making him the second recruit in two years from his high school to choose the Cardinal....
Streak ends: NFL Draft includes no WPIAL players for 1st time since 1993
A WPIAL streak that started more than three decades ago ended quietly Saturday. For the first time in 32 years, no former WPIAL football players were selected in the NFL Draft. The last time that happened was 1993. The streak got started when the San Francisco 49ers picked Ringgold’s Anthony...
In Pitt QB shakeup, Julian Dugger enters portal, ex-Western Carolina star transfers in
Pitt’s quarterback depth chart underwent a major overhaul Saturday. Redshirt freshman Julian Dugger, a Penn Hills graduate, announced he was entering the transfer portal hours after the Panthers landed a commitment from another quarterback, Cole Gonzales, who’s already well connected with offensive coordinator Kade Bell. A 6-foot, 198-pound senior, Gonzales...
WPIAL softball rankings: Week ending April 27, 2025
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Hempfield, 14-0, 1 2. Seneca Valley, 11-2, 3 3. North Allegheny, 9-7, 5 4. Pine-Richland, 11-5, 2 5. Canon-McMillan, 9-7, 4 Out: none Class 5A 1. Penn-Trafford, 14-1, 1 2. Franklin Regional, 12-3, 2 3. Shaler, 10-4, 3 4. North Hills, 13-3, 4...
WPIAL baseball rankings: Week ending April 27, 2025
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 10-5, 1 2. Norwin, 10-6, 3 3. Seneca Valley, 8-6, 2 4. Canon-McMillan, 13-4, 4 5. Butler, 10-4, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Shaler, 9-4, 2 2. Pine-Richland, 12-2, 1 3. Plum, 12-2, 3 4. Fox Chapel, 11-3, 4 5....
Belle Vernon’s Zion Moore to play for top junior college program
Belle Vernon senior Zion Moore, one of the WPIAL’s top basketball players, has committed to Harcum College in suburban Philadelphia. Harcum competes at the highest level of junior college basketball, NJCAA Division I. The team has celebrated five top 10 seasons since the program started in 2005. Last season’s roster...
Hot-hitting North Allegheny uses 7-run inning to take section series from rival Seneca Valley
JJ Mancuso offered up a simple explanation for how North Allegheny suddenly scored 17 runs in two days, snapping a string of light-hitting losses. Sometimes, it’s not too complicated. “We swung the bats much better, obviously,” said Mancuso, who fueled a seven-run rally with two hits in one inning as...
Pine-Richland puts pressure on Shaler, wins opener of key section series
The foul poles on Pine-Richland’s baseball field stand 360 feet from home plate — deeper than those at PNC Park — so there’s a lot of outfield grass to cover. The Rams might call it their home-field advantage. “The biggest thing is just putting the ball in play and putting...
Pine-Richland hires former college assistant, top WPIAL scorer as boys basketball coach
Steve McNees, a former college assistant who ranks among the WPIAL’s all-time leading scorers, was hired Monday as Pine-Richland’s boys basketball coach. McNees, a 2006 Shenango graduate, scored 2,192 points in his high school career and played college basketball at Akron under Keith Dambrot. McNees later served as an assistant...
