Coach Tim Van Horn broke the news to the team on the bus after the track and field meet.
His girls thought their season was over. But hold the phone.
“We totaled up South Fayette’s points; they had 309,” Van Horn said. “Norwin has 329. So we actually are the winners.”
The athletes erupted with applause after Norwin’s girls won a tiebreaker to clip South Fayette in the WPIAL 3A team semifinals at Baldwin.
That means Norwin’s girls and boys got a chance to defend their WPIAL championships at West Mifflin.
The girls advanced with wins over Upper St. Clair (120-30) and Connellsville (134-16). It had tied South Fayette, 75-75, before the tiebreaker (total points scored) took affect.
The boys defeated Uniontown (121-13), Canon-McMillan (103-32), and Baldwin (100-36).
The Knights boys finished second at the WPIAL finals after wins against Seneca Valley (83-67) and Hempfield (101-49).
Jeremiah Francis won the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump and took second in the 300 hurdles.
“I am proud of our efforts,” Van Horn said. “There was a lot of great competition. Both the boys and girls performed well.”
The girls defeated Hempfield, 79-71, but couldn’t get past North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon — a 226-215 loss on tiebreaker points — and finished third.
Softball in mix again
Norwin is showing some fight as WPIAL softball tilts toward playoff time — the team’s favorite time of the year in recent seasons.
After giving Hempfield a game earlier in the season, the Knights pulled into a second-place tie with Seneca Valley in the eight-team Class 6A section.
Norwin and Seneca Valley split their season series, with both games reaching their completion on the same day. Seneca Valley won 6-5 in nine innings as they finished a game that was suspended 17 days earlier.
Paige Volz had the winning RBI in the ninth for the Raiders.
Norwin (10-6 10-3) bounced back to edge Seneca Valley, 7-6, in the second game.
Winning pitcher Abbie Telli tied the score with a double, and Auden Palmiero delivered a walk-off single in the seventh.
Makenna Black had two hits, including a triple, and three RBIs.
Diem Wardzinski said the win over Seneca Valley boosted Norwin’s confidence and brought the team closer together.
“It was also a great win on senior night,” the junior outfielder said. “I’m so happy for our seniors that we got the win. I have faith in my team to battle no matter what the score will be. We have had a lot of close games with Seneca and Hempfield, and playing those kinds of games is what’s going to make us better for playoffs. Our hard work will continue to pay off.”
Seneca Valley beat the Knights in the playoffs the last two years: 6-1 in last year’s semifinals and 4-3 in eight innings in the championship game two years ago.
Knights tie for section
Fifth-ranked Norwin baseball took down No. 3 Mt. Lebanon in impressive fashion when the teams opened their Section 2-6A three-game series.
The Knights won 11-4 as Derek Berger went 2 for 2 with a double and three RBIs, Caden Sivrich doubled and drove in two, and Zane Markovitz had two RBIs to back Matt’ O’Neil’s fourth win. O’Neil struck out 10.
After Mt. Lebanon took the second game, Norwin took Game 3, 2-1, behind a sturdy pitching performance from Jake Knight, who is battling an injury.
Knight allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked three.
“Getting this win feels great,” Knight said. “The mindset at the end, you must have that dog in you. You must have that confidence and you have to trust every one of your fielders. When you have that confidence, it is hard to stop.”
Norwin rallied to finish tied for first place in Section 2 with Canon-McMillan, but since the Knights lost all three games to the Big Macs, they finished second.
Senior day
Not many high school baseball teams can boast college-level talent like Norwin.
The Knights have 13 seniors on this year’s roster and nine of them are committed to play baseball at the next level — Division I, II and III.
The college commits are Derek Berger (West Liberty), Aiden Catterall (Westminster), Ryan Helphenstine (Saint Vincent), Jake Howard (Penn State Greater Allegheny), Jayden Marcius (Lackawanna), Zane Markovitz (Bethany), Liam O’Donnell (Geneva), Matt O’Neil (Mercyhurst), and Caden Sivrich (Pitt).
Tristyn Tavares is committed to Cal (Pa.) for football.
Golden throw
Norwin’s Katelyn Navarra walked away as a champion at the Baldwin Invitational.
She threw the javelin a personal record 120 feet, 7 inches to take the title at the prestigious event.
Net ranks
Three local teams remained in the top 10 of the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class 3A rankings for Week 7 of the season.
Penn-Trafford is No. 7, while Norwin dropped to No. 9, and Hempfield is No. 10.
Derry moved to No. 9 in 2A.
Record breaker
His name is apropos and his performance was record-breaking.
Norwin’s Xander Irwin found his way into the track and field record book — an impressive accomplishment in a perennially strong program — with a pole vault of 15 feet, 3 inches.
Irwin broke the record at the WPIAL team semifinals.
Capitol gains
The PIAA champion Norwin girls cross country team and Pennsylvania Cup champion Penn-Trafford hockey team visited the State Capitol and toured the venue with state officials.
Norwin and Penn-Trafford were recognized at the House of Representatives.
Norwin was dominant last fall when it won WPIAL and state titles in runaway fashion. The Knights’ Brian Fleckenstein was the state coach of the year.
In the winter, Penn-Trafford followed its first PIHL Penguins Cup title with its first state championship.
Recruiting
• Norwin senior Stef Giannikas will continue his basketball career at Saint Francis (Pa.), a Division III program in Loretto.