VALLEY SPORTS HISTORY
2013
• When Phil Pergola took on the job of boys basketball coach and athletic director at California after spending 18 years coaching at Ringgold, he thought his days coaching at the Class AAA level were over. Pergola said, “I was completely happy here at California. It was a good situation for me.” Despite being happy at California, Pergola simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to relive his glory days at Ringgold. The Ringgold School Board voted unanimously to give Pergola a four-year contract as the varsity basketball coach. Pergola had this to say about the move, “It’s good to be back. This place was home for a long time.”
• Regular-season champion Bitonti’s Barristers went into the championship game of the Grebb League girls division with a handicap. The Barristers’ leading scorer Meaghan Murphy wasn’t on their roster. Fortunately, Murphy’s Belle Vernon Area teammate Phaedra DeWitt was able to pick up the slack. DeWitt scored 15 points including 10 in the second half to lead Bitonti’s to a 52-38 win over Fredericktown Butcher Shop.
2004
• Sunday – no paper.
1994
• Charleroi Ponderosa entered the Fayette County League playoffs as the West Division Champions with the second-best record in the loop. Their success didn’t faze fourth-place Canonsburg. Canonsburg scored an unearned run in the seventh inning to beat Charleroi, 4-3, in the opener of their three-game series at Vets Field. Canonsburg jumped on loser Aaron Kunder to score three runs in the first inning before Charleroi battled back to tie the game with single runs in the second, fourth, and fifth innings. Canonsburg scored the winning run on an error when Danny Alderson singled and moved to second on a sacrifice.
• The soccer season is over for the Dunlevy Redbirds. It ended with a 4-1 loss to the once-beaten Beadling Terriers in the Greater Pittsburgh Soccer League quarterfinals. Mike Dyer’s penalty kick on a controversial call on a hand ball enabled the Terriers to break a 1-1 tie in the second half. Luke Paglia scored the Redbirds goal with an assist from Joe Bosley after Eric Prex tallied the first of his two goals. Dunlevy closed the season with an overall 7-4-1 record. Beadling will go on to play Penn’s Forest in the semifinals. .
