A-K Valley high school notebook: Unbeaten Freeport softball celebrates section title

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 4, 2018 | 10:09 PM

Freeport didn’t celebrate anything more significant than its victory over Burrell on Tuesday.

Even though that 4-0 win clinched the Yellowjackets at least a share of the Section 1-3A championship, coach Sam Ross said the team was focusing on an even bigger picture: the outright title.

Mission accomplished there: Class 4A No. 2 Freeport claimed the outright title on Wednesday with a win over Valley, then finished off an unbeaten section record by coming from behind to beat Deer Lakes, 5-3, Thursday in extra innings.

The section title represented another significant step for Freeport (12-0, 10-0), one of two remaining undefeated teams in WPIAL softball. Even as the Yellowjackets reached the WPIAL playoffs each of the past nine seasons, they found themselves consistently behind the likes of Burrell, Deer Lakes and Valley.

This section title is Freeport’s first since 2000, when the Yellowjackets shared it with Burrell.

“Their practice, their work ethic is very hard,” Ross said. “We start in January conditioning, and it’s no picnic. The conditioning’s very, very hard. … But the girls are all hard workers. The main core never miss a practice. Their energy is always up.”

Viking coups

Not only did Valley beat rival Burrell for the first time since 2012 on Wednesday, the 4-3 victory gave the Vikings something even bigger: a share of the Section 1-3A baseball title, their first such championship since 2004.

Given that Valley last year ended a postseason drought since 2008, the section title represents another achievement for a program that experienced some lean seasons over the past decade.

“We wanted to beat our rival and position ourselves for a good playoff spot,” Valley coach Jim Basilone said.

Valley (10-5, 8-2) will share the section title with the winner of Monday’s game between Burrell (8-2, 7-2) and Steel Valley (8-5, 7-2).

Ready for some Foothills

Several football players from the Alle-Kiski Valley will play in the Westmoreland County Coaches Association’s Foothills Classic, which returned last year.

Burrell’s Jake Robertson and Seth Tatrn, Kiski Area’s Ross Greece, Kadin Harden and Jesap Wilson and Valley’s Noah Baker, Shawn Demharter and Darius Johnson all will play for the Red team in the game, scheduled for 7 p.m. June 15 at Hempfield.

Power play

Burrell and Kiski Area will return to the Powerade Wrestling Tournament, scheduled for Dec. 28 and 29 at Canon-McMillan.

The prestigious tournament, which draws top teams from across the state and country, recently released the 50 participating schools for the 2018 competition.

Burrell and Kiski Area, which won the WPIAL Class AA and AAA championships, respectively, last season, will join a field that includes defending PIAA Class AA champion Reynolds and teams from Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

On the trail

• Burrell senior Drew Cambal committed to play baseball at Pitt-Greensburg. Cambal recently returned from a knee injury that kept him out for much of the early season. He combined with teammates Jake Okopal and Zachary Miller for a no-hitter in a 12-0 victory over East Allegheny on Thursday.

Excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career next year at the University of Pitt Greensburg! Time to get to work. pic.twitter.com/KQNlVR767p

— Drew Cambal (@drewcambal21) April 29, 2018

• Freeport senior Calista Gasper signed to play volleyball for Rochester Institute of Technology. The 6-foot middle blocker/opposite hitter didn’t play for the Yellowjackets in 2017, but she competes for Westmoreland Elite.

Calista Gasper – Volleyball signing with Rochester Institute of Technology! Congratulations! #nextchapter #jacketpride @calistag_20 pic.twitter.com/NkLnZJpPSo

— Freeport Athletics (@FASD_Athletics) April 27, 2018

• Shady Side Academy junior Sky Moore, a New Kensington native, continues to draw interest from the Football Championship Subdivision level. Moore, a quarterback/defensive back who was named the Allegheny Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and Co-defensive Player of the Year in 2017, picked up offers to Holy Cross and Lehigh, adding those two to previous offers from Brown and Howard.

Honored and blessed to receive an offer from Holy Cross! ✝️#L1FECHAN9ING @Coach_DiMike @Evolve2_10ths @DC5StarAthlete pic.twitter.com/avousLJR0d

— Skyy Moore (@skyymoore_3) April 26, 2018

Grateful to receive an offer from Lehigh University. pic.twitter.com/K3pDsmwHyj

— Skyy Moore (@skyymoore_3) May 3, 2018

• Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic sophomore Tess Myers, a Lower Burrell native, received her first Division I scholarship offer Thursday from Niagara. The guard hit a buzzer-beating jumper in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game to give the Trojanettes a victory over Beaver and recently earned honorable mention all-state honors. She’s the younger sister of Burrell graduate Natalie Myers, who recently finished her sophomore season with the Youngstown State women’s basketball team.

Excited to receive my first division one offer from @NiagaraWBB !!?? Thank you @coachJada @NiagaraWBB @CoachJaySmitty @WPABruinsAAU pic.twitter.com/I7nYETDzlA

— Tess Myers (@tessmyers24) May 4, 2018

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Freeport, Kiski School, North Catholic, Shady Side Academy, Valley