Apr 4, 2022 3 min read

ON THIS DATE

April 5

1972 – For the first time in history, Major League Baseball fails to open its season as scheduled because of a general player strike, which started April 1 and would be settled April 13.

1979 – Myles Witchey resings as head basketball coach at California State College after 16 seasons and 184 victories.

1983 – Wide receiver Jim Smith, expected to move into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting lineup because of Lynn Swann’s retirement, signs a 3-year contract with the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL. Smith’s USFL deal pays him more per season than any receiver in NFL history.

1990 – In the highest-scoring game in Washington-Greene Boys Basketball All-Star Game history, Waynesburg’s Steve McIntire and Ringgold’s Clay Wyne each score 26 points to lead the North to a 143-95 victory at Washington High School. Washington’s Matt Jennings leads the South with 17 points.

1997 – Bruce Baumgartner wins a record eighth World Cup wrestling gold medal, beating David Musolbes 2-1 in overtime at 275.5 pounds as the United States routs Russia 25-7.

2001 – Joe Dunn, who most recently coached at Mt. Pleasant, is hired as the boys basketball coach at Trinity High School.

2012 – Trinity hires Mt. Lebanon assistant Ryan Coyle as its head football coach. Coyle replaces Ed Dalton, who resigned after 13 seasons to become the head coach and athletic director at McGuffey.

FISHING FESTIVAL

California University of Pennsylvania and the California community will collaborate to present the 25th Annual Pike Run Youth Fishing Festival from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at Rotary Park, located along Route 88 in California.

The free event is open to boys and girls ages 15 and younger. A parent, guardian or other responsible adult must accompany children younger than 13.

Registration begins at 7 a.m.

Participants may bring their own fishing gear, or they can borrow equipment from a Cal U. student volunteer as part of the state Fish and Boat Commission’s Borrow-A-Rod-and-Reel program.

The Pike Run Fishing Festival Committee will stock the stream with nearly 600 rainbow, brook, brown and golden trout, some as long as 24 inches.

The festival closes with a weigh-in, prizes and the awarding of trophies.

The festival is organized and programmed by the university’s Parks and Recreation Management program, and the Parks and Recreation Student Society, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, California Rotary, the Borough of California and the California Borough Recreation Authority.

For more information, contact Dr. Candice Riley at 724-938-5288, riley@calu.edu; or search for “Annual Pike Run Youth Fishing Festival” on Facebook.