Apollo-Ridge

Semifinal schedules set for District 31 American Legion Baseball playoffs

District 31 American Legion Baseball playoffs are scheduled to resume Saturday with two semifinal round games. Regular-season champion Latrobe will play host to rival Unity at 2 p.m at Legion Keener Field. Game 2 of the best-of-three series will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Whitney. Latrobe opened the playoffs...
State champion girls basketball, softball, spirit teams lift Neshannock to Trib Cup in Class 2A

After finishing second in the HSSN Trib Cup standings a year ago, Neshannock used a perfect season to claim the top spot. It was another strong school year athletically for the seven Lawrence County schools inside the WPIAL, but none compared to the overall resume put forth by Neshannock in...
A-K Valley teams adjust to changes in basketball alignment

Basketball in the A-K Valley will have a bit of a different look next winter. The WPIAL board of directors approved section alignments for the next two-year cycle in boys and girls basketball on June 13. Several A-K Valley teams were impacted. Here’s a look at some of the changes:...
Deer Lakes’ Justin Brannagan named 2022 Valley News Dispatch Baseball Player of the Year

2022 Valley News Dispatch Baseball All-Stars Player of the Year Justin Brannagan Deer Lakes, Sr., P/INF Justin Brannagan had a propensity this year for coming up big in clutch playoff scenarios. In February, Deer Lakes trailed Blackhawk by one point in the final seconds of a WPIAL Class 4A first-round...
Burrell’s Katie Armstrong earns 2022 Valley News Dispatch Softball Player of the Year honors

2022 Valley News Dispatch Softball All-Stars Player of the Year Katie Armstrong Burrell, Jr., P If the regular season didn’t already show it, then a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game against Belle Vernon proved just how dominant Burrell junior pitcher Katie Armstrong was throughout the spring. Armstrong held a potent...
Apollo-Ridge brings back familiar face to coach girls soccer

Sarah Bonelli Christopher graduated from Apollo-Ridge in 2013 and went on the play four years as a midfielder at Lock Haven. She just missed the opportunity to play for her high school alma mater, as the Vikings girls soccer program was formed a couple of years later. “I was sad...
Alle-Kiski sends plenty of track athletes to PIAAs

Deer Lakes senior Carson McCoy doesn’t have to wait long to run at the PIAA track and field championships at Shippensburg University. He will be on the track at 9 a.m. Friday morning in defense of his Class 2A boys 1,600-meter title. It is the first of many events on...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Freeport’s Sydney Selker, Apollo-Ridge’s Greg Klingensmith

Sydney Selker School: Freeport Class: Sophomore Sport: Softball Report card: Selker threw a complete game, allowing one run on five hits against Central Valley in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs on Wednesday. Selker batted .483 and hit seven home runs while driving in 27 runs during the regular...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Deer Lakes’ Jacob Danka, Apollo-Ridge’s Madison Butler

Jacob Danka Class: Senior School: Deer Lakes Sport: Baseball Report card: Senior pitcher, first baseman and outfielder Jacob Danka had a productive week for the Lancers as he went 2 for 3 with a double and four RBIs in a 12-2 win over Valley on Monday. He followed up with...
Strong pitching, Butler’s grand slam lift Apollo-Ridge over Jeannette in Section 2-2A baseball

Apollo-Ridge took advantage of four Jeannette errors and got a grand slam from junior Brandon Butler and solid pitching from Brady Schrock in a 10-0 victory Tuesday in a Section 2-2A battle. The Vikings, who have clinched a berth in the WPIAL playoffs, improved to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in...
Apollo-Ridge slugger off to scorching start

Knocking in 13 runs would be a relatively good statistic for most high school baseball players in Western Pennsylvania … for a season. Brandon Butler needed just two games to reach that mark in what could be a special 2022 campaign for the junior shortstop and his Apollo-Ridge teammates. Butler...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for April 6, 2022: Key softball games scheduled

Weather permitting, Wednesday is lined up and down with WPIAL section softball games still in the early days of the 2022 season. However, it’s not too early to point out some of the key games in each classification. • Section 2-6A, North Allegheny visits Norwin. The Tigers and Knights are...
Fox Chapel’s Eli Yofan takes Valley News Dispatch Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors

Eli Yofan Fox Chapel, 6-2, Sr., Guard Eli Yofan averaged 19.3 points throughout the 2021-22 boys basketball season, but he was limited for most of Fox Chapel’s WPIAL Class 6A title game against North Hills early last month at the Petersen Events Center. But as he did all season, the...
Former Cager Classic MVP Corey Smith now coaching in all-star basketball game

Kiski Area coach Corey Smith has come full circle with the Cager Classic. He was the East MVP in 2002, an assistant under Greg Hutcherson and now the head coach for the East as the Cager Classic returns after a two-year hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The event...
2022 WPIAL Class 2A baseball preseason breakdown

Last spring was a celebration as district athletes returned to the diamond after the 2020 season was canceled because of covid-19 shutdowns. Baseball thrived throughout the WPIAL as six new champions were crowned, some in dramatic fashion. That success carried over to the state playoffs as WPIAL teams captured two...
2022 WPIAL Class 2A softball preseason breakdown

Last spring was a celebration as district athletes returned to the diamonds after the 2020 season was canceled because of the covid-19 shutdowns. Softball was a success throughout as the WPIAL crowned four new champions while Laurel and West Greene remained on top in 2A and A. District softball squads...