Westmoreland County high school notebook: GCC coach hopes for homecoming

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, November 12, 2020 | 7:01 PM

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The road to Hershey could lead to a homecoming for Greensburg Central Catholic boys soccer coach Tyler Solis.

The WPIAL Class A champion Centurions (15-1) open the PIAA playoffs at 2 p.m. Saturday against Rockwood (19-0) at Norwin.

If GCC can win two more games, it will play for a state title at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at Hersheypark Stadium. A Hummelstown native, Solis was a soccer standout at Lower Dauphin, about four miles southwest of Hershey.

Lower Dauphin played its home games at Hersheypark Stadium when Solis was a member of the team.

“I haven’t been back there in 15 years,” he said. “It would be pretty cool to get back to Hershey. I still have a lot of family out there.”

Solis, who went on to play Robert Morris and played some internationally, has been GCC’s coach since 2016. He is 81-14-2 with two WPIAL titles, a WPIAL runner-up finish and two PIAA semifinal appearances.

When he played his one season at Lower Dauphin (2006), his team won a district title but lost in the state Class AAAA quarterfinals. He had 42 points that season.

Gerry Lynch, who was Solis’ coach, still leads the Falcons.

Solis played for the Guatamalan Under-17 national team, Comunicaciones F.C., in Guatemala during his junior year. He did not play on the high school team as a freshman or sophomore.

After a solid career at Robert Morris (2007-10) he played semi-professionally for the Erie Admirals.

Solis has a Spanish heritage. His father runs an avocado farm in Pacaya, Guatamala near an active volcano.

Fast start

Hempfield started fast out of the gates to open the PIHL season. The Spartans (2-0) have 13 goals in two games with wins of 8-3 and 5-1 against Meadville and Penn-Trafford.

Nicholas Bruno and Aiden Dunlap each had three goals and two assists, while Hunter Smiles had four assists, heading into the team’s third game. The Spartans were scheduled to play another unbeaten team, rival Latrobe (2-0) on Thursday night.

All signed up

Franklin Regional had one of the top signing days this week among local schools as athletes could make verbal commitments official to Division I and II programs.

Carter Dibert made his commitment to Arizona State wrestling official, while classmates Aly Kindelberger (DePaul volleyball) and Andrew Muraco (Coastal Carolina baseball) also joined Division I programs.

The Panthers added five Division II signees: Sydney Caldwell (Seton Hill soccer), Kamaria Kelly (Alderson Broddus softball), Brian Pirone (Seton Hill baseball), Tim Quinn (Mercyhurst baseball) and Luke Treloar (Cal U baseball).

Recruiting

• Greensburg Central Catholic football player Mark Mizerak picked up Division II offers from Wheeling University (W.Va.) and West Virginia Wesleyan. Mizerak is a 6-foot-6, 305-pound lineman.

• Yough standout receiver C.J. Waldier and Norwin’s Aaron Schmook received preferred walk-on offers from Sacred Heart of the Northeast Conference. Waldier was again one of the most productive two-way players in the WPIAL as a receiver and defensive back. Schmook is a 5-foot-11, 195-pound tight end and inside linebacker.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette, Yough