There are only three seniors on the Sewickley Academy boys lacrosse team who are fourth-year competitors in 2026.
Defensive specialists Jack Carlson and Blake Wilmot, also an LSM, and midfielder Luca Peluso have cemented their legacy for the Panthers.
“This senior class holds a special place in this program,” coach Sam Futrovsky said. “Jack Carlson, Blake Wilmot and Luca Peluso are the only players on this roster who were here from the very beginning — my first year as head coach four years ago. That freshman year for them, we had 12 kids, couldn’t finish our schedule due to injuries and finished last in the section. The next year, these three showed up anyway.
“Their sophomore year, we won one game. But we had real growth, several close finishes, and you could feel something building. Last year, we went 10-3, finished third in the section, made the playoffs and hosted a home playoff game as the five seed. This year, we’re third in the section again and back in the playoffs as the five seed.”
Carlson, Wilmot and Peluso helped propel Sewickley to another WPIAL playoff berth and the No. 5 seed in Class 2A. The Panthers tied for third with Shaler in Section 2 at 7-3 and took an 11-5 record into the postseason.
“This is the first class I have seen all the way through, and what they have done for this program is hard to put into words,” Futrovsky said. “However, this postseason ends, Jack, Blake and Luca have already built their legacy.
“They found this program in one place, and they are leaving it in a completely different one. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
An unusual 1st-round win
How can a team advance to the PIAA playoffs and, upon arriving there, lose in the first round via a forfeit?
That’s what Brashear did in boys tennis May 12 as Quaker Valley was awarded a 5-0 victory at Alpha Tennis & Fitness.
“Lane Stoner, our District 7 PIAA representative, has said that he gets mad at some of these areas in the state,” QV coach Christi Hays said. “To forfeit because you don’t have enough players for the first round of the state team tournament is ridiculous. This is a problem. The state needs to fix it because they know that it happens.
“District 8 is the City League. During the season, Brashear and Carrick would combine teams when they had a match because they didn’t have enough for the match. But when (Brashear) had to ‘go it alone,’ they only had four players.”
The Quakers made it a positive experience.
“As disappointed as we were to not have a first-round match,” Hays said, “it did put us in the quarters and earned us a trip to Hershey for the Final Eight in the state.”
Streak stops at 4
The Quaker Valley girls track and field team was aiming this season to win its fifth consecutive WPIAL championship in Class 2A.
Instead, North Catholic eked out a 77-73 victory May 5 against the Quakers at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium at Peters Township Middle School.
“It definitely wasn’t the outcome we wanted,” QV senior Mia Gartley said. “Coming into the meet, we were definitely underdogs and were expected to lose by a lot more than we did.
“I’m super proud that we could give it our all to get the score of the meet so close. At the end of the day, we put our all out there and competed, so I couldn’t be more proud of those girls.”
The Trojans also ran past Laurel, 86-63, and Burrell, 115-35, at the WPIAL finals.
“North Catholic was the favorite coming into the WPIAL team finals,” Gartley said. “We lost our best long jumper who placed at states last year (she graduated), and North gained a long jumper. We also lost our main sprinter (she graduated), and North got a few more sprinters. It was a common theme that North gained a stronger team over the past year.”
Hard to beat
The last time the Quaker Valley girls track and field team lost a section meet was in 2022. QV’s boys team hasn’t lost in section action since 2023.
“I am just blown away by our teams,” QV coach Jared Jones said. “They are such a great group of kids. It is so nice to see them come together and compete for one another.”
QV bows out
Luke Whitfield went 2 for 3 with a home run and Gage Blystone struck out 15 in a complete-game pitching performance, leading No. 4 Freeport (18-1) to a 5-2 first-round win May 12 against Quaker Valley in the WPIAL Class 3A baseball tournament.
Rocco Fardo, a freshman infielder/pitcher, singled and drove in two runs to give the No. 13-seed Quakers (8-12) a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.
Andrews powers Panthers
Winning pitcher Charlotte Andrews struck out 12, doubled and drove in two runs to lead No. 7 Sewickley Academy to a 10-7 win May 14 against No. 10 Monessen (7-11) in the first round of the WPIAL Class A softball playoffs.
Freshman outfielder Sutton Rea contributed two doubles and two RBIs and junior outfielder Layla Miller tripled and knocked in two runs for the Panthers, who improved to 10-3 overall.