Penn-Trafford notebook: Denny Little named PIAA softball coach of the year

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, October 25, 2020 | 11:01 AM

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The PIAA announced Oct. 21 the National Federation of High Schools 2019-20 state coaches of the year.

There were seven coaches from the WPIAL honored, including Penn-Trafford softball coach Denny Little.

While there was no season in 2020, Little did coach Penn-Trafford to a PIAA Class 5A title in 2019. He had numerous players returning for the 2020 season from that squad, which meant Penn-Trafford was favored to win a second title.

The other coaches named were Fox Chapel golf coach Bryan Deal and girls tennis coach Alex Slezak, Chartiers Valley girls track coach Lorie Poe, Seneca Valley girls cross country coach Steve Strelick and boys swimming coach Brian Blackwell and Chartiers-Houston girls basketball coach Laura Montecalvo.

Section champions

The Penn-Trafford field hockey team captured the Section 1-AA title by defeating Fox Chapel, 3-0, and Latrobe, 4-1, this past week.

Hannah Ondulich, Julia Moorhead and Ava Hershberger each had goals against Fox Chapel.

Hershberger had three goals and Allyson Doran one in the win against Latrobe.

Penn-Trafford improved to 12-0.

Warriors finish strong

The Penn-Trafford girls volleyball team ran its record to 6-4 overall and 6-3 in Section 1-3A by defeating Latrobe, 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-12, 25-8).

It avenged a 3-2 loss to Latrobe earlier this season and put the Warriors in second place behind Oakland Catholic.

Penn-Trafford dropped out of the WPIAL top 10 list after falling to Elizabeth Forward, ranked ninth in Class 3A, 3-2. They were in position to vault back into the rankings after the win over No. 9 Latrobe.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford