In the third installment of the Varsity Letters' Town of Champions series, we're looking at a community with an incredible amount of recent success and strong traditions in boys soccer and baseball. Plus, it's a popular place to live for former Pittsburgh professional athletes.
Peters Township
Peters Township High School is rife with success in boys soccer and baseball. Possibly no high school team in Washington County has done more the past 25 years than Peters Township boys soccer.
The Indians won four consecutive WPIAL Class AA titles from 1986-1989 and added its first Class AAA championship in 2003. Peters Township won state championships in 1988 and 1989. It added another state title in 2007, which saw the Indians finished with a No. 12 national ranking. In addition to all the team success, Peters Township has provided a pipeline to Division I programs, particularly Pitt. Former PT standout Justin Evans (pictured), currently with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, spent several years playing in MLS.
Baseball also produced professional talent. Chris Peters pitched for the Pirates, while Brian Simmons started in the outfield for the Chicago White Sox. Jimmy Gallagher is currently in the minor leagues and Jordan Jankowski is believed to the the WPIAL's all-time home run leader.
Under the guidance of veteran coach Joe Maize, Peters Township won back-to-back WPIAL Class AAAA titles in 2007 and 2008, plus it played in the 2004 and 2005 PIAA Class AAA title games.
The Peters Township girls tennis team won the 2006 PIAA Class AAA team title and has produced two individual state champions in sisters Sarah and Alison Riske. Alison Riske is considered the nation's No. 2 college tennis prospect according to the tennisrecruiting.net. Last fall, the doubles team of Julie Stroyne and Emily Palko won a state title and, last spring, Doug Subosits and Andrew Nixon won the PIAA boys doubles championship.
With nationally recognized recruit Emily Correal, the girls basketball team played for its first WPIAL title in 2008.
Lastly, former PT wrestler and trackster Mike Friedman is part of the United States Cycling team representing our country at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
10 comments:
Does anyone else think that Jordan Chocolate Truffles Jankowski will flop in college?
I think it is tough to say what JJ will do in college. His swing became very slow and long this summer which is why he struggled for most of the wpebl season. He also seemed to put on a little more weight (not the good kind) and I think that will be a constant struggle for him in college. Can he stay away from the all-you-can eat cafeteria food? I think it is highly unlikely given that boy loves to eat more than those 4th of july hot dog people. Does he have talent? yes. Is he strong? yes. So does he have a chance to succeed ? yes. However, I think college is going to be a big wakeup for him and considering he'll be playing on legitimate fields (in terms of length) his "power" could be neutralized. Peterswood Park is notorious for it's short fences and "jet stream" that allows balls to release in the gaps. My prediction for Jankowski is a tough freshman year: .240 batting average, 5 homeruns, twice as many strikeouts as walks.
On a side note, it will be interesting to see which teams fares better, Miami(OH) with JJ or Kent State with Jimmy Rider.
Saghy,
I agree with most of what you said. I think the hype-monster has gotten a hold of J"CT"J and has led to unrealistic expectations. Keep in mind that the best pitchers he has faced during the last three seasons have owned him! Brian Muransky, JJ Hoover, and Andy Kountz. Those are premium guys and JJ has yet to prove he can hit premium guys with regularity.
muransky didn't "own" him... JJ did take him deep. O-field.
Merril,
Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn. That was the only hit the fat man got off of him all season (including summer ball).
Muransky didn't have too many hits off husky man either tho. Choco Taco will be fine in college. Stop hating and maybe even root him on a little.
Thank you Merril.
I just don't understand why people are still taking digs at Jankowski. Move on.
It was old three months ago.
It's the CM fans envy that never goes away. They are on here hoping a KID fails in college. JJ is a great KID that had an incredible high school career and EARNED a scholarship to college to play ball.
How about getting over yourselves CM fans and getting the slightest sliver of class and wishing this KID good luck.
PATHETIC!
state champs?
I just discovered this blog and, as an advid WPIAL sports fan, I was quite pleased to discover it. As I went through past posts, I discovered this article and it begs the question, "what WPIAL schools have the best soccer traditions of all-time?" Certainly Peters Township is up there, but other teams for consideration should be Mt. Lebo, Chartiers Valley, Bethel Park, South Park, Thomas Jefferson and perhaps Seton La-Salle. As an All-WPIAL player from CV, I may be a bit biased, but consider the talent we have recently produced, in addition to multiple WPIAL and section titles. In the past ten years, we have produced multiple all-americans, regional all-americans, and all-state players, in addition to countless ALL-WPIAL and ALL-Section players.Moreover, we currently have two players on the Riverhounds.Just food for thought.
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