Blogger's note: Final thoughts on the local 2011 football season are being formulated and will appear soon.
Two of the area's premier high school baseball players - Nick Riotto and Stephen McCaw - recently made commitments to college programs.
Riotto, a junior from Trinity, will play at Penn State. McCaw, a senior from Waynesburg, will play for Mercyhurst.
Riotto burst onto the high school scene as a freshman with a .500-plus batting average and big-time numbers. The lefty landed a spot on the Observer-Reporter All-District team that year. His batting average dipped during his sophomore season as Trinity missed the playoffs, but Riotto continued to play well in fall and summer leagues.
McCaw was the leading hitter for a Waynesburg team that reached the WPIAL Class AA championship last season, and a standout defensive catcher. He earned WPIAL Class AA Player of the Year honors.
* The Peters Township girls soccer team is one win from reaching the PIAA Class AAA championship for the third time in four years.
That's extraordinary.
Peters Township plays Upper St. Clair in tonight's semifinals. The two split a pair of games, with PT winning during the regular season and USC winning in the WPIAL championship match.
There's no doubt that Peters Township is the WPIAL's premier athletic power in what can be labeled as "non-revenue" sports.
What's the Indians' best fall program?
Over time, it's been boys soccer. Lately, girls soccer, girls tennis and boys golf has joined the conversation.
* Avella's difficulties filling a football roster with able bodies is well-documented. That wasn't always the case at the tiny school in the Western foothills of Washington County.
Avella will host Burgettstown Sunday in an Alumni Football USA event. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. and, with the Steelers on a bye week, a crowd of at least 1,000 is expected.
Players from the 1980s, 90s and 2000s will suit up for the Eagles, who have a roster of 45 players. That's about three times larger than the numbers of players head coach Ryan Cecchini, who will start at linebacker, had for the Eagles' regular season finale at Bentworth.
4 comments:
I hate to say it, but Avella may just want to can football. Doesnt look like things are going to improve out there.
Mike, Did you know that the Trinity School Board is opening up all of the football coaching positions this Thursday?
Burgettstown hopes to improve its "alumni football record" to 2-0 tomorrow night. In 2010, Burgettstown edged Fort Cherry by a score of 9-8.
Go Devils!
I'm going to put this here because Mike wanted to keep only Trinity talk on that one post. But I disagree with him on the point that even a great coach can't turn around a program like Mapletown. My argument is simply, look at the job Chuck Wagner did at Springdale. He took a perennial loser and made them into one heck of a program. Look at the job Rich Bowen did at Elizabeth Forward, Yough, and Serra Catholic.
I think time and patience, plus a system that works, and everyone on board from the School Board, to the AD, to the Midget Program is key to having a successful program. So give a guy like Art Walker 10 years, and I'd guarantee that Mapletown would be a Class A power.
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