South Hills notebook: Baldwin boys soccer playing well in early going

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 7, 2018 | 7:25 PM

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Notebook items from around the South Hills:

• Sophomore forward Joey Moeller netted the first goal of the season for the Baldwin boys soccer team, lifting the Highlanders to a 1-0 win Aug. 31 against Chartiers Valley in the Seneca Valley kickoff tournament.

Baldwin also dropped a 1-0 decision to Seneca Valley in the tournament.

“We played really well,” Baldwin coach Dave Zilinski said. “I was encouraged by the way they played.

“They worked super hard, and they made life very tough for the other teams to do anything.”

• One of the strengths of the Baldwin football team is the team’s overall speed, particularly at the skill positions.

Jarren Kelly, a junior wide receiver who has been timed at 4.45 in the 40, is joined on offense by the likes of junior RB Angelo Priore, junior QB Mason Stahl, senior WR Dre Howell and junior WR Naseer Penn.

“Anyone that watches our game films knows we have next-level speed on this team,” Kelly said. “From Angelo, to Mason, Dre and Nas, we push each other each day to see who is the fastest.

“What’s crazy is that it’s because of this level of competition each of us can challenge for the top spot on any given day.”

• Point Park recently announced the hiring of John Ashaolu as athletic director.

“I am humbled and honored by the opportunity (at Point Park),” Ashaolu said in a statement.

A native of Toronto, Ashaolu was athletic director at Seton LaSalle from 2011-14.

He also served as the girls basketball coach and transportation director for the school.

Seton LaSalle won the Trib Total Media Cup for the best interscholastic athletic program in its division in Western Pennsylvania during his time.

There were two state, five WPIAL and 15 section championships with Ashaolu as athletic director.

• Thomas Jefferson football coach Bill Cherpak, a Steel Valley graduate, is a member of an elite group of individuals who have both played and coached in a WPIAL title game.

That group includes only Pete Antimarino (Gateway) and Eric Kasperowicz (North Hills), who is now coaching at Pine-Richland.

• Seton LaSalle graduate Darryl Daniels is a freshman midfielder on the Messiah College men’s soccer team.

Daniels registered 27 goals (five winners) and 11 assists last season and finished second in Rebels history with 68 career goals.

Messiah College is located in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

The Messiah men’s soccer team won the NCAA DIII national title with a 24-2 record in 2017.

• The Highlander athletic pass is available for the 2018-19 school year at Baldwin.

The pass costs $50 for adults, $25 for students, or $125 for a family.

The pass provides general admission seating to fall, winter and spring athletic events (football, soccer, basketball, swimming, lacrosse and volleyball) at Baldwin, totaling approximately 80 events.

Applications are available at the Baldwin athletic office, or at baldwinfightinghighlanders.org.

Checks should be made payable to Baldwin High School. Applications and checks can be mailed to Baldwin High School, c/o Athletic Office, 4653 Clairton Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA, 15236.

• The TJ football team jumped from No. 5 to No. 1 in Class 4A in the TribLive High School Sports Network state rankings following its 62-0 Week 1 win against visiting Ringgold.

• Baldwin’s football team held a 58-0 halftime lead on Butler in its Week 1 nonconference matchup, eventually winning by a 58-13 margin.

The Highlanders vaulted to a 34-0 first-quarter advantage.

• The Baldwin girls volleyball team tipped off its section schedule Sept. 4 with an impressive 3-0 win at Peters Township.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

Tags: Baldwin, Thomas Jefferson