Pine-Richland notebook: 6 Rams make college choices official

By: Jerin Steele
Sunday, November 19, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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A half dozen Pine-Richland athletes made their college choices official during the early national signing day Nov. 8.

Three softball players — Mackenzie Gillis (Mercyhurst), Jocelyn Langer (Millersville) and Izzy Sulesky (Susquehanna) — girls lacrosse player Ashley Woodward (Mercyhurst), boys lacrosse player Cooper Zancosky (Oberlin) and girls basketball player Madison Zavasky (IUP) all put pen to paper on letters of intent for their respective colleges.

All six still have their senior seasons at Pine-Richland ahead of them.

Langer was on the Class 6A all-state second team last year and was first-team all-section. Sulesky was second-team all-section. Gillis was an all-section player as a sophomore and plays third base for the Rams.

Woodward is one of two seniors coming back from Pine-Richland’s WPIAL champion girls lacrosse team and top goal scorer.

Zancosky was an all-section attacker on Pine-Richland’s boys lacrosse team that won a playoff game last year.

Zavasky averaged around 20 points per game last year for the Rams’ girls basketball team and was an all-WPIAL performer.

P-R field hockey all-stars

The five-time defending WPIAL Class 3A champion Pine-Richland field hockey team was well represented on the postseason all-star teams.

Jessica Albertson, Madeline Mill and Georgia Rottinghaus made the all-WPIAL team. Erin Murray, Khushi Saini and Emma Wallace made the Class 3A all-star team. The three all-WPIAL players were also 3A all-stars.

Albertson, a forward, and Siani a midfielder, are seniors. Mill and Rottinghaus, who are midfielders, are juniors and Wallace, a defender, is a sophomore.

The Rams won their fifth consecutive district title with a 1-0 win in overtime over Peters Township on Nov. 4. Rottinghaus scored the game-winning goal 50 seconds into overtime.

Pine-Richland has not lost to a WPIAL opponent in five years but is still looking to break through at the state level.

The Rams dropped a 4-1 decision to Penn Manor in the first round of the state playoffs on Nov. 7.

Heckert playoff bound with SRU

Pine-Richland grad Max Heckert and Slippery Rock football had a tough result in the PSAC championship game, losing 31-7 to Kutztown, but received an at-large bid into the 2023 NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Rock received the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic Region and was scheduled to host East Stroudsburg in the first round Nov. 18. The winner advances to play at top-seeded Tiffin (Ohio).

Heckert broke into the starting lineup as a true freshman this year at inside linebacker and 52 tackles (5.5 for a loss), one forced fumble and interception in the regular season.

Petcash returns to Pittsburgh

Pine-Richland grad Dan Petcash made a return to Pittsburgh on Nov. 10 when the Binghamton men’s basketball team traveled in to play Pitt at Petersen Events Center.

Petcash, a fifth-year senior, got the start and had four points in 27 minutes for the Bearcats in an 89-60 loss.

Through three games, Petcash averaged 7.3 points per game, including a 10-point effort in a 71-62 loss at Northwestern.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

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