High school notebook: WPIAL adjusts to accommodate Armstrong merger
To accommodate the Ford City-Kittanning merger, the WPIAL slightly altered four football conferences and will schedule games next season with the City League.
The WPIAL Board of Directors approved these alignment changes Monday:
• Soon-to-form Armstrong joins the Class AAA Greater Allegheny.
• Yough moves from the Greater Allegheny to the Class AAA Big 9.
• Summit Academy moves from the Class AA Midwestern to the Allegheny, which lost Ford City and Kittanning.
• Quaker Valley moves from the Class AA Century to the Midwestern.
With two football teams merging into one, the WPIAL will have 123 teams next season. The odd number would prevent WPIAL officials from creating a nine-game schedule for every team.
To fix that, one WPIAL team each week will face a City League opponent, WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley said. The WPIAL team won't come from Class AAAA.
The arrangement also benefits the City League, which has only six teams: Allderdice, Brashear, Carrick, Perry, USO and Westinghouse.
“We've had to find a lot of creative ways to fill a schedule,” said Mike Gavlik, athletic director for Pittsburgh Public Schools. “Anything closer to home with schools basically right next door is a good opportunity for us.”
With only minor changes, the WPIAL approved new alignments for all fall sports at Monday's meeting. These alignments will stand for only one season. The WPIAL traditionally realigns in even-numbered years, but the Ford City-Kittanning merger forced these moves in the middle of the cycle.
Armstrong also was aligned in cross country (Division II, Section 4), boys golf (Section 4-AAA), girls golf (Section 3-AAA), boys soccer (Section 1-AAA), girls tennis (Section 1-AAA) and girls volleyball (Section 4-AAA).
In other alignment changes, Serra added a boys cross country team (Division I, Section 5), Vincentian added a field hockey team (Class AA), Carrick dropped soccer, Apollo-Ridge girls soccer (Section 4-A) joined the WPIAL and Quigley added a girls volleyball team (Section 2-A).
O'Malley said football schedules will not be released until late January.
Batch offers his help
Clairton and Bishop Guilfoyle might shake hands after all, if Charlie Batch can get his wish.
The former Steelers quarterback has reached out to the WPIAL with an offer to help Clairton's players move forward from the late-game fight that marred Friday's PIAA football championship in Hershey.
“What we saw on the television is not an indication of who that Clairton team is,” Batch said. “A game should never end the way this game did, but there had to be something that led to that. We don't know what that is, so I'm not going to be quick to judge.”
With 22 seconds left in a 19-18 loss, the incident escalated when two emotional Bears threw their helmets at opponents from Altoona's Bishop Guilfoyle. Batch saw the video Saturday and called O'Malley.
“His intervention is invaluable,” O'Malley said. “He has instant credibility.”
A Steel Valley graduate, Batch may meet with players to discuss football and sportsmanship, O'Malley said. Batch served a similar role in 2012 to ease tension between Brentwood and Monessen with a school assembly in each of the communities.
“I don't know how it's going to work out,” Batch said, “but I would love to see Clairton have the opportunity to at least shake (Bishop Guilfoyle's) hands and congratulate them.”
Batch already has a close tie with Clairton. Batch has known Bears football coach Wayne Wade for more than a decade through his Project C.H.U.C.K. summer basketball league, he said.
“He's taking some flack now,” Batch said, “but from my experience with him, that's not the way he coaches. That's not his personality.”
Board business
Imani Christian students could compete on Wilkinsburg teams this spring in baseball and track under a cooperative agreement accepted Monday by the WPIAL and passed on to the PIAA for final approval. The two schools might add football to the list next fall.
Recruiting
Central Catholic senior Bryan Glover committed to Eastern Michigan after visiting the Mid-American school's Ypsilanti, Mich., campus. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker also held offers from Duquesne, Albany and Wofford.
Chris Harlan is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.
