Scholastic Notebook – 05/19/2014

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, May 19, 2014 | 1:03 AM

Seneca Valley has been the surprise team of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs. The Raiders are the No. 16 seed, but find themselves in the semifinals.

One more win and Seneca Valley will make history, but not because of their seeding.

Seneca Valley plays Pine-Richland in a semifinal game Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. A win will put Seneca Valley into the championship game for the fourth year in a row.

It has been at least 50 years since a team made it to a title game four consecutive years. In fact, it is likely that no team has ever made it to a championship four years in a row.

So far in the playoffs, Seneca Valley has knocked off No. 1 seed Hempfield, 10-5, and also No. 9 seed Shaler, 3-0.

Smith Does it All

The WPIAL playoffs didn’t go well for Penn-Trafford pitcher Tyler Smith. He was the losing pitcher in a 4-0 loss to Mt. Lebanon in the first round. But as far as the regular season goes, you could make the point that Smith might have been the WPIAL’s best all-around player – at least statistically.

Smith, a senior who has signed with Canisius, appeared just about everywhere in the WPIAL’s final regular-season statistics. He was 14^th in batting with a .516 average. He tied for fourth in home runs with five and was second in RBIs with 35. As a pitcher, he was tied for fourth in wins with a 6-2 record. And he tied for fourth in strikeouts with 66.

Ironmen Who Hit

The Steel Valley baseball team is one win away from making a WPIAL baseball championship for the first time in school history. While the Ironmen’s pitching has been impressive, their hitting has been top notch.

Steel Valley ended the regular season with four players hitting above .450. Brandon Donovan hit .521, Cole Eged .486, Andrew Chuba .483 and Derek Morrison .458.

Knocking off the King

The PIAA boys team tennis tournament might not get much attention in the Western Pennsylvania media, but Shady Side Academy pulled off a rather noteworthy feat in the finals this weekend.

Shady Side Academy defeated Conestoga, 3-2, to win the PIAA Class AAA championship. Conestoga had won three consecutive PIAA titles and had defeated Shady Side Academy, 4-1, in the title match the past two years.

Shady Side Academy winners in the title match were senior Chris Grubbs and sophomore Michael Kann at No. 1 doubles, senior Henry Cohen and junior Naveen Jain at No. 2 doubles, and junior Eric Grubbs and No. 3 singles.

Perfect Quakers II

There is a chance that there could be a perfect sweep of lacrosse championships at Quaker Valley.

Both the Quaker Valley boys and girls teams have made it to the semifinals in their respective classifications. Both teams also have undefeated records.

The Quaker Valley boys will play Canon-McMillan Monday at North Allegheny in the Division 2 semifinals. The Quaker Valley girls will play Peters Township in the Division I semifinals Tuesday at Moon.

Broken Records

The WPIAL track and field championships were held Thursday and Saturday at Baldwin. The meet was suspended Thursday because of rain and finished Saturday. A total of 10 championship meet records were set. They were:

In Class AAA boys, Upper St. Clair’s James Smith (800) and Elizabeth Forward’s Matt Bernadowski (110 hurdles).

In Class AA boys, Beaver Falls’ Dom Peretta (800).

In Class AAA girls, Shaler’s Brianna Schwartz (1,600) and Hempfield’s Maddie Holmberg (long jump).

In Class AA girls, Washington’s Alyssa Wise (100), Avonworth/Northgate’s Beth Shenck (in both the 800 and 1,600), Vincentian’s Marianne Abdalah (3,200) and Mohawk’s Maria Fleck (300 hurdles).

West Greene’s Queen of K’s

West Greene certainly isn’t known for producing many female athletes who are considered among the WPIAL’s best. But West Greene has a softball player who is doing notable things.

Bailey Bennington is only a sophomore but she has already made a gigantic impact at the school. She was fourth in the WPIAL in strikeouts last year, but she finished as the WPIAL’s strikeout leader during this regular season with 173.

Bennington also is known as an outstanding hitter.

Tags: Avonworth, Beaver Falls, Elizabeth Forward, Hempfield, Penn-Trafford Boys Baseball, Vincentian Academy, Washington, West Greene