Greg Macafee stories, Page 8
After massive turnover of senior-laden roster, Freeport baseball entering ‘strange year’
Heading into last season, the Freeport Yellowjackets were set to return one of the most experienced and talented rosters in the WPIAL. Coach Ed Carr was set to have 11 seniors return from a team that went 15-7, earned a No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs and...
With experienced roster, Freeport softball may be outlier
The Freeport softball team may be an outlier in 2021. After going 10-4 two years ago and coming up just short of winning the Section 1-3A title, the Yellowjackets will return a majority of their starting lineup after longtime coach Sam Ross utilized a talented group of freshmen and sophomores....
Fox Chapel baseball ‘chomping at the bit’ to get back into game action
If a high school baseball team wasn’t loaded with freshmen or sophomores two years ago, it’s probably going to lack experience in 2021. Fox Chapel is one of those teams. Senior Dante DiMatteo is the only letter winner returning for fourth-year coach Jim Hastings from a team that went 10-8...
With young roster, Fox Chapel hopes to rely on pitching, defense
Like every softball team in the WPIAL, Fox Chapel is dealing with a lot of unknowns heading into the 2021 season. Chris Olbrich became head coach before last season after serving as an assistant for a few years, and the Foxes only got one scrimmage in before the season was...
Belle Vernon’s Zach Hartman, Kiski Area’s Darren Miller represent Bucknell well at NCAA Tournament
Belle Vernon’s Zach Hartman and Kiski Area’s Darren Miller put together special high school careers during their time in the WPIAL, but this past weekend, the pair represented Bucknell at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships. Hartman (13-3), who was making his third NCAA appearance after last year’s tournament was...
Anticipation high for Deer Lakes softball team’s return to field
Rick Cerra has been waiting for quite a while to coach his first game as the Deer Lakes softball coach. After coaching the junior high team for four seasons, Cerra was given the job ahead of last season after former coach Craig Tialani retired. Tialani had directed the program since...
Deer Lakes baseball will be young but won’t lack experience
The last time the Deer Lakes baseball team took the diamond, Justin Brannagan was a freshman and Ryan Rodgers was a sophomore. Now, a year after the coronavirus pandemic canceled the spring sports season, Brannagan and Rodgers are the only two returning letter-winners for the Lancers. Although his team lacks...
Seniors lay foundation for Sewickley Academy girls basketball program
Over the past four years, the seniors of the Sewickley Academy girls basketball team have taken the program to a new level. Since the 2017-2018 season, the Panthers have produced a record of 55-34, made three WPIAL semifinal appearances and three PIAA tournament appearances, including the quarterfinals two years ago....
Duquesne public address announcer remembered for his passion, talent
Brian Klisavage, the official scorekeeper for Duquesne basketball since the 1980s, sat next to public address announcer Dominic Errico during dozens of games over the past seven years. No one had a better vantage point to feel Errico’s ability to bring a different level of energy to an arena. From...
Lincoln Park blows out Clearfield; advances to PIAA semifinals for 2nd time in 3 years
Lincoln Park is all about “One More.” The Leopards want to make one more pass, one more rotation, one more effort, and, most importantly, one more win. The motto is painted above their locker-room door and as each player gets set to walk up the stairs and take the court...
Former Fox Chapel pitcher Pat Monteverde emerges as ace for No. 7 Texas Tech
Almost a month ago, former Fox Chapel southpaw Patrick Monteverde stood in right field of Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, a day before Texas Tech’s season opener against the Arkansas Razorbacks and just took everything in. Six months earlier, the Los Angeles Dodgers had beaten the Tampa Bay Rays...
Robert Morris reschedules Big South conference games
The Big South Conference is already making changes to its spring football schedule, and Robert Morris has rescheduled two of its conference games to later this spring, and another game will be moved. The Colonials were originally supposed to play Monmouth this past weekend at Joe Walton Stadium and were...
Trib HSSN Wrestling Team of the Week for March 16, 2021: Waynesburg
No team in the WPIAL had a better showing at the PIAA Class AAA tournament this weekend than Waynesburg. The Raiders had five wrestlers reach the finals, which is the second most in program history.They had seven wrestlers reach the finals in 1943 and came away with four champions. On...
Trib HSSN Wrestler of the Week for March 16, 2021: Briar Priest, Hempfield
After not placing at WPIALs a year ago, Hempfield 132-pounder Briar Priest made a run he never will forget as he won the first PIAA Class AAA title of his career over the weekend. He capped his junior season with a 34-5 record — identical to his record last year...
Chartiers Valley strikes back at Trinity, wins 3rd straight WPIAL title
Almost two months ago, the top-seeded Trinity Hillers did something no other team had done in almost three years. They beat the two-time defending WPIAL Class 5A champion Chartiers Valley Colts in a nonsection matchup and snapped their state-record 64-game winning streak in the process. “They beat us on Jan....
Sewickley Academy boys capitalize on team growth before playoff exit
The Sewickley Academy boys basketball team started this season without an identity or a sense of superior athletic talent that could carry them to wins. By the end of the season, though, the Panthers started doing things the old-fashioned way, and it worked. They played hard-nosed defense and limited top-seeded...
Led by 2 relay titles, Quaker Valley girls swim to 2nd at WPIAL championship meet
In his first year at the helm of the Quaker Valley swimming team, John Nemeth led the girls to a second-place finish at the WPIAL Class AA championships March 6. The Quakers finished with 199 team points, 55 points behind champion Northgate. They also earned gold medal finishes in both...
Despite semifinal loss, Fox Chapel boys make strides
Coming into this season, Fox Chapel boys basketball coach Zach Skrinjar had to find a way to replace three senior starters from a team that went 21-2 a year ago and won its first 20 games of the season. He had junior guards Eli Yofan and JP Dockey returning, but...
North Allegheny captures 4th WPIAL title in 5 years with win over Upper St. Clair
For the fourth time in five years, the North Allegheny girls basketball team got to lift the WPIAL Class 6A trophy. Behind 24 points from senior Lizzy Groetsch, the top-seeded Tigers (24-1) led No. 2 Upper St. Clair for a majority of the game and utilized two big runs in...
Beaver girls capture program’s 1st WPIAL title
The Beaver girls basketball team could’ve packed it in during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Friday when they trailed section rival Quaker Valley early and things weren’t going their way. But the Bobcats had been through too much. The senior class had suffered a WPIAL championship loss on a...
Kiski Area’s Sammy Starr is feeling confident heading into state tournament
One year ago, Kiski Area wrestler Sammy Starr found himself at the state tournament for the first time. He lost his first-round matchup to Nazareth senior Nathan Stefanik in a close 4-3 decision. Then, after winning two matches in the 152-pound consolation bracket, Starr fell to Pine-Richland’s Cole Spencer, 8-3,...
Burrell duo heads to Hershey with one job left to do
Three Burrell wrestlers and Knoch’s Eli Reese are heading to Hershey on Friday for the PIAA Class AA individual wrestling tournament, and they’re all hoping to come home with a gold medal around their neck. A year ago, Burrell seniors AJ Corrado and Ian Oswalt came home with runner-up finishes...
Carrick captures City League title for 1st time since 1994
The last time Carrick won a City League championship, head coach Walter Milinski was an assistant coach for the Raiders as they won back-to-back titles in 1993-94. Now, 27 years later, Milinski has a City League title of his own. Behind 14 points from senior guard Vashon Howard and 12...
Pine-Richland knocks off Fox Chapel, returns to WPIAL Class 6A title game
Pine-Richland boys basketball coach Bob Petcash came into this season with a plan, and it revolved around his team hitting their peak at just the right time. After a 12-point win over Peters Township, a four-point win over No. 3 Hempfield and Tuesday’s 76-63 victory over No. 2 Fox Chapel...
Trib HSSN Wrestling Team of the Week for March 9, 2021: Seneca Valley
This past weekend, the Seneca Valley wrestling team left Altoona High School with three super regional champions, the most of any team in attendance. Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, Dylan Chappell and Tyler Chappell, who also won WPIAL titles a week ago, captured West super regional titles Saturday and punched their tickets to...
