A-K Valley high school notebook: Several area baseball teams hunting section titles

By: Bill Hartlep
Friday, April 18, 2025 | 5:10 PM

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The final three weeks of the WPIAL baseball season are shaping up to be quite intense for several A-K Valley teams that are in the hunt for section titles.

• Plum (10-2, 5-1) is second in Section 1-5A with two-game series remaining against Kiski Area (2-8, 1-5), Franklin Regional (8-3, 4-2) and section leader Latrobe (9-3, 6-2).

• Fox Chapel (8-3, 5-3) is trailing Pine-Richland (11-1, 5-1) and Shaler (8-3, 4-0) in Section 3-5A. The Foxes have just one section series remaining against West Allegheny on May 5-6.

• Knoch (8-7, 4-2) is tied for second with Derry (5-4, 4-2) behind Indiana (11-0, 6-0) in Section 3-4A. The Knights will play a home-and-home series next week with the Little Indians.

• Burrell (6-4, 6-2) is leading Section 3-3A with Mt. Pleasant (7-4, 6-2), with series against Freeport (6-5, 3-3) and Deer Lakes (5-5, 5-3) the next two weeks.

• Riverview (10-2, 7-1) is atop Section 3-2A and will play rival Springdale (2-5, 1-4) next week.

• Leechburg (8-1, 8-0) will try to maintain its unbeaten run in Section 2-A next week against fellow section co-leader Winchester Thurston (9-1, 8-0). The Blue Devils have outscored section opponents 92-13 this season.

A-K Valley athletes shine at Butler

Several A-K Valley athletes stepped onto the medals podium Thursday at the Butler Invitational, which featured more than 90 schools.

In addition to winning the pole vault by clearing 12 feet, Knoch’s Kara Fennell was sixth in the triple jump (37-3.50); Karlee Buterbaugh was second in javelin (133-2); and Makenzie Kurtz was seventh in javelin (113-6).

Among other girls highlights:

• Plum’s Gabrielle Layne was third in the 100 (12.50) and 200 meters (25.44), and the girls 400 relay was third (50.37).

• Kiski Area’s Lauren Ciuca was third in the 3,200 (10:59.76), and Gianna Devito was eighth in the high jump (5-2).

• Freeport’s Mackenzie Magness was third in the long jump (17-4) and eighth in the pole vault (10-6).

• Fox Chapel’s Claire Conti was third in the discus (117-6); the girls 400 relay was fifth (50.74); and the girls 3,200 relay was seventh (9:55.80).

• Highlands’ Lyla Vivirito was eighth in discus (107-4).

The boys medalists:

• Highlands’ Jahmar Wright was second in the high jump (6-4).

• Freeport’s Michael Braun was third in the 3,200 (9:02.25).

• Springdale’s Garrett Myers was fourth in discus (148-1).

• Knoch’s Austin Friedline was sixth in the 100 (11.22), and Carter French was sixth in the 3,200 (9:19.56).

• Plum’s Owen Proskin was third in the 110 hurdles (14.72) and fifth in the 300 hurdles (39.86) and high jump (6-2), Kent Holmes was sixth in the 400 (50.48), Sloan Humphries was sixth in the triple jump (44-1.5) and the boys 400 relay was eighth (44.29).

• Kiski Area’s Justin Gross was seventh in the 800 (1:57.19), Braden Miller was seventh in the 300 hurdles (40.52) and the boys 1,600 relay was fifth (3:27.10).

• Fox Chapel’s boys 3,200 relay was fourth (8:12.62).

Riveters sign Highlands grad

Annamarie Williams, a Highlands grad, signed with the Pittsburgh Riveters ahead of their debut season.

Williams, 19, played nine matches during her freshman season last fall at Virginia, helping it reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Williams was a three-time all-conference selection for Internationals SC in the Elite Clubs National League and was captain for the U.S. Youth National Futsal Team.

“We are very familiar with Annamarie as a player and the qualities she will bring to the group,” Riveters coach Scott Gibson said in a statement. “She has an excellent soccer IQ, is technically excellent and understands the positional and spacing requirements needed of a central midfield player.”

The Riveters open their USL W season May 16 against Cleveland Force at Highmark Stadium.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.