Local Sports

Wolverines Track & Field Team Eyeing WPIAL Championships

After its qualifying victory last week at West Mifflin, the Ellwood City boys track and field team will turn its focus to the WPIAL Championships on Tuesday. The team earned its first-ever playoff win knocking off five foes in the qualifier last Thursday. The WPIAL Team AA Championships will be held at Peter’s Township Stadium: Confluence Financial Partners Stadium beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The Wolverines will face off against Hopewell, Quaker Valley and the reigning Class-2A champion Greensburg Central Catholic. The boys have had a successful season, winning the Tri County Championship, earning a second place finish at…


The Riverside Hall of Fame: Royann Winfield, Selfless Coach, Mentor to the End

NOTE: This is the third in a three-part series featuring The Riverside Hall of Fame’s first class, all coaches. The inductees will be honored at the First Annual Hall of Fame banquet at Shakespeare’s Restaurant this Saturday, May 4th, from 6 to 10 p.m. Attendees will celebrate the esteemed inaugural class of: Dan Oliastro, Karl Florie, and Royann Winfield. Royann Winfield was a fighter to the end. Whether it was standing in strong support of her students, or her residents at McGuire Memorial, or battling cancer, Royann simply refused to give up on herself or others. Her final season in…


PHOTOS: Ellwood City Boys’ Track And Field Advances To WPIAL Finals

The Ellwood City Boys’ Track And Field team is heading to the WPIAL 2A Finals next week after a dominating performance in Wednesday afternoon’s qualifying meet at West Mifflin High School. The Wolverines steamrolled its five foes Wednesday beating Riverview 84-66, West Mifflin 86-64, Knock 87.5-62.5 and Waynesburg Central 91-59. Bradley Custer collected 2nd place finishes in the 800m and 1600m runs and Nick Franitti collected 2nd place finishes in the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles.  Nick Wise took 2nd place in the 400m dash.  Nate Williams finished 1st overall in the long jump, adding a 2nd place finish in…


The Riverside Hall of Fame: Dan Oliastro, Winningest Coach in WPIAL History

NOTE: This is the second in a three-part series featuring The Riverside Hall of Fame’s first class, all coaches. The inductees will be honored at the First Annual Hall of Fame banquet at Shakespeare’s Restaurant this Saturday, May 4th, from 6 to 10 p.m. Attendees will celebrate the esteemed inaugural class of: Dan Oliastro, Karl Florie, and Royann Winfield. He may be the winningest coach in WPIAL history, but winning isn’t everything to Coach Dan Oliastro. “It’s more than just baseball,” he said. “One of the things you have to do is build relationships … good relationships with the kids.”…


The Riverside Hall of Fame: Karl Florie Built Powerhouse Team and Family of Football Players

NOTE: This is the first in a three-part series featuring The Riverside Hall of Fame’s first class, all coaches. The inductees will be honored at the First Annual Hall of Fame banquet at Shakespeare’s Restaurant this Saturday, May 4th, from 6 to 10 p.m. Attendees will celebrate the esteemed inagural class of: Dan Oliastro, Karl Florie, and Royann Winfield. Karl Florie, wasn’t the school board’s first choice to coach Riverside’s football program, but it came to pass that he was he was the right choice. Although his first season produced zero wins, he went on to build a program that became a powerhouse in…


McQuistion Shines, Wolverines Knock Off Rival Riverside

Amber McQuistion shined at the plate and on the mound Thursday, leading Ellwood City to a 5-2 victory over Riverside. McQuistion collected three hits, including a solo homerun, and three RBIs to power the offense and struck out nine Panthers in her complete game pitching performance. The Wolverines took the lead early by way of the second inning solo homer by McQuistion and never relinquished the lead. In the third, Keira Rozanski joined the bag trotting club, smacking a solo homer of her own to put Ellwood City ahead 2-0. The duo of McQuistion and Rozanski helped Ellwood City stretch…


EC Baseball Beats Laurel, Softball Blasts Beaver Falls

Both Ellwood City baseball and softball teams collected victories on Wednesday afternoon. The Wolverines baseball team defeated Laurel 10-8 at Sanders Field behind two doubles and a 4-RBI performance by catcher Jordan Keller. After Ellwood City posted three runs in the first inning, the Wolverines tacked on three more in the second inning as Keller doubled in a run and Aaron Lake smacked an RBI single. Lake finished with three singles and three RBIs on the afternoon. Ellwood City saw the lead stretch out to 10-2 after four innings and withstood a Laurel rally late to secure its non-section victory….


Fornataro Blasts Two Homeruns, Riverside Beats Quaker Valley

Panther slugger Bo Fornataro connected on two homeruns Monday afternoon as Riverside easily dismissed Quaker Valley 11-0 to stay unbeaten on its season. Fornataro blasted a three run homer as part of a Panthers seven run second inning outburst and swatted his second homerun just one inning later when Riverside added four more runs. After a scoreless first inning, the unbeaten Panthers erupted with seven runs aided by the Fornataro bomb and a three-run double by Ashton Schlosser. Darren McDade and Sean Hayes each collected RBIs in the frame for Riverside. In the third, Hunter Garvin followed up a 2-out…


Riverside Baseball, Softball Teams Each Collect Victories

The Riverside baseball and softball made quick work of opponents on Wednesday, each earning mercy-rule victories. The Panthers baseball team took to the road and shut-out Beaver Falls 16-0 in four innings. Hunter Garvin smashed a three-run homerun as part of a six run offensive onslaught in the second inning. Ashton Schlosser earned the win for Riverside on the mound. The southpaw allowed only one hit across his three innings of shutout baseball. He struck out three and walked only one Tiger before giving way to Bo Fornataro who tossed one inning of no-hit relief for the Panthers. Nine Panthers…


Lady Wolverines Rally Late, Knock Off Central Valley 6-4

Ellwood City used a late rally, on the road, Monday to earn a 6-4 victory against unbeaten section foe Central Valley. After training 4-0 entering the top of the six inning, the Wolverines struck for four runs and added two more in the seventh to pull away to victory. Ellie Kalantzis connected on a pivotal home run in the sixth inning rally and Kiley LeViere singled in the frame to knot the score. Alexis Beck is credited with the game-winning RBI as she swatted a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to put Ellwood City ahead. Amber McQuistion was stellar…