Friday, March 6, 2009

Clearing out the notebook













Some interesting developments in WPIAL football.

Seneca Valley recently hired Don Holl as its football coach, a position once rumored to be filled by former Pitt and Stanford coach Walt Harris. Holl resigned as Cathedral Prep's (Erie) coach following four season.

Holl's departure, along with an opening at McDowell High School in Erie, leaves two open positions at two of the more recognizable schools in District 10.

Anyone remember last year when rumors swirled around Trinity football coach/athletic director Ed Dalton leaving for Erie? Chances are they've started again.

No matter what happens – the guess here is Dalton stays – but there's no denying he's made serious strides with Trinity's program. In addition to the youth program, Dalton has constructed Trinity into an annual WPIAL playoff team. Did anyone think that was possible?

And, oh yeah, he's getting his players opportunities to play college football, whether it comes at Ohio State or Denison.

  • South Fayette boys basketball is in the PIAA playoffs for the fourth time and the Lions face a tough first-round matchup in Mercyhurst Prep tomorrow at Edinboro University at 7:30 p.m. In its previous three trips to states, South Fayette has won at least one game each occasion and it reached the quarterfinals in 2002 and 1985. In 2002, the Lions lost to Mercyhurst Prep in the quarters.
  • Washington, Ringgold and Bentworth remain without a head football coach. I've heard Ringgold is close to making a hire – there are two finalists according to my sources. At Wash High, there's little to report.
  • At some point during the PIAA Class AA boys basketball playoffs, Washington's Ron Faust will have coached his last game for the Prexies following a wildly successful 28 years. Faust, who has coached four WPIAL and two PIAA championship teams in addition to winning more than 500 games, is one of the state's all-time great high school basketball coaches. Faust never received the credit that others did. That's probably just the way he's wanted it.
  • Spring sports teams have been through five practices to date, meaning the first play date – March 16 for boys tennis and March 20 for all other spring sports – is rapidly approaching. Four stories I will be keeping a close eye on are: 1. Trinity baseball. With seniors Alex Frey, Tyler Schrader and Evan Bukowski, the Hillers can improve upon last year's second-place finish at WPIALs and possibly play for a state title; 2. Carmichaels baseball. Joby Lapkowicz, Chuck Gasti and Bill Musgrove give the Mikes a pitching staff that would make some Quad-A teams envious. If the Mikes can average three to four runs per game, it could be another championship season in Greene County; 3. Chartiers-Houston boys tennis. The Bucs field a team led by Karli and Tanya Timko; 4. Canon-McMillan's baseball coaching situation.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike, I can assure you and all of your readers that the Coaches, players, and fans of South Fayette basketball have the utmost respect for Coach Faust and for the manner in which he has conducted himself over his long career. He always managed to be both a fierce competitor and a gentleman at the same time. While he may never have sought out praise or publicity, he always earned everyone's respect by the way he carried himself and by the way he treated his players.

Anonymous said...

Well from being around Wash High basketball for awhile I can tell you first hand that Mr. Faust did it the right way. Forget all the basketball that he taught, it was the life skills that he taught them that made the difference. Even though some went astray, all of them respected Mr. Faust. He showed no favorites and everyone was disciplined the same from the day he started coaching till last weekend when he sat there leading scorer for being late. There were some many kids that did't even grace the floor at WH because of attitude and discipline issues. Everybody was subject to the three strike rule. Believe it or not, he even taught parents lessons along the way. People will not truly appreciate what he brought to the table until he is gone. They may hire another coach, but they will never hire another Ron Faust. Considering there it is boat load of talent to hit the high in the next couple of years, this is our final plea for him to stay on as coach. If not, we wish him and his wife the best.

Anonymous said...

Who will become the football coach at Bentworth?

Anonymous said...

I cannot wait till this years high school baseball season! the seniors this year on the local teams are great to watch.. some of the best games ive seen were during last years playoffs... Im excited to see how Trinity does. Mike, of the four local powerhouses ( Canon Mac, Trinity, Peters, and Carmichaels) who do you think has the best chance of winning a state title. Which players do you think will be the X-factor for those teams?

Anonymous said...

does it matter who the football coach at bentworth is? Regardless they wont finish any higher than 4th in that conference.

Anonymous said...

Good Luck Hillers on the upcoming season!!

Anonymous said...

According to a good source within the Trinity Baseball organization, Coach Bristor has not been approached about the head coach position nor has he applied for the job.
However, I was then afformed that Coach Ryan Daloia, (Bristor's Assistant Coach), was contacted by Guy Montecalvo and has since applied for the position and is expected to be named the new CM Coach this week.