Scholastic Notebook – 04/28/2013

By: Bruce Markey
Sunday, April 28, 2013 | 9:04 PM

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As far as all-around athletes go in the WPIAL this spring, it’s hard to believe you could find a better one than Seneca Valley’s Jon Dorogy.

Dorogy has turned into a two-sport athlete in one season.

Dorogy, a 5-foot-8 senior, is one of the key players on the two-time defending WPIAL Class AAAA champion Seneca Valley baseball team. A center fielder and leadoff hitter, Dorogy made all-section last season.

This spring, Dorogy is helping Seneca Valley to another excellent season. The Raiders will be No. 1 in the new MSA Sports WPIAL Class AAAA rankings.

While Dorogy devotes most of his time in the spring to baseball, he also is running track this spring. And he is doing pretty well. At Friday night’s Mars Invitational, Dorogy finished third in the 100-meter dash.

This is the first time Dorogy has run track in the spring. He has usually just played baseball. However, he has run indoor track in the winter before. In fact, during this past season, he won the 60- and 200-meter dash championships at the Tri-State Coaches Association Western Pennsylvania indoor championships.

On top of all that, Dorogy was a talented football player for Seneca Valley. He played slotback and helped Seneca Valley reach the WPIAL semifinals last spring. He made all-conference after catching 40 passes for 683 yards.

The Perfect Season

The South Park baseball team has dominated pretty much all opponents this season while compiling a perfect 16-0 record. With the WPIAL playoffs just around the corner, maybe it’s time to start thinking about the perfect season for South Park.

Since the WPIAL switched to more than one classification in baseball in 1979, only four teams have won a WPIAL championship with a perfect record. Freeport did it in 1979, Canevin in 1993, West Allegheny in 2007 and Elizabeth Forward in 2011.

Although not as dominant as South Park this season, Quaker Valley also is undefeated in WPIAL baseball with an 12-0 record. They are the only two undefeated teams in the WPIAL.

Undefeated in Softball

Four teams are undefeated in WPIAL softball. They are Seton-LaSalle (9-0), Chartiers-Houston (13-0), Deer Lakes (13-0) and Riverside (13-0).

How is the City Doing?

The City League joined the WPIAL in a few sports this school year. In baseball and softball, three City League teams joined the WPIAL – Allderdice, Brashear and Carrick. Not surprisingly, it has been a struggle for those teams.

In baseball, Allderdice, Carrick and Brashear are a combined 7-26, with only one section win. Brashear has enjoyed a little success. The Bulls are 5-7 and 1-6 in section. Brashear beat Mt. Lebanon, 3-2, and has been competitive at times. Brashear lost to Peters Township by 5-3 and 1-0.

Allderdice lost to Moon by only 7-6, Peters Township 11-10 and Shaler 4-3.

The three City softball teams have a combined record of 3-29. Brashear has two section wins and Allderdice one.

Football Hirings

Two WPIAL Class AAAA teams finally hired football coaches this week.

Canon-McMillan hired former NFL player Ron Coder Tuesday. On Wednesday, Gateway hired Donnie Militzer, who was an assistant at Carlynton the past two seasons.

Coder, who played offensive line in the NFL from 1976-80, was hired to take for Tim Sohyda, who resigned after last season.

Coder played at Penn State and was drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the NFL draft. He played with the Seattle Seahawks from 1976-79 (sat out the 1978 season with a back injury) and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980.

Coder is no stranger to coaching football in the Pittsburgh area. He coached the Pittsburgh Passion womens team to the 2007 league championship.

Canon-McMillan athletic director Guy Montecalvo has known Coder for 40 years. He was a year behind Coder on the Penn State football team.

Militzer takes over for Terry Smith, who left in January to become an assistant coach at Temple. Militzer said he would like to use the spread offense to take advantage of Gateway’s good skill-position players.

Militzer is a former player at Keystone Oaks High School. Besides Carlynton, he also has been an assistant at Bishop Canevin, Peters Township, Carnegie Mellon University and Washington & Jefferson College.

Schwartz Among All-Time Best

Maybe she hasn’t garnered that much attention, but Shaler distance runner Brianna Schwartz is having a memorable season in track.

It turns out Schwartz is one of the best 1,600 runners in WPIAL history. Her time of 4:54.15 in the 1,600 is the sixth-best all-time in the WPIAL, according to WPIAL track and field historian Jim Faiella. Does she have a chance at catching legendary Carole Zajac, who ran a 4:51.6 at Baldwin in 1990.

Schwartz also is 13^th on the WPIAL all-time list in the 3,200 with a time of 10:50.51.

Tags: Allderdice, Brashear, Canon-McMillan, Carrick, Chartiers-Houston, Deer Lakes, Gateway