Alle-Kiski Valley lookahead for Week of March 18, 2019

By: Doug Gulasy
Sunday, March 17, 2019 | 11:19 PM

Monday

Hockey: Burrell will attempt to win the first PIHL title in school history as the No. 1 Bucs (21-1) face Ringgold (18-4) in the Division II Penguins Cup championship game at 6 p.m. at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. The teams played a pair of tight games during the regular season, with Burrell winning both, 4-2 and 7-6.

Friday

Baseball: The season begins, and so does Aaron Albert’s coaching stint at Kiski Area as the Cavaliers visit Penn-Trafford for a nonsection game.

Fox Chapel brings back plenty of experience after qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs last season, and the Foxes will put that to the test right away as they visit perennial postseason qualifier Norwin for a nonsection game.

It’s a Butler County rivalry game to begin the season as Knoch, coming off a pair of section championships, hosts Butler in a nonsection game.

Softball: A pair of playoff teams from a season ago square off as Apollo-Ridge visits Burrell for a nonsection game on opening day. Apollo-Ridge is led by standout pitcher Mollie Charlton. Catcher Lea Coffman and infielder Kayla Santucci lead Burrell.

Leechburg holds the longest postseason streak in WPIAL history, and the Blue Devils figure to be in the mix again. They will host nonsection opponent Serra Catholic, a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinalist last season.

Boys volleyball: Deer Lakes, which came up just shy of a trip to the PIAA Class AA playoffs a season ago, will begin its season with a nonsection match at Armstrong.

Saturday

Boys volleyball: Local teams will compete in a pair of opening-weekend tournaments, as Deer Lakes will go to Norwin, and Fox Chapel and Plum will head to North Allegheny.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Doug at 412-388-5830, dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Highlands, Kiski School, Knoch, Leechburg, Plum, Riverview, Springdale, St. Joseph, Valley