What we are watching as baseball and softball get started
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By JEREMY SELLEW 
March 13, 2025
It’s time for Mother Nature to start warming up and for our local athletes to get back on the field. Tomorrow is the official start of the spring regular season as local high school baseball and softb...
Four starters returning for Tigers
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By JEFF OLIVER MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
McKeesport coach Sam Ligeros will rely on fundamentals to improve after last year’s 2-15 season. A year ago, the McKeesport baseball team struggled through a tough 2-15 season in 4A. This season, the ...
Tigers softball gets huge challenge with move to 5A
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By JEFF OLIVER MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
Coach Troy Thomas will rely on his daughter to serve as the pitching ace. McKeesport softball coach Troy Thomas must be wondering what he did to upset the WPIAL. In 2024, playing in 4A, the Tigers wer...
Rapsky eager to revive Hounds’ baseball program
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By JEFF OLIVER MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
He’s encouraged by the turnout as Monessen has more than 20 players on its roster. Frank Rapsky could have probably chosen a better situation for his first-ever varsity head coaching job, He was hired...
Monessen softball has wealth of young talent
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By JEFF OLIVER MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
Juniors Joey Hurst and Grace Clingenpeel powered the Greyhounds’ offense last season. Brandon Yorty has a problem that a lot of coaches would like to have. The Monessen softball coach says he may have...
Rams need to get better at winning close games
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By LIAM BELAN lbelan@yourmvi.com 
March 13, 2025
That’s one of the objectives for Jeff Lander as he begins his second season as head coach. In the first year of Jeff Lander’s tenure as Ringgold’s baseball coach last season, the Rams went 8-12 and ma...
Winter workouts provide hope for Ringgold softball
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By LIAM BELAN lbelan@yourmvi.com 
March 13, 2025
The Rams are trying to learn how to win after going 2-14 last season. When Ringgold softball coach Kaitlin Kenney took over the helm for the first time last season, she knew that she had her work cut ...
Serra Catholic eyes title run in loaded 1A section
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By ANDREW WHITE, MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
The Eagles are built around a deep and talented pitching staff. After a dominant 17-4 season, including an undefeated 12-0 record in section play, Serra Catholic baseball is ready to build on its lega...
Opferman eyes three-peat in first season as coach
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By LIAM BELAN lbelan@yourmvi.com 
March 13, 2025
She inherits a successful program from former coach Denny Willaman. The Serra Catholic softball team will be undergoing some changes this season, but the expectations will remain the same. Longtime co...
Expectations keep rising in Pohodich’s third season
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By By LIAM BELAN lbelan@yourmvi.com 
March 13, 2025
South Allegheny has two “shutdown pitchers” returning after winning the section in 2024. When South Allegheny baseball coach Gib Pohodich was hired, he laid out the results that he expected from his p...
Connellsville at Frazier
First Pitch, High school, Sports
PRESEASON SNAPSHOTS
Photos by Jake Layhue / MVI Sports
March 13, 2025
TJ motivated by memory of WPIAL semifinal loss
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By ANDREW WHITE, MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
The Jaguars are still loaded with talent as they aim for another long playoff run. Coming off a strong 19-5 season, the Thomas Jefferson baseball team is preparing for a new challenge as it moves up t...
Jaguars enter season with target on their backs
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By ANDREW WHITE, MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
As defending PIAA champs, they know they’re an important game for every team they face. The Thomas Jefferson softball team is preparing for the new season, aiming to build on last year’s historic stat...
Titans taking tradition of success to new section
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By ANDREW WHITE, MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
Coach Jeff Kuzma has to replace his pitching ace and top two hitters from last season. The West Mifflin baseball team enters the 2024 season with high expectations, looking to extend its streak of fou...
Plenty of talent returns for West Mifflin softball
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By ANDREW WHITE, MVI Sports 
March 13, 2025
Rylie Dobnak was the Titans’ top hitter and pitcher last season. Coming off an 11-9 season and a third-place finish in section play, the West Mifflin softball team enters 2025 with high hopes and plen...
COACHES KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON THINGS!
First Pitch, High school, Sports
March 13, 2025
Photos by Jeff Helsel & Mike Darnay
Cougars ready to rebound after down season in 2024
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By ADAM BREWER MVI SPORTS 
March 13, 2025
Coach Dan Palm want his team to challenge for the section title. It was a transition year last spring for the Yough baseball team, as the Cougars had a lineup full of underclassmen. After losing only ...
Harvey confident despite two serious injury losses
First Pitch, High school, Sports
By JEREMY SELLEW 
March 13, 2025
Star shortstop Adoria Waldier and pitching ace Kylee Fisher will both miss the season. With the news Yough head coach Dutch Harvey got prior to the season, one would think he wouldn’t be smiling as mu...
VALLEY PITCHERS READY TO BRING THE HEAT
First Pitch, High school, Sports
Belle Vernon Area • Bentworth • California • Charleroi • Clairton • Elizabeth Forward • Frazier • McKeesport
Monessen • Ringgold • Serra Catholic • South Allegheny • Thomas Jefferson • West Mifflin • Yough
March 13, 2025
High school, Sports, Sports Columns
SPORTLIGHT
By By JEFF OLIVER MVI Sports 
March 10, 2025
By now, sports fans throughout the tristate area are aware of the wild melee that broke out during Friday night’s Uniontown-Meadville PIAA playoff game. With just over three minutes to play and Meadvi...