South Hills notes: Baldwin grad to join WPIAL Hall of Fame

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, April 21, 2018 | 12:57 AM

Notebook items from around the South Hills:

• Lee Shaffer, a 1955 Baldwin graduate, is a member of this year's WPIAL Hall of Fame class.

A 6-foot-7 forward, Shaffer starred at North Carolina, where in he was the ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 1960. He was selected fifth overall by the Syracuse Nationals in the NBA Draft, played three seasons (1961-64), and was an NBA all-star once.

Shaffer will be inducted June 2 into the WPIAL Hall of Fame with 12 other individuals and one team.

• Brentwood graduate Kaitlain Niedermeyer is in her ninth season with the Pittsburgh Passion women's football team.

Niedermeyer is an offensive/defensive tackle for the Passion.

Steel Valley graduate Tenisha Spencer, a Brentwood resident, is in her second season as a wide receiver/defensive back with the Passion.

The Passion have been in existence since 2002 and have won three national championships (2007, 2014, 2015), finishing undefeated in each of those seasons. They are playing their home games this season at Joe P. DeMichela Stadium in Imperial.

• The Baldwin boys track and field team tied for second place at the recent Tri-State Track Coaches Association invitational held at West Mifflin.

Butler took first with 62 team points, followed by Baldwin, South Fayette and Penn Hills with 46, and Gateway with 42.

The top five teams in the girls division were Butler (95), Mt. Lebanon (79), South Fayette (53.5), South Park (47) and Oakland Catholic (47).

• Thomas Jefferson graduate Megan Fitzgerald is a sophomore second baseman on the Gannon softball team.

Fitzgerald, who was injured earlier this season, was a two-sport athlete at TJ, lettering three times in softball and volleyball. As a sophomore, she helped spark the Jaguars to a WPIAL title in softball and WPIAL runner-up finish in volleyball.

In high school, Fitzgerald was a member of the National Honor Society and concert choir, and received the High School Student-Athlete Award.

• There are four seniors listed on the Baldwin girls lacrosse team roster, consisting of attacker Emily Neugebauer, midfielder Olivia Elk, defender Logan James and goalie Alana Eckels.

They are joined by seven juniors — attackers Sarah Bury, Angelina Makhoul and Gianna Teter; and defenders Jade Chalmers, Grace DeLallo, Katelyn McCallister and Alexis Shandor.

The sophomore class is represented by attacker Enkela Syla, plus midfielders Elizabeth Pro, Darryn Sleeman, Crista Sucevich and Emily Rauch. Kaitlyn Pollard is a top freshman prospect at midfield.

The Baldwin girls are coached by Cassidy Schemm, who is assisted by Sofia Shanahan.

• Thomas Jefferson's softball team was averaging close to 10 runs per game through the first month of the season.

The Jaguars opened 5-0 — all section wins — outscoring the opposition 49-12 and posting two shutouts.

• Baldwin graduates Jasmine Wicks and David Johnston are freshmen track-and-field athletes at Point Park.

Wicks is a throwing specialist; Johnston is a pole vaulter.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

Tags: Baldwin, Brentwood, Thomas Jefferson