Scholastic Notebook – 05/02/2014

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 2, 2014 | 1:27 PM

There are multi-sport athletes in the WPIAL who compete in more highly-visible sports than North Hills’ Noah Bostick. But as far as the number of sports and excelling in them, Bostick has few peers.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say Bostick is most one of the best all-around athletes in the WPIAL. He is a young man for all seasons – and then some. You don’t see many three-sport athletes these days at large schools. But Bostick is more than a three-sport athlete.

He actually competes in four sports, and does well in all of them.

During the spring, Bostick competes in volleyball and track and field. He is expected to compete Friday in the Baldwin Invitational, one of the largest track and field meets in the eastern part of the country. Bostick is tied for the second-best high jump this spring in WPIAL Class AAA at 6 feet 4. But he is also 13^th in the long jump at 21 feet, ¼ inch, ninth in the 110 hurdles (15.28 seconds) and 11^th in the 300 (41.48).

North Hills hasn’t had much to speak of in volleyball for years, but Bostick still stands out in volleyball. He was a third-team all-WPIAL selection last year.

In the fall, Bostick played soccer and was an all-section pick.

But let’s not stop there. In the winter for four years, he competed as a diver and won the WPIAL Class AAA diving championship as a senior.

An impressive athletic resume, to say the least. In the future, though, Bostick will cut down on the number of sports. He has signed to compete in track and field at Slippery Rock University.

About the Baldwin Invitational

Friday is the 41^st Baldwin Invitational and the meet starts in the afternoon. More than 1,500 athletes will be in the meet, representing 150 teams (boys and girls).

The field event finals will last throughout the day and night. Finals for running events are expected to begin around 6:30.

The undefeated

Heading into games Friday, there were still three undefeated teams in WPIAL baseball and two in WPIAL softball.

The undefeated baseball teams are Neshannock (15-0), California (14-0), and Vincentian Academy (12-0). The undefeated softball teams are Deer Lakes (10-0) and Beaver (10-0).

In baseball, since the WPIAL went to two classifications in 1979, only five teams have won a WPIAL title with an undefeated record – Freeport in 1979, Canevin in 1993, West Allegheny in 2007, Elizabeth Forward in 2011 and South Park in 2013. No WPIAL team has ever won a PIAA title with an undefeated record.

Wells Resigns at South Park

One of the good guys of WPIAL basketball has resigned.

Reggie Wells, a man seemingly liked by everyone, resigned as South Park’s girls coach earlier this week. Wells, 57, spent time as both the boys and girls coaches at South Park and enjoyed success with both teams.

He was 176-62 in nine years as the girls coach and won two WPIAL titles in 2008 and 2013. He also won the 2013 PIAA Class AAA championship. His team this year made it to the WPIAL Class AAA title game.

Wells coached the South Park boys from 1997-2002 and twice led the Eagles to the WPIAL Class AAA championship game.

Wells, an outstanding player during his days at Clarion University, is in the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Former Burgettstown Coach Dies

There was sad news earlier this week with the sudden death of Brendan Cypher.

Cypher, age 29, was a standout basketball player at Chartiers-Houston, playing for his father, Jerry. Brendan holds a number of school records.

In 2008, at age 24, Brendan was hired as Burgettstown’s boys basketball coach. He had to coach a few times against his father. Brendan spent three years as coach of the Blue Devils and led them to the WPIAL playoffs all three years. Cypher’s cause of death was undetermined.

East-West Game

Some of the top high school senior football players in Pennsylvania will be playing at Franklin Regional Sunday at 2 p.m. in the East-West all-star game.

The game is for top players who weren’t selected to participate in June’s Big 33 Football Classic. The coach of the West team is South Allegheny’s Pat Monroe.

The game is sponsored by the Allegheny Health Network and the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association. One of the West team quarterbacks is Charan Singh of Franklin Regional. The other West quarterbacks are Pat Irwin of State College and Tyler Hildebrand of Littlestown.

A few other top WPIAL players in the game are Delvon Randall of Gateway, Jimmy Wheeler of West Mifflin and Colin Jonov of Franklin Regional.

Where Are They Now?

Mount Lebanon graduate Josh Wilson is still making a go of it in Major League Baseball.

Wilson, age 33, is playing shortstop for the Texas Rangers, his eighth team in 11 years in the major leagues. He is doing OK this season, too, hitting .273 (15 of 55) with three doubles and seven RBIs.

In his career, Wilson has played three years in Arizona, two in Seattle and one each with Texas, Tampa Bay, San Diego, Washington, Florida and Milwaukee.

Tags: Beaver, Burgettstown, California, Chartiers-Houston, Deer Lakes, Franklin Regional, Gateway, Vincentian Academy, West Mifflin