VALLEY SPORTS HISTORY

2014

• The Class AAA softball quarterfinals proved to be a real nail-biter. Inning after inning, number two ranked South Fayette managed to put runners on base against the Elizabeth Forward, but couldn’t manage to bring anyone home. The game remained deadlocked at 0-0 until the seventh-ranked Warriors’ bats came alive in the seventh inning with five runs on seven hits to surge to a 5-0 upset victory. This is Elizabeth Forward’s second trip to the semis in three years. Warriors coach Harry Rutherford said, “That’s how we’ve been doing it all year. One big inning has been our trademark this year.”

• The Charleroi Area school board didn’t have to look far to find a new varsity football coach. The board voted unanimously to hire Donnie Militzer, principal of nearby Madonna Catholic Regional Catholic School in Monongahela. A Dormont resident, Militzer replaces Ed Jenkins, who resigned last month for health reasons after coaching the team for two years. School director Charles Yakich said, “It was his resume and I just thought he had more enthusiasm than anyone else. It’s about getting the numbers built back up and getting more people interested in the program.” Militzer coached at Gateway last season and had an 8-3 record.

2004

• Ringgold’s Bev Rogers has been throwing the javelin with a painful biceps injury. Rogers said, “It’s like a throbbing pain after I release it. I think I’m trying too hard and thinking too much. I don’t really consider this an injury because it’s not keeping me out of anything.” Despite the pain in her arm, the Ringgold senior won her second consecutive championship at the Class AAA individual WPIAL tournament at Baldwin and guaranteed herself a spot in the PIAA Class AAA Championships at Shippensburg State University. Her throw of 141 feet, 5 inches set a new WPIAL record.

Belle Vernon Area’s softball team expressed frustration with a 3-0 no-hit loss to Valley in a Class AA first-round playoff game. The source of their frustration was Valley pitcher Katy Francart, who has mastered a fastball that rises as it crosses the plate and is virtually impossible to hit. BVA’ Jillian Kunka said, “That rise really just killed us. If we could have only just hit that pitch, it would have been a much better game for us. It was that movement that got us.” Francart was approaching a perfect game when she walked Aston Neil in the sixth inning.

1994

• Brian Evans has played his last baseball game for Belle Vernon Area, but his playing days are far from over. This summer Evans will play on two local teams, West Newton’s American Legion team and Monongahela’s Palomino Club. After that he’s headed to Ohio to play college ball at NCAA Division III perennial powerhouse Marietta. Evans said, “It’s a good school with a good program. He lettered three years with the Leopards as an infielder and was named to the Section 2 first team. Evans was one of the few bright spots in BVA’s lineup. He was the team’s leading hitter with a .439 average while scoring 18 runs and driving in 14.