Hayden Pascoe has played a big role in the success of the Belle Vernon girls soccer team during her career.

She now knows which college she will try to duplicate that success at.

Pascoe, a rising senior who is expected to be one of the top forwards in the WPIAL this fall, recently made a verbal commitment to Kent State.

As a junior, Pascoe led Belle Vernon to the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals and a split of the Section 4 championship. Pascoe scored a team-high 27 goals in the regular season.

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Elizabeth Forward never had a girls soccer player earn a scholarship to a Division I school.

That was until Rachel Collage recently did it.

Collage, a midfielder entering her senior season, verbally committed to Fordham University, a Division I school located in the Bronx, N.Y. Fordham competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Collage was named all-section as a junior when she led Elizabeth Forward to a 12-6 record and a WPIAL playoff appearance.

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Below is a review of the South posts that appeared Sunday, June 9 through Friday, June 15. We're also including links from the previous Saturday, June 8.

Sunday, June 9
* Sports Town South Week in Review (June 2-7)

Monday, June 10
* Canon-McMillan softball team prepares for District 1 challenge
* Like Tom Petty, Canon-McMillan softball team finds the wait is the hardest part

Mike Bullock covered the Big 33 Classic for the Post-Gazette. Read his story here.

"HERSHEY, Pa. -- As soon as Maryland decided to defer and give Pennsylvania the ball at the start, Titus Howard called it.

He has seen his former Clairton and future Pitt teammate Tyler Boyd cause all kinds of problems for opponents throughout their dynamic four-year run together.

"I told them, 'First kickoff,' " Howard said. "I knew what he was going to do. I told them he was going to take it to the crib, ain't nobody believed me.

"He took it to the crib and everybody came to me, 'You [were] right.' I said, 'I told you all. I know him. He's amazing. He's good.' ""

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Post-Gazette writer Mike White profiles Upper St. Clair’s Rori Blair, who has returned to the football field after suffering a stroke last year. Read his story here.

"Rori Blair catches a pass, turns his chiseled 6-foot-3, 225-pound body to the right and briskly runs past a defender. As the 18-year-old repeats similar plays again and again during an Upper St. Clair football workout this past week, his father watches near the end zone of the field, realizing again how his son is beating the odds.

"Are we lucky that he's here?" Ty Kenney said, leaning against a fence and gazing out at his son. "I think it's more than luck. I think it's really a blessing."

Rori Blair has a real comeback story -- in the game of life.

It is hard to believe this is the same kid who only a year ago had to be resuscitated with paddles and chest compressions at a hospital after he flatlined from complications a few days after suffering a stroke. The youngster who was such a strong and vibrant athlete had trouble walking after the stroke, lost 50 pounds, spent a month in a hospital and another month in a rehabilitation center."

(Photo: Upper St. Clair's Rori Blair today. A year ago, he was fighting for his life after suffering a stroke. Lake Fong/Post-Gazette)

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Post-Gazette writer Nick Veronica covered Friday’s PIAA Class AAAA softball championship game between Canon-McMillan and Neshaminy. Click here to read his story.
 

"UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Canon-McMillan senior pitcher Alayna Astuto gave her team all it could ask for in the PIAA championship -- seven innings of no-run, no-hit softball.

When even that wasn't enough to lead the Big Macs past District 1 Neshaminy for the PIAA Class AAAA title at first, Astuto kept the no-hitter alive through the eighth. Then she did it again in the ninth.

When the game went to the 10th inning with the score still tied, 0-0, the international tiebreaker went into effect, starting each team with a runner on second. Astuto's shutout and no-hitter were broken up in the 10th as each team scored a run.

That scenario repeated in the 11th before Canon-McMillan freshman Linda Rush clobbered a two-run home run to left-center field in the top of the 12th, and with the insurance, Astuto was at last able to lock down the championship with a 4-3 victory at Nittany Lion Softball Park."

(Photo: Canon-McMillan players celebrate after defeating Neshaminy, 4-3, in 12 innings to win the PIAA Class AAAA softball championship Friday at University Park, Pa. Lake Fong/Post-Gazette)

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South Park's baseball team had a great run this season. Brad Everett recaps the Eagles season. Click here to read his story.

"It was the type of moment that doesn't show up in the box score and typically goes unnoticed by those not involved, and it was taking place in the outfield at Pullman Park in Butler last Friday afternoon.

After seeing their season end -- a magnificent one and most successful in school history -- a handful of South Park players stood with tears in their eyes, as a perfect season and dreams of winning a state title had faded away.

The magnitude of what the Eagles accomplished this season won't disappear anytime soon."

baseball

Brad Everett writes about Serra High School's new football coach. Click here to read his story.

"The Serra Catholic High School football team reached a peak in 2007 when it won the WPIAL Class A championship -- the school's second District 7 title, the other coming in 1981 -- and made it to the PIAA final for the first time.

But when coach Rich Bowen resigned after the 2009 season to take a job as an assistant at Waynesburg University, Serra began to struggle. Last season, the Eagles hit rock bottom, as they were one of seven WPIAL teams to finish without a win.

Serra has turned to a "saint," hoping for a miracle turnaround to try to reverse its fortunes."

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Keystone Oaks advanced to the PIAA baseball semifinals, before losing to Upper Moreland. Brad Everett recapped the Golden Eagles season. Click here to read his story.

"Jared Skolnicki sat on a bus late Tuesday night, travelling from the site of his final high school baseball game back to his hometown.

Skolnicki was understandably crushed that his team fell one win short of making it to the PIAA Class AAA baseball championship game, but the three-hour drive from Green Township Park in Franklin County to Keystone Oaks High School allowed him plenty of time to reflect on his senior season.

"I'm so proud of everyone on my team," Skolnicki said. "We have really come a long way, especially from the beginning of the season. We had our ups and downs throughout the season. At the beginning of the season, I didn't know what to expect. Now, to have been part of the best team I've ever been on, it's an honor.""

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Canon-McMillan's softball team advanced to the PIAA Class AAAA title game. Click here to read Nick Tolomeo's South story.

softball

JaQuan Davidson had long hoped to be offered a scholarship by his hometown school.

This past weekend, Davidson got one.

While attending a prospect camp at Pitt, Davidson was offered a scholarship by the Panthers.

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It was a banner season for the South Park baseball team, which won its first WPIAL championship.

Now one of its alumni is playing for a NCAA championship.

Tarran Senay, a 2009 graduate, has led North Carolina State to the College World Series for the first time in 45 years.

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The South Park baseball team put together its finest season in school history this spring.

Last Friday, that season came to an end.

South Park was defeated by Keystone Oaks, 3-0, in a PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal game at Pullman Park in Butler.

baseball

It was the final high school baseball game of career, so Washington’s Jordan Allen figured he’d end it in a big way.

Allen was named player of the game after helping Class AA tie Class A, 4-4, in the first of two WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association all-star games held Sunday at Burkett Complex in Robinson. The game was played its regularly-scheduled nine innings, and officials chose not to extend it any further.

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The call came in around 8 a.m. Monday morning, there would be no softball played between Canon-McMillan and Pennsbury until Tuesday. Rain had forced the postponement of the PIAA Class AAAA semifinal contest between the WPIAL champion Big Macs and the third-place team from District 1.

Last season delays and called games may have been an issue for Canon-McMillan, a team making its first ever foray into the PIAA tournament. This year the veteran group may not be happy about the delay, but it is unlikely to faze them when they take the field Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Carlisle High School.

“Last year it may have been tough to keep them focused,” coach Michele Moeller said. “Now we’ve waited to play Hempfield and we kind of waited with the North Allegheny game getting pushed back, this is not foreign.”

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District 1 has proven to be the strongest district in PIAA Class AAAA softball this season. The district sends four teams to the PIAA tournament, the most of any district.

Because of how many teams qualify from the district, the third place team plays on the western side of the bracket. Three of the four teams in the PIAA semifinals hail from District 1.

The only thing standing in the way of a potential all-District 1 championship game is Canon-McMillan. The WPIAL champion Big Macs will play the third place team out of District 1, Pennsbury. The teams will meet Tuesday at Carlisle High School at 2 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to be played today but it was postponed due to weather.

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Below is a review of the South posts that appeared Sunday, June 2 through Friday, June 7. We're also including links from the previous Saturday (June 1).

Saturday, June 1
* Peters Township meets State College in girls' lacrosse state quarters
* Mt. Lebanon boys' lacrosse team looks ahead to 2014

Sunday, June 2
* Sports Town South Week in Review (May 26-May 31)

Monday, June 3
* District baseball rival hoping to KO unbeaten South Park team
* Chartiers-Houston softball team begins quest for PIAA title
* Canon-McMillan softball team to renew acquaintances with Hempfield
* Softball: South Feature Athlete - Chartiers-Houston's Toni Spossey

reviews

Nick Veronica's recap of the Canon-McMillan/North Allegheny PIAA softball game:

"Canon-McMillan senior Yaszmin Kotar led off the game with a triple to right, and the Big Macs never stopped slugging en route to a 5-0 victory against North Allegheny in the PIAA Class AAAA softball quarterfinals Friday at Woodland Hills.

Freshman Kirsten Rush crushed a two-run homer to right field in the second, while senior Alayna Astuto struck out six and pitched seven shutout innings to improve to 22-0."

softball

The Canon-McMillan softball team defeated North Allegheny in the Class AAAA WPIAL championship game, but the Big Macs are taking on the Tigers again today in the state tournament.

Likewise, we thought it'd be a good time to post a few Canon-McMillan softball photos from the team's championship match with North Allegheny. Enjoy:

softball

It's a huge day of baseball and softball games as the 2012-13 school year comes to an end. Likewise, Sports Town thought it'd be a good day to bring you some great moments in WPIAL baseball and softball from this season.

Enjoy these photos of the Keystone Oaks softball team -- taken as the Eagles played McGuffey in the WPIAL playoffs:

softball