Tag: California

CTK 2015 – Class A Tri-County South 7 Conference Preview

August 30, 2015

The Tri-County South is more like the Try Beating Beth-Center Conference Beth-Center moved into the Tri-County South in 2008. Since then, the Bulldogs have won the conference title five times, including four in a row. Beth-Center has lost only one conference game in the past four years. So the question is will Beth-Center’s dominance continue? Probably. The Bulldogs look to be the team to beat again, one year after they outscored conference opponents, 397-47.

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Scholastic Notebook – 05/29/2015

May 29, 2015

Spring is the time for things to bloom, right? This spring has been a time for a group of young WPIAL athletes to sprout. One of the storylines for spring sports in the WPIAL has been the young blood that has flowed through the league and made an impact. In case you didn’t notice, it has been a spring where an unusually a number of sophomores or freshmen did some terrific things in a few different sports. Let’s examine:

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Greensburg CC Dethrones California To Win First WPIAL Baseball Crown

May 26, 2015

Greensburg Central Catholic scored three times in the fifth inning to break open a tie game en route to a 6-4 victory against California, capturing the Class A Championship at Consol Energy Park. Tommy Pellis and Collin Liberatore led the way for the Centurions, who captured their first baseball title in school history. Pellis went 3-4 at the plate and scored three times, and also added a pair of sparking defensive plays at shortstop. Liberatore notched the victory for No. 2 GCC, as he threw a complete game, yielding four runs while striking out 12. Liberatore’s final strikeout came against California cleanup hitter Aaron Previsky with the tying run in scoring position.

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Scholastic Notebook – 05/15/2015

May 15, 2015

The name is Aaron, as in Hank. The hitting this baseball season has been Hank Aaron-esque. California senior Aaron Previsky had a regular season for the ages. A year ago, Norwin’s J.J. Matijevic became the first known player to win the WPIAL triple crown (first in batting average, home runs and RBIs). Previsky didn’t do that, but his regular season also was terrific. Previsky finished with a .545 batting average, which was good for 13th in the WPIAL. But he was second in home runs with six and third in runs scored with 35.

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Scholastic Notebook – 05/08/2015

May 8, 2015

You know the saying. April showers bring May flowers and Seneca Valley blooms. OK, so the last few words aren’t part of the saying. But in WPIAL baseball lately, it fits. If Reggie Jackson used to be Mr. October, then Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega is Mr. May. Seneca Valley has made it to the WPIAL Class AAAA title game four years in a row. The Raiders are believed to be the first team in almost 100 years to make the championship four consecutive seasons. Allegheny High School won six consecutive titles from 1917-22. The WPIAL baseball playoffs start next week, and a natural question is will be a drive for five for Seneca Valley?

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Scholastic Notebook – 05/01/2015

May 1, 2015

Apparently, Bo knows softball. Bo Teets is in his sixth year as the girls softball coach at Monessen High School and is conducting one of the biggest turnaround stories in the WPIAL in any sport. Earlier this week, Monessen qualified for the WPIAL Class A playoffs. It is a monumental feat for the Greyhounds when you consider this will be the first time they will be in the postseason. It’s also quite impressive when you consider how far the Greyhounds have come under Teets. Teets was hired as Monessen’s coach before the 2010 season. He took over a program that was, in a word, horrible. The Greyhounds were 9-88 in six years before Teets.

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Scholastic Notebook – 01/23/2015

January 23, 2015

Laurel High School picked a Locke a few years ago. Now, the Spartans have found the keys to winning basketball. The Laurel boys team is one of the big turnaround stories in the WPIAL this season. The Spartans are 13-3 and in second place in Section 1 of Class AA. They are the MSA Sports No. 5-ranked Class AA team. The main directing the turnaround is Ken Locke. Laurel hired him before the 2012 season and Locke, a 1995 Laurel graduate, has done a great job in turning around the Spartans.

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MSA Sports Countdown – Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2014 – 12/28/2014

December 28, 2014

It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays here at MSA Sports. It's time to look back at another high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2014. We begin our countdown with the five stories that ended up #25 through #21. {Left: Central Valley Warriors football team celebrates at Heinz Field after edging West Allegheny in the 2014 AAA football title game} #25 - Game, Set, Match and Gold The unique streak continued in 2014 for Sewickley Academy. 2009 was the last time a Panthers duo did not win gold the WPIAL boys doubles tennis tournament. back in April, the Sewickley Academy tandem of Ryan Gex and Luke Vith won gold in Class AA.

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CTK ’14: WPIAL A Tri-County South Conference Preview

August 23, 2014

Respect. The Tri-County South Conference doesn’t have much of it from the rest of WPIAL Class A, and the only way to earn it is to “show up” in the postseason. The much-maligned Tri-County South is 0-12 in playoff games the past three years. Since the 2007 season, the only Tri-County South teams to win a playoff game are Monessen and Beth-Center. But Monessen is no longer in the conference. The last Tri-County South team to win a playoff game other than Beth-Center or Monessen was Jefferson-Morgan in 2006. Will things change this year? Well, Beth-Center looks to be the cream of the crop again, but some other teams have some experienced players. Here is an overview of the Tri-County South: AVELLA EAGLES:

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2014 MSA Sports Diamond Studs Baseball All-Star Team

June 18, 2014

Blackhawk’s Brendan McKay and Norwin’s J.J. Matijevic were history makers. They did things this baseball season that hadn’t ever been done in the WPIAL before. McKay and Matijevic were so dominant and so terrific that the MSA Sports staff had trouble separating the two for Player of the Year honors. So, MSA decided to do a rare thing. They picked McKay and Matijevic as co-Player of the Year. McKay and Matijevic lead MSA’s Diamond Studs team, which is made up of the top 10 players in the WPIAL. The team is heavy with pitchers, but some of the pitchers also excelled in the field and as hitters. Here is a look at the MSA Sports Diamond Studs team as well as the co-Player of the Year. CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR

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