Dave Mackall stories, Page 15
After another run to PIAA tournament, Southmoreland softball looks ahead to promising future
Among Todd Bunner’s nuances is a habit of hand-writing his team’s season statistics on a homemade chart, a practice that defies logic in an era of electronic saturation. You could say Southmoreland’s old-school softball coach is set in his ways … And it’s not such a bad thing? After all,...
Sky’s the limit for Pitt-Greensburg outfielder after brilliant freshman season
You can call him Jim Bob or even by his real name, if you like. But please, don’t refer to James Domer as Jim or Jimmy or any other variation. It’s not that Pitt-Greensburg’s sensational freshman outfielder wouldn’t answer to those names, but virtually no one uses them to refer...
Chartiers-Houston playoff run ended by District 6 champ Claysburg-Kimmel
Since claiming its only state championship in softball in 2010, Chartiers-Houston has been close to winning another one several times. The Buccaneers made a run to the semifinals in 2017 and to the quarterfinals in 2019. And they advanced that far again this season. But it ended there for the...
Freeport grad Jarrett Heilman’s star on the rise after another brilliant season at Mercyhurst
At any level of baseball, there are pitchers (i.e. throwers) and there are pitchers (i.e. the real McCoys). In other words, the real McCoys put some thought into the matter. It’s not just, “wind up and fire darts.” Which brings us to Jarrett Heilman, the former Freeport right-hander who continues...
Southmoreland softball team can’t generate offense in loss to Chestnut Ridge
FISHERTOWN, Pa. — Southmoreland’s bats remained virtually silent in the postseason for a second time in a row Monday, and the Scotties’ softball season ended with a 4-1 loss to Chestnut Ridge in a PIAA Class 3A first-round game. Chestnut Ridge (17-3), champion of District 5, moves on to play...
Neshannock softball juggernaut rolls on with WPIAL 2A final win over Laurel
Neshannock’s dizzying 46th consecutive softball victory Thursday turned out to be such a special one. And, oh, don’t the Lancers know it. Earning back-to-back WPIAL championships with a 12-2 rout of crosstown rival Laurel in the Class 2A final at PennWest California’s Lilley Field was enough to set off a...
Union outslugs Carmichaels to win back-to-back WPIAL Class A softball titles
Union softball coach Doug Fisher wasn’t about to dwell on the unpleasant elements of his team’s 10-8 victory over Carmichaels, giving the Scotties their second consecutive WPIAL Class A championship. Instead, he wanted to savor the end result. Top-seeded Union (17-3) overcame an early four-run deficit, sidestepped six errors and...
North Catholic finds peak playoff form, sweeps Latrobe in boys volleyball semifinal
The stage appeared a bit too bright Tuesday night for top-seeded Latrobe at the WPIAL Class 2A boys volleyball semifinals, and No. 4 North Catholic could sense it. The Trojans took control of the best-of-five match early, putting the Wildcats on their heels and seizing a 3-0 victory at Gateway...
Bishop Canevin baseball wins defensive playoff battle over Leechburg
Bishop Canevin and Leechburg, two high-scoring Class A baseball teams, found the runs hard to come by Monday in their WPIAL quarterfinals game at Highlands, but No. 6 Canevin managed to score more. Kole Olszewski limited No. 3 Leechburg to three hits, and Bishop Canevin’s defense shined as the Crusaders...
Seton Hill baseball team sweeps Mercyhurst, advances to NCAA Super Regional
Late Friday afternoon, SHU Baseball Complex on the campus of Seton Hill went eerily silent shortly after Mercyhurst stunned the 13th-ranked Griffins baseball team with a walk-off grand slam to send Seton Hill into the losers’ bracket at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region II Tournament. It meant the Griffins...
Seton Hill baseball team stays alive in NCAA Regional with rout of East Stroudsburg
Survive to play another day. Seton Hill on Saturday shook off a devastating loss a day earlier to Mercyhurst and remained alive in the NCAA Division II baseball playoffs with a 10-4 rout of East Stroudsburg at the Atlantic Region tournament at SHU Baseball Complex in Greensburg. The Griffins (46-11),...
Mercyhurst stuns Seton Hill with walk-off grand slam in NCAA baseball regional
As gut-wrenching losses go on a 1-to-10 scale, this one was a 10. “I know the character of our team, but we’ve never experienced a loss like this on this stage in this season,” Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said Friday, moments after Mercyhurst’s Luke Jackson hit a walk-off grand...
Ace lefty Enzo Lio lifts Riverview past Charleroi in Class 2A 1st round
Riverview entered the WPIAL baseball playoffs as an unheralded No. 10 seed, but the Raiders had their ace lefty on the mound in the first round Thursday against No. 7 Charleroi. That’s usually a recipe for success. Enzo Lio pitched 5 2/3 effective innings before reaching the 100-pitch count limit...
Valley wins playoff section showdown vs. Burrell baseball
Section rivals Valley and Burrell got together again Tuesday night for another baseball encounter, but the stakes were much higher this time in a preliminary-round WPIAL Class 3A playoff game at Highlands. While Valley came up short against its neighbors from Burrell in both regular-season Section 3 games, the Vikings...
Seton Hill softball falls short of NCAA berth despite strong season under 1st-year coach
On a day before the Seton Hill softball team was to learn the outcome of a potential return trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament, coach Cassie Moore and her fiance were continuing their restoration project of a 100-year-old house situated in the apple orchards region near Follansbee, W.Va. The...
Underdog Gateway, top-seeded Sewickley Academy win WPIAL team tennis titles
Gateway’s first WPIAL team tennis championship in 35 years sparked a merry post-match celebration Wednesday on the lower courts at Washington & Jefferson’s Janet L. Swanson Tennis Center. Players, coaches and fans mingled amid a chaotic chatter. “I’m so excited,” Gateway coach Emily Levine shouted. “Hey, ‘Let’s Go, Gators,’ right?...
Freeport capitalizes on East Allegheny mistakes to set up section title showdown
There weren’t many hits by either baseball team Tuesday, but there were enough errors made by one to provide plenty of baserunners for the other. Freeport was happy to oblige. The Yellowjackets took advantage of some sloppy defense by East Allegheny in the opener of a two-game, home-and-home series to...
Penn-Trafford powers through in win over Franklin Regional
Penn-Trafford continues to play through the pain. The Warriors baseball team Monday lost another key player to an injury — its fourth this season — but went on to its third consecutive victory and seventh in the past eight games, beating Franklin Regional, 7-5, at Murrysville’s Haymaker Park, and delaying...
Ace Lexie Hames fans 19 as Seneca Valley wins Class 6A showdown with Norwin
Like mother, like daughter? Or something like that. Lexie Hames has picked up where her mother, Marlesse Hames, left off. Or something like that. “She’s 10 times better than me. She’s a better athlete than I was, for sure,” Seneca Valley softball coach Marlesse Hames said of her daughter, sophomore...
Riverview’s Enzo Lio throws shutout in Raiders’ bounceback win vs. Ligonier Valley
The Riverview baseball team ended a string of 13 scoreless innings, sending nine batters to the plate during a four-run fourth that sparked a 7-0 victory Monday at Ligonier Valley. Raiders left-hander Enzo Lio limited the Rams to two hits and one walk while striking out 11 as Riverview (7-3,...
Hempfield boys volleyball finding success early on relying on its ‘2 varsity teams’
Boys volleyball practices at Hempfield this season have been like nothing Owen Kelley has seen in his four-year association with the Spartans program. “We have 13 guys that see varsity time, which is a full second team,” Kelley said. “In the past, the varsity would practice against the (junior varsity)...
Frazier softball offense erupts in 6th inning for win over Jeannette
It hardly seems fair that the Frazier softball team, a state championship contender for years in Class 2A, was reassigned this season to the Class A level. The Commodores have demolished their past six opponents by an average of 14 runs after opening the season with a loss to Class...
Penn-Trafford boys volleyball gets past Hempfield in ‘classic match’
Jim Schall has coached in some intense and high-quality high school volleyball settings during his considerable time on the bench, but he ranked Thursday night’s Penn-Trafford-Hempfield match right up with the best of them. Schall’s Penn-Trafford Warriors came away with a 3-1 home victory that was tougher than it appeared....
Burrell puts pressure on Freeport, wins section showdown
The Burrell baseball team is rolling along, despite coach Mark Spohn’s occasional declarations of despair. “We looked better today than we did the last time out,” he said. “We had a couple (of mistakes) where we didn’t get some runs in. Those are things we’ll go over.” Nevermind that the...
After dropping to Class 2A, Latrobe boys volleyball ready for role as WPIAL favorite
Minutes after exiting the court following Latrobe’s 3-2 loss to Hempfield, Drew Vosefski flashed a smile at a well-wisher. “It’s early,” the Latrobe boys volleyball coach said over the noise of fans disbursing from the Latrobe High School gymnasium. In a battle of neighboring rivals with a history of ultra-competitive...
