VALLEY SPORTS HISTORY
2014
• Mark Sever, 22, of West Newton is just beginning his second year of premier late model racing but he is having a big impact on some of the veteran drivers. The young driver is currently second in points at Motordrome Speedway in Smithton. Despite his youth, Sever isn’t over confident. He said, “Competition has been getting tougher each week since quality and car counts have doubled in my late model division this month.” For a young man, Sever has a lot of time behind the wheel; he started racing go-karts when he was just 8 years old and he began racing stock cars in his teens. Sever was a standout football player at Yough and is pursuing an engineering degree at WVU.
2004
• Sunday – no paper.
1994
• There’s nothing like a seven-run inning to break a two-game losing streak. After starting their Fayette County League season off with six straight wins, the wheels fell off for Charleroi Ponderosa as they lost their next two games. Charleroi exploded for seven runs in the first inning on their way enroute to a 12-5 win over Connellsville. They wasted no time breaking their two game slump by registering back to back home runs. After Christian Conte broke the game open with a double, Gary Riley, Frank Francia and Mike Conte slammed home runs. By the inning’s end, Charleroi had sent 11 batters to the plate and took a 7-0 lead.
• The red-hot Charleroi American Legion team ran up its record to 4-1 with an 18-1 romp over Brownsville in a league contest. Charleroi scored 33 runs on 31 hits in their last two games. Leading the way for Charleroi was Chris Hega, who had four hits including two doubles.
Russ Poziviak added a home run and Jason Kon, Ryan Rullo and Josh Skomsky each tallied two hits. On the mound, J.J. Kootsouradis produced a strong pitching effort going the distance while allowing just three hits. Kootsouradis struck out nine and walked three.
