Tag: Leechburg

Scholastic Notebook – 05/06/2016

May 6, 2016

It was against lowly competition, and each game lasted only five innings. But still, the recent pitching performances of Zach Bowen were ones for the national record book. Bowen is a sophomore at Serra Catholic who pitched back-to-back perfect games. Both games were blowouts and lasted only five innings because of the 10-run rule. Bowen’s first perfect game came April 27 against Clairton in a 17-0 win. Then this past Monday, Bowen pitched another perfect game in another 17-0 win, this time against Geibel Catholic. According to the National Federation of High School Associations record book, only two other pitchers are known to have thrown consecutive perfect games. Mike Bradley of Fort Bragg, Cal., did it in 1991 and Anthony Velasquez of Bayside, N.Y., in 2006.

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WPIAL Alum Q&A – Matt Barto

October 26, 2015

Over the past several weeks, the WPIAL Alum Q&A has focused on athletes who excel in a variety of fall sports, including football, soccer, girls’ volleyball and tennis. For this week’s edition, golf comes to the forefront, with the spotlight on former Leechburg High School champion Matt Barto. In addition to capturing the section championship in all four years at Leechburg, Barto captured the Class AA Individual Championship in both his junior and senior years with the Blue Devils. In 2012, Barto shot a one-over 73 at Youghiogheny Country Club to capture the title, and the following year, he won in a playoff after shooting a round of 75 at Sewickley Heights Golf Club.

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CTK 2015 – Class A Eastern Conference Preview

August 27, 2015

The landscape of the Eastern Conference changed drastically in 2014 as a result of realignment, as two strong AA teams, Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette, dropped down in classification. Those teams, combined with Clairton and Monessen, as well as historically successful Springdale, appeared to comprise perhaps the most top-loaded conference in the WPIAL. When the season concluded, though, there was no competition for the conference champion. Last season will always be remembered for the sheer and utter dominance displayed by the Clairton Bears. The team posted some of the most lopsided victories in recent memory, and the Bears culminated their season with a WPIAL Championship.

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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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CTK ’14: WPIAL A Eastern Conference Preview

August 24, 2014

In the new-look Eastern Conference, four teams return while there are five news kids on the block. But with the pedigree of most of the newcomers, you can see why they are considered the Fearsome Foursome. Here is the resume for the five new entrants into the Eastern Conference. Ten WPIAL football championships in the last eight years, two perennial powers in Class AA moving down to Class A and a team that set a district and state record 66-game winning streak along with the team that eventually broke that historic run. This could mean a tough 2014 campaign for Eastern traditionalists Leechburg, Riverview, Springdale and Wilkinsburg who finished a combined 8-28 a year ago and were all home listening to the postseason on MSA Sports.

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Scholastic Notebook – 01/24/2014

January 24, 2014

All of a sudden, the menu of top boys basketball teams in WPIAL Class AAAA Section 4 has Big Macs on it. The Canon-McMillan Big Macs have pushed their way into a tie for the Section 4 lead with Upper St. Clair. The two teams meet tonight in a big game. Although Section 4 isn’t strong this year, nothing should take away from the Big Macs’ surge. They were 3-4 at one point this season and have since won seven of eight. Of the last five wins, Canon-McMillan has give up 46 points or less in four of those games. Canon-McMillan has a legitimate shot at a section title. Section title and Canon-McMillan usually aren’t mentioned in the same sentence.

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WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for Week Seven

October 12, 2013

The nerves are a little more active when you hit the 'Stretch Run' of the high school football season as each game takes on more meaning. Some teams have been known to wilt and struggle under said pressure, while others thrive and succeed toward the second season. Here are the top performance from what was another rain free, yet a tad damp Friday night as these players put a damper on their opponents Week Seven.Doug Altavilla and Nick Barca and Luke Smorey - Baldwin

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Leechburg’s Barto Repeats as WPIAL Boys Class AA Golf Champ

September 25, 2013

Leechburg’s Matt Barto defended his WPIAL Class AA golf title and became the ninth player ever to win the title in two consecutive years. Among others, the senior Barto joins Arnold Palmer in accomplishing this back-to-back feat. Barto shot a 3-over 75 at the Sewickley Heights Golf Club, which tied Charleroi’s Gunnar Riley and forced a sudden death playoff. Barto birdied the first hole (10th hole) of the playoff to claim the title. Barto is the first player to win consecutive titles since Mike Van Sickle from Pine Richland did so in 2003 and 2004.

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Scholastic Notebook – 09/20/2013

September 20, 2013

Now that Shai McKenzie’s football career is over, it’s time to reflect on how good of a running back he was at Washington High School. Going strictly by statistics, it’s not an overstatement to say McKenzie was one of the best of all time in the WPIAL.McKenzie’s senior season is finished because of a torn ACL sustained in last Friday’s game against Charleroi. He was scheduled to have surgery Friday.McKenzie finished his career with 4,856 yards on 493 carries and 77 touchdowns. The yardage is the 15th best in WPIAL history. Had he stayed healthy, there is a good chance McKenzie would have become only the fifth running back in WPIAL history to reach 6,000 career yards.

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CTK 2013 – WPIAL Single-A Eastern Conference Preview

August 25, 2013

One record setting streak ended in the Eastern Conference last fall while another overall slide continues into this 2013 campaign.While all eyes were on Clairton’s WPIAL and PIAA record winning streak, the longest losing streak in WPIAL history came to an end last fall when West Shamokin finally put a game in the ‘W’ column. The Wolves snapped a 46-game, five year losing streak that dated back to 2007 when they knocked off the Riverview Raiders 25-6 in Week 3. West Shamokin liked the feeling so much, they won two more games before the season ended.

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