A-K Valley notebook: Freeport captures summer league title
High school basketball season is still months away, but excitement levels ramped up a little early for the Freeport boys basketball team. The Yellowjackets captured the St. Joseph summer league championship with a buzzer-beating victory over Kiski Area on Thursday. Rising junior Brady Sullivan hit the game-winning shot. Fellow rising...
Behind 3 WPIAL champions, North Catholic lifts 3rd straight Trib Cup in Class 3A
The North Catholic victory tradition continued to ring loud and clear this past school year. Steady contributions across all three seasons, along with a couple of championship runs, helped the Trojans win a third straight Trib HSSN Cup for Class 3A in 2021-22. “North Catholic has a long standing tradition...
Bolstered by 5 WPIAL championship teams, Quaker Valley captures Class 4A Trib Cup
Mike Mastroianni was in a no lose situation in this year’s race for the Trib HSSN Cup in Class 4A. He is the athletic director and boys basketball coach at Quaker Valley while he lives in the Montour school district. Those two schools finished first and second, with Mastroianni’s Quakers...
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:...
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...
Freeport boys basketball building chemistry in St. Joseph Summer League
Freeport made the WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball playoffs this past season as the No. 11 seed and upset Uniontown to secure the program’s first playoff victory in 12 years. “It felt really good with that upset against Uniontown,” rising senior Dean Furer said. “That brought a lot of belief...
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...
List’s 5-inning no-hitter leads Beaver past Freeport, into WPIAL Class 4A semifinals
Chalk up another victory for Beaver Area and senior Payton List. The Virginia Tech-bound List gave up no hits and allowed just one Freeport baserunner as the Bobcats blanked the Yellowjackets, 10-0, on Monday in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal at Mars Centennial Field. List struck out 10 in five...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for May 23, 2022: Rematches set for baseball playoffs
Welcome to Semifinals Monday in the 2022 WPIAL baseball playoffs. Unless your team is in classes 6A or 4A, then it’s Welcome to Quarterfinals Monday. Whether it’s the second or third round, the recurring theme is rematches. Of the 16 scheduled games, 11 are matchups between teams that faced each...
A-K Valley softball playoff capsules: Games of Monday, May 23, 2022
Class 4A quarterfinals 6-Belle Vernon (12-7-1) vs. 3-Burrell (11-1) 5 p.m. at Norwin Winner plays: Winner of 10-West Mifflin (12-9) vs. 2-Elizabeth Forward (14-2) on Wednesday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Ashley Joll, Belle Vernon; Katie Armstrong, Burrell Extra bases: Belle Vernon registered its first playoff win...
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...
Freeport’s Skiba joins group of contenders for WPIAL discus title
Reese Skiba offered encouragement, instruction and tips to perfect technique as Freeport middle school students launched a discus high into the air. She broke down the intricacies of the footwork, spin, release point and launch angle during a practice session when the young athletes worked with the varsity team members....
Burrell’s Armstrong outduels Freeport’s Selker as Bucs softball team earns 1-0 win
Second verse, same as the first. The first Section 1-4A meeting between the Freeport and Burrell softball teams last Friday was a pitchers’ duel between Burrell’s Katie Armstrong and Sydney Selker. Each struck out 19 in the 1-0 Bucs victory. Both pitchers again were solid in Thursday’s rematch at Bon...
Freeport boys lacrosse leans on toughness to navigate Section 2-2A competition
Jarvis Lindsay enjoys the physical part of high school boys lacrosse. There is certainly a great amount of skill involved in passing and scoring and navigating a crowded field, but games can be won with ground-ball pickups and forced turnovers in the course of play. The Freeport coach is enjoying...
Highlands softball shakes off rust, builds momentum with win over Freeport
The Highlands softball team returned to game action Friday after a nine-day, weather-related layoff, and it put a second win on the board against Section 1-4A rival Freeport. Playing just their second home game of the season, the Golden Rams got solo home runs from Jaycee Haidze and Maera Williams...
Back from broken wrist, sophomore Selker fuels strong start for Freeport softball
Sydney Selker made the most of her first varsity season with the Freeport softball team. Last year, as a freshman, she batted .483 with seven home runs, 27 RBIs and 28 runs scored. She also finished 8-5 with a 3.70 earned-run average and 114 strikeouts in 89 innings. Selker is...
Freeport girls lacrosse team gaining experience
Ed Smith is looking for improvement, and he sees it happening every day. Freeport’s first-year girls lacrosse coach has witnessed his 16-member team grow and develop with every practice and game this season. “They’ve improved every game,” he said. “Last week was the best we’ve played yet.” Freeport is off...
Highlands softball team pounds 5 HRs among its 20 hits in win over Freeport
After scoring single runs in losses to Shaler and Laurel to open its season, the Highlands softball team broke out in a big way Monday in the Section 1-4A opener against Freeport at Freeport Community Park. The Golden Rams pounded out 20 hits, including five home runs, and senior Jaycee...
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...
World War II vet Crytzer headlines Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame class
In the middle of a multi-sport athletic career at Freeport, Harry Crytzer saw it was time for a more vital calling. Crytzer, as many did during that era, quit school during his junior year and left to serve in World War II. He had just helped lead the Yellowjackets to...
Armstrong pitcher opens season with gem in cold, wet win over Freeport
Nothing like a pitching gem to start the season. Armstrong right-hander Zach Wolfe pitched 6.2 innings of two-hit baseball, striking out eight, as the River Hawks defeated Freeport, 11-1, at Freeport Community Park on Friday. Wolfe gave up singles to the first and last batters he faced. Brady Stivenson started...
2022 WPIAL Class 4A 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, and Laurel and West Greene remained on top in Class 2A and A. District softball...
A-K Valley, Westmoreland County swimmers thrilled to return to state meet at Bucknell
A sense of normalcy is back at the PIAA swimming and diving championships, and for the numerous qualifiers from the Alle-Kiski Valley and Westmoreland County schools, it only adds to the anticipation. The championships return to Bucknell. Spectators return. The lineups for each event are back to 32 for each...
Freeport softball team has designs on keeping up its playoff streak
Freeport softball has been in the playoffs 12 consecutive times, and with an experienced core returning along with younger talent, it will look to continue the streak. “We’ve made playoffs every year that I’ve been here, which is a pretty good accomplishment, and that’s a credit to the girls and...
