Westmoreland high school notebook: Wickstrom takes over Monessen softball

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 8, 2018 | 4:30 PM

Monessen has made significant strides in the softball postseason the last few years.

If the Greyhounds are going to continue their upswing, however, they will do so with a new coach. And a young coach at that.

The school recently named Carlee Wickstrom coach after Bo Teets’ resignation last month. Teets was coach for nine years.

Barely out of college, Wickstrom, 23, is primed to keep things moving forward. Monessen was the WPIAL runner-up in Class A the past two years and reached the PIAA semifinals last season.

Wickstrom played softball at Seton Hill and Cal (Pa.) and teaches at Monessen Middle School.

“Softball has been a part of my life for a long time,” Wickstrom told the Mon-Valley Independent. “I just started my teaching career, and now I can start my coaching career in the same place.”

Wickstrom, a Peters Township graduate, had a big freshman season at Seton Hill (.369 average, 12 home runs, 38 RBIs) but transferred to Cal (Pa.) after an injury her junior year. She drove in 28 as a senior for the Vulcans.

“Playing at both Seton Hill and Cal, playing for great coaches, I got to see two different styles of coaching,” Wickstrom said, referring to former coach Bill Monstrola at Seton Hill and Rick Bertagnolli at Cal. “It allowed me to kind of pick and choose what kind of strategies they use and be able to apply it to how I want to coach.

“We’re going to hit the ground running with some offseason stuff. The girls and I both have some high expectations.”

Section hoops

The high school basketball season will be less than a week old when section play begins for some teams this week.

The Hempfield girls will jump in when they host Canon-McMillan on Monday night in the Section 2-6A opener. Most other teams start section play Friday.

Latrobe-Gateway rematch

If Latobe-Gateway boys basketball is anything like last year, buckle up. The teams meet again Tuesday night in Latrobe, one year after their double-overtime thriller that was won by Latrobe, 92-91.

In that game, Latrobe’s Bryce Butler scored 40 points, and teammate Reed Fenton added 36, including six 3-pointers.

Mark Bozicevic had 30 and John Paul Kromka 25 for Gateway. The advantage for Latrobe: both of those players graduated.

Rettger Tournament

The 16th annual Mike Rettger Memorial basketball tournament, named after the former Franklin Regional athlete who died in 2003, will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at Franklin Regional.

Rettger was co-captain on the Panthers’ 1997 section championship team.

The 16th annual event opens Tuesday with Monessen vs. Norwin at 6 p.m., followed by Westinghouse vs. Franklin Regional at 7:30.

GCC coach

With the departure of football coach Aaron Smetanka, Greensburg Central Catholic athletic director Dan Mahoney said the school will begin an immediate search for a replacement to keep the momentum of offseason training intact.

Smetanka left to take the head coaching position at Saint Vincent, where he was a standout quarterback.

Recruiting

Belle Vernon senior football player Anthony Rebar has a scholarship offer from Division II Walsh (Ohio). The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Rebar was an All-Class 4A Big Eight Conference first-team selection at offensive tackle. He also played defensive end.

Rebar also has an offer from Lake Erie.

• Ligonier Valley star receiver Aaron Tutino was offered by Shippensburg.

• Penn-Trafford senior football standout Niko Rosso added an offer from Division II Alderson Broaddus. The linebacker led the Warriors in tackles this season with 83 and had three sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Field hockey stars

Penn-Trafford was rewarded for winning its third straight WPIAL Class AA field hockey title with two All-WPIAL Division I selections: Falon Murray (first team) and Lauren Kelly (honorable mention).

Norwin had four selections: Jessica Kolesar (first team), Alexis Birkland and Maura Columbus (second team) and Katie Donofrio (honorable mention).

Another local second-teamer was Brianna Gutierrez of Hempfield.

In Division II, Alyssa Dempsey and Max McMichael of Latrobe made the second team.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Latrobe, Monessen, Norwin, Penn-Trafford