North Allegheny notebook: 9 Tigers named to all-section baseball team

By: Tribune-Review
Saturday, May 20, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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The No. 2-seeded North Allegheny baseball team was well-represented on the Big 56 Conference all-section team last week.

Senior shortstop Spencer Barnett, a West Virginia recruit, and senior designated hitter Andrew Hart were first-team selections.

Picked to the second team were sophomore infielder Augie Maslo, junior infielder Owen Schall, senior outfielders Drew Dougherty and Harron Lee and junior pitcher JD Costanzo.

Junior pitcher David Posey and senior catcher Ian Zahorchak were honorable-mention selections.

Costanzo commits to West Virginia

North Allegheny pitcher JD Costanzo announced a verbal commitment to continue his baseball career at West Virginia on May 18.

The junior lefty entered the playoffs with a 5-2 record and 1.70 ERA with 68 strikeouts.

Girls lacrosse team falls in quarterfinals

North Allegheny’s girls lacrosse season came to a close on May 17 after an 18-6 loss to Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals.

Mila Prusak had three goals for the Tigers, who finished the season with a 9-10 record. Prusak wrapped up her career with 87 goals. Leigh Failla, who scored 45 times this season, added a goal. Avery Anderson and Isla Abrams also scored for NA.

In a 12-11 first-round win over Peters Township in overtime, Abrams, Prusak and Failla all had three goals, and Anderson added two, including the game-winner in overtime.

NA softball ousted in WPIAL quarterfinals

Mackenzie Gillis hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to lead No. 5 Pine-Richland (7-14) to a 5-1 win over North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals May 17.

Meghan McDonough, McKenna Rowlands, Reagan Sheets and Katie Lucas had hits for No. 4 North Allegheny (14-7).

• Five North Allegheny softball players earned Big 56 Conference all-section honors last week.

Sheets, a senior infielder, McDonough, a senior outfielder, and junior DH Anne Melle were first-team selections.

Sophomore pitcher Sammy Plotkso was picked to the second team, and junior third baseman Caitlin Logan was an honorable-mention selection.

Boys tennis wins 1st-round match

North Allegheny’s boys tennis team got off to a strong start in the PIAA Class 3A tournament with a 4-1 win over McDowell. Evan Kaufman and Sri Thirumala won singles matches in straight sets.

Utkarsh Tiwari and Nitin Gupta won 7-5, 6-2, and Matt Kampi and Adhav Ramadas won 6-0, 6-0 in doubles.

Girls wrestling sanctioned by PIAA

Advocates for high school girls wrestling in Pennsylvania had their collective arms raised May 17.

The PIAA board of directors voted unanimously to sponsor girls wrestling as a sport, starting next winter.

Members of SanctionPA have been working toward official sponsorship for the past three years, and after reaching the benchmark of 100 schools fielding girls wrestling teams earlier this year, the PIAA board took action.

Pennsylvania became the 38th state to officially sponsor girls wrestling.

Plans are in the works to hold a PIAA girls wrestling tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey the same weekend as the boys tournament for the 2023-24 season.

WPIAL schools fielding girls wrestling teams include North Allegheny, Canon-McMillan, Connellsville, Kiski Area, Southmoreland, Plum, Fort Cherry, Seneca Valley, Laurel, Mt. Lebanon, Moon, Burgettstown, Pine-Richland, Penn Hills, Trinity and Peters Township.

Tags: North Allegheny