South Fayette’s historic repeat highlights 2014
ELEANOR BAILEY/STAFF ¬ Brett Brumbaugh hoists high the PIAA Class AA trophy. The senior quarterbacked South Fayette to 32 straight victories and back-to-back state championships on his way to setting the all-time passing record in the state.
Jack Relihan kisses the PIAA Class AA trophy while J.J. Walker, left, and Ryan Schmider are all smiles. South Fayette defeated Dunmore, 28-16, to claim a second straight state title and cap a 16-0 season. South Fayette owns a 32-game win streak.
Peters Township soccer players, from left, Ryan Ponchione, Nicco Mastrangelo, Mario Mastrangelo, Dylan Weyers and Rylen Faloni hoist the PIAA Class AAA boys soccer championship trophy after defeating Great Valley, 2-1. It was Peters Township’s fourth state title.
No driver in harness racing history has won more races than The Meadows’ Dave Palone.
Photo by Pierce Marratto ¬ To help support his brother, Pierce Marratto designed a t-shirt that will be sold to help raise money for Luke Blanock. Those interested in purchasing the shirt can email carla.marrato@gmail.com to order. The shirts cost $15.
Avella’s Jake Temple reacts after defeating West Branch’s Buzzy Maines during a 220-pound finals match in the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships March 8 in Hershey. Temple finished his senior season with a 43-0 record.
Daniel Poma, left, and Garrett Rau played key roles in getting the Washington Wild Things back to the Frontier League playoffs for the first time since 2007.
South Fayette football players celebrate after receiving their trophy for defeating Aliquippa, 31-22, and capturing their second straight WPIAL Class AA championship.
Associated Press Avella's Jake Temple reacts after defeating West Branch's Buzzy Maines during a 220-pound finals match in the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships in Hershey in march. Temple was one of three local state champions in 2014 and the only one with an undefeated record.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter ¬ South Fayette's Brett Brumbaugh holds up the WPIAL Trophey after South Fayette beat Aliquippa.
Luke with Jackson Pistner
The South Fayette High School football team’s unlikely run to second consecutive WPIAL and PIAA Class AA championships, which was capped by a 28-16 come-from-behind victory over Dunmore in the state final earlier this month in Hershey, was voted the top local sports story of 2014 by the sports staff of the Observer-Reporter.
Here is this year’s Top 10 list:
1.South Fayette made history Dec. 13 when it defeated Dunmore, 28-16, to win the PIAA Class AA championship.
The win extended the Lions’ winning streak to 32 games and they became the first Class AA program to repeat as state champion. It was South Fayette’s second state championship and third title game appearance in five years.
South Fayette’s offense was again one of the best in the state as the Lions averaged 43.9 points per game. They swept through the Century Confence before WPIAL playoff victories over Waynesburg, South Park and Seton-La Salle to earn a rematch with Aliquippa at Heinz Field. The Lions defeated the Quips, 31-22, to win their second consecutive WPIAL title and fifth in program history.
Junior running back Hunter Hayes, who rushed for 2,103 yards and 33 touchdowns, formed an unstoppable tandem with senior quarterback Brett Brumbaugh, who rewrote the WPIAL and PIAA record books. Brumbaugh became the WPIAL and PIAA’s all-time leading passer. Brumbaugh broke the state mark set by Matt Bodamer of Port Allegany in 2012 with a 54-yard touchdown pass against Hickory in the PIAA semifinals.
Brumbaugh finished his career with 11,084 passing yards – the first quarterback in PIAA history to reach 11,000 passing yards – and 127 career touchdowns, which is second all-time behind Bodamer.
2.California University’s football team saw its path to the West Division title and a spot in the State Game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Association evaporate following an alleged attack by football players against a man outside a California restaurant in Week 8.
Six players were arrested after the attack, which sent the man to the hospital with what was described as a “severe brain injury.” He was released from the hospital later in the week.
Geraldine Jones, interim president at Cal, canceled the PSAC West game against Gannon, forcing the Vulcans to forfeit the game and later fall out of first place in the division. It is believed to be the first forfeit in Cal’s football history.
The Vulcans finished the regular season with a 59-49 loss to Mercyhurst in Erie before beating Lock Haven in the PSAC crossover week.
3.The Wild Things returned to the Frontier League playoffs for the first time since 2007. At the best, the Wild Things were unpredictable. At their worst, they were amazingly dysfunctional. They were, however, never boring.
The Wild Things ended runs of six consecutive years without a playoff appearance and five straight losing seasons by finishing 57-39 in the competitive East Division and defeating Evansville in a one-game wild-card playoff at the Otters’ 100-year-old Bosse Field. Washington was eliminated in the semifinals by River City.
Second-year manager Bart Zeller guided Washington to a 31-19 record but unexpectedly resigned July 13, one day before the all-star break. The resignation came the morning after Zeller and pitching coach Kevin Gryboski got into a physical altercation in the dugout during a game against Florence.
The Wild Things went without a manager for two weeks, using a coach-by-committee approach. Hitting coach Bob Didier, a former major leaguer catcher and coach, resigned Aug. 2. Later that day, long-time assistant coach Bob Bozzuto was promoted to manager and did an excellent job keeping the players’ focus on the task at hand, which was making the playoffs.
The highlight of the season was pitcher Matt Sergey throwing the first perfect game in the Frontier League’s 22-year history when he retired all 27 Gateway batters in an Aug. 24 game at Consol Energy Park.
Two players, outfielders Stewart Ijames (Arizona) and C.J. Beatty (Chicago White Sox) were signed by major league organizations during the season. Following the Wild Things’ ouster from the playoffs, pitchers Troy Marks and Al Yevoli were sold to the Diamondbacks.
4.Peters Township continued to make its mark as one of the most dominant programs in WPIAL soccer. The Indians won the WPIAL Class AAA title with a 5-1 victory over Upper St. Clair at Highmark Stadium.
They did not allow a goal in the ensuing three state playoff games and defeated Great Valley, 2-1, to win the program’s fourth state title and finish the season with a 22-2 record.
Senior strikers Mario and Nicco Mastrangelo combined for 48 goals and were all-state selections to lead Peters Township’s attack, which scored 86 goals. Defensively, the Indians only allowed six goals all season including four in six playoff games.
5.After setting the North American record for victories in harness racing history two years ago, Dave Palone set the world record for wins in November.
Palone got career win 16,754 to surpass the mark of 16,753 held by Germany’s Heinz Wewering. The record-breaking victory came with Missy Tap Tina in the 15th and final race of the day at The Meadows Racetrack. Palone has added to his lead since that race as the 64-year-old Wewering drives a limited schedule now.
Two years ago, Palone drove Herculotte Hanover, a 2-year-old filly who never competed in a pari-mutuel race before, to the winner’s circle at The Meadows for victory No. 15,181. That broke the North America record held by Herve Fillion of Canada.
6.Two of the last members of Canon-McMillan High School’s state championship team finished their varsity career by winning PIAA titles and a third local wrestler had an undefeated season in Class AA.
Dalton Macri roared through the 126-pound weight class by winning four bouts, the final one a 5-1 decision over Zach Valley of Northampton for the gold medal. Macri finished the season with a 40-2 record.
Solomon Chishko went through another injury plagued season but managed to regain his health in time to win a second straight championship. Chishko capped a 27-3 season with a 7-2 decision over previously undefeated Joe Galasso of Father Judge in the 145-pound finals.
Jake Temple of Avella won all 43 bouts of his senior season and captured the 220-pound title in Class AA by defeating Reynold Maines of West Branch 3-1.
7.The Pennsylvania Rebellion, Washington’s entry in the National Pro Fastpitch women’s softball league, got off to a rocky start when manager Rick Bertagnolli quit 12 games into the season. He was replaced by Stacey Rice for the final 36 games of the regular season and the best-of-three playoff series. Rice did not have her contract renewed after the season ended so a new manager needs to be hired.
The Rebellion, who played home games at Consol Energy Park, had a 9-41 record and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual champion USSSA Pride.
Dallas Escobedo, a right-handed pitcher from Arizona State University, was taken No. 1 in the NPF draft by the Rebellion and struggled in her rookie season.
8.Ron Faust, who coached Washington High School’s boys basketball program to two state championships, ended a five-year retirement when he was hired in late March to succeed Mark Gaither, who resigned.
Faust was Wash High’s coach from 1981-2009 and compiled a record of 518-192. Along with the two PIAA Class AA titles, Faust has guided Wash High to four WPIAL championships, including three straight from 1984-86.
Gaither resigned shortly after the 2013-14 season, during which the Prexies had a 17-7 record and defeated Burrell in the WPIAL playoffs before losing to Summit Academy. Gaither had a 76-42 record in five seasons at Washington.
9.Canon-McMillan senior Luke Blanock, who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma – a rare form of cancer – Dec. 5, 2013, returned to the basketball court exactly one year later when the Big Macs opened the season against Burgettstown.
After 12 months of radiation treatments and chemotherapy, Blanock started for the Big Macs in a 77-32 victory over the Blue Devils.
After receiving a loud ovation when taking the court for his first varsity start, Blanock made his first game back unforgettable. With 6:30 remaining in the third quarter, Blanock made an uncontested three-pointer for his first career varsity points.
10.California’s Kailyn Clancy made her final trip to Shippensburg for the PIAA Track & Field Championships a memorable one.
Clancy repeated as the PIAA Class AA shot put champion with a throw of 45-6¾ inches. The gold medal came one day after she took sixth place in the discus.
Fort Cherry’s Jenna Lucas won her second consecutive PIAA Class AA title in the javelin. Her first throw of 153-5 was 18 feet farther than the second-place throw of Bishop McDevitt’s Anna Bailey.
DeQuay Isbell, Ben Heim, Quorteze Levy and D’Heaven Kelley won the school’s first state title in the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 7:58.35. The mark broke the previous school record set in 1998 by the Prexies’ second-place relay squad. 4.