Our Lady of the Sacred Heart baseball team's Kocent does double duty

Written by Sports Town on Tuesday, 21 May 2013 2:45 pm.

On Wednesday, Nick Kocent played a flawless third base as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart defeated Union 5-1 at Pullman Park in Butler to extend the Chargers’ baseball season.

At the plate, Kocent drew a walk as OLSH had 16 baserunners in six innings and Preston Falascino limited Union to five hits and struck out nine.

The win was OLSH’s 17th straight, dating back to an exhibition loss in South Carolina on March 23 and guaranteed the Chargers at least two more games. OLSH will play a semifinal today against California at 4:00 at the Burkett Complex and either the championship or a consolation game that will determine the third PIAA Class A team from the WPIAL. Those games will be next week.

baseball

OLSH rides senior baseball standout in playoffs

Written by John D' Abruzzo on Thursday, 16 May 2013 11:00 am.

John D'Abruzzo's feature on the OLSH baseball team:

"Personal statistics are basically just a bunch of numbers to Preston Falascino.

Sure, this senior pitcher/shortstop for the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart baseball team is both excited and proud of his individual accomplishments during the regular season, but he also believes his stats mean nothing if the Chargers aren't winning.

"Winning as a team is what matters," said Falascino, who lives in the Banksville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. "Stats are one thing and that's personal, but what our team accomplishes and our current winning streak is what's really important."

Behind Falascino, OLSH rode a 15-game winning streak into the postseason and captured the Section 5-A title with a perfect 10-0 record."

OLSH Tournament is last boys volleyball tournament

Written by Ken Wunderley on Saturday, 11 May 2013 1:49 am.

The last regular season tournament of the high school boys volleyball season will take place Saturday, May 11 at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School.

The 11-team tournament features Ambridge, the top-ranked team in Class AA in the WPIAL. The other ten participants are: Beaver C.C., Farrell, Ford City, Keystone Oaks, North Hills, Obama Academy, OLSH, Seton-LaSalle, Thomas Jefferson, and West Shamokin.

volleyball

OLSH is surviving in a rugged volleyball section

Written by Ken Wunderley on Thursday, 09 May 2013 11:00 am.

Records can be deceiving -- just ask Our Lady of the Sacred Heart boys volleyball coach Mike McDonald.

The Chargers finished the regular season with a 2-6 record in Class AA Section 1, and took a 4-9 overall record into a non-section match against Moon Area on Wednesday.

Despite it's lackluster record, McDonald's squad is ranked No. 6 in the WPIAL in Class AA.

"Eight of our nine losses were to teams ranked ahead of us," McDonald said. "We lost twice to [No. 1] Ambridge, [No. 3] Montour and [No. 4] Beaver County Christian in section play. We also have non-section losses to [No. 2] Derry and [No. 5] Deer Lakes. Our only other loss was to Upper St. Clair, a team ranked seventh in Class AAA.

volleyball