North Journal notebook: North Allegheny doubles team claims section title

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, April 24, 2021 | 11:01 AM

After winning a section singles title earlier this month, North Allegheny’s Chase Davidson doubled his medal haul April 21 when he teamed up with Shomik Telang to win a Section 2-AAA doubles crown.

The duo defeated Anthony Lounder and Rohan Maheshwari of Moon, 6-2, 6-2, at North Allegheny. Davidson had earlier topped Lounder in the section singles finals.

Both teams advanced to the WPIAL doubles tournament, along with North Hills’ tandem of Josh Kim and Brandon McEwen, the section’s third-place team. Kim and McEwen won the consolation match over North Allegheny’s Raj Ginde and Sri Bellamkonda, 6-2, 6-2, who also advanced to the WPIAL tournament.

Taylor among state’s best

North Allegheny’s Dwayne Taylor, a junior on the track and field team, ranked among the state leaders in the triple jump after the Wildcat Invitational in Latrobe on April 16.

He jumped 44 feet, 5 inches, which was seventh best in the state, according to Milesplit.com stats. The jump was seven inches better than the next best from the WPIAL held by Seneca Valley’s Matt Laslavic at 43-10.

North Hills softball rolls past Shaler

Sophia Roncone went 4 for 4 and Melanie Taylor homered to lead North Hills to an 11-3 victory over Section 3-5A opponent Shaler on April 20.

It was the third straight victory for the Indians, who improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Section 3, good for first place in the section standings.

• The North Allegheny softball team was riding high after a 15-3 victory over five-time defending WPIAL champion Hempfield on April 14. Meghan McDonough was 4 for 5, Carlyn Vaupel was 3 for 4, and Sydni Juker homered in the victory. Anne Melle earned the win in the circle.

But, the Tigers fell 11-0 to Pine-Richland in their next Section 2-6A game on April 20 to fall to 4-6 overall and 2-2 in section play.

Tigers baseball tops Central

Spencer Barnett homered, Cole Young singled and tripled, and Aaron Galaska doubled and drove in a pair for North Allegheny in an 8-3 victory over Central Catholic on April 20 in Section 1-6A.

It was the seventh straight win for the Tigers, who improved to 9-1 overall and 5-1 in Section 1.

• North Hills split a section series with Moon on April 19-20, winning 11-1 and falling 3-2. In the win, Robert Dickerson and Josh Dreyer each had three hits, and Drew Garth hit a grand slam. Walt Vitovich earned the win on the mound.

NA volleyball stays atop rankings

The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its WPIAL Week 4 boys rankings last week, and North Allegheny remained atop Class AAA.

Seneca Valley remained at No. 2, while Hempfield, which made it to the finals of its own tournament Saturday before falling to Shaler, bumped up one spot to No. 3. Butler is No. 4, and Peters Township remains at No. 5, followed by Penn-Trafford, Norwin, Fox Chapel, Latrobe and Upper St. Clair.

The Tigers (6-0, 6-0 Section 2-3A) defeated Pine-Richland, 3-0, last week (25-14, 25-18, 25-11). Michal Mosbacher had eight kills, and Cole Dorn had seven in the win.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny, North Hills