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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
The 2023 calendar year was a whirlwind for Paul Skenes.
After helping to pitch Louisiana State University to the NCAA Division I baseball championship in June, Skenes was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the top pick of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on July 9 in Seattle.
After inking an MLB record $9.2 million signing bonus, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound fireballing right-hander -- whose fastball has reached 102 miles per hour on the radar gun -- made four appearances between the Pirates' Low Class A Bradenton team and the Florida Complex Instructional League, before arriving in Altoona to make his Class AA debut with the Curve at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Aug. 26.
A standing room-only crowd of 10,164 fans -- which set a new attendance record for a Curve home game, breaking the previous record of 10,116 that was set there in 2013 when the Pittsburgh Pirates played a preseason exhibition game with the Curve -- showed up at PNG Field to watch the Skenes debut.
Unfortunately, the appearance was short-lived as well as uneventful for Skenes. He pitched only ª of an inning against the Akron Rubber Ducks, throwing 33 pitches and allowing four runs, all earned, and three hits, while striking out two and walking two, and getting a no-decision in the Curve's 9-8 victory.
Skenes also pitched two scoreless innings for the Curve in his second and final Class AA start at Erie less than a week after his debut, showcasing the dominance that could make him the ace of the Pirates' pitching staff as quickly as this season.
The Skenes debut was one of the Mirror's top sports stories in 2023. The opening of the Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School boys basketball head coaching position was another one.
In his 11 seasons as the BG boys basketball coach, Chris Drenning's resume was virtually impeccable.
His teams compiled an overall record of 219-74 for a sizzling winning percentage of over 80 percent and won five District 6 championships while making it to the PIAA state playoffs in all but one season.
Drenning's 2018-19 team made it to Hershey, losing in the PIAA Class 2A state championship game, while the 2020-21 team made it to the state semifinals, and two other squads reached the state quarterfinals.
Despite the Marauders' eye-opening PIAA Class 3A first-round playoff loss to Loyalsock Township on their home court last March 11, Drenning's future coaching status at BG appeared to be on very solid ground.
Just four days later, however, on March 15, the BG administration opened the position and relieved Drenning of his coaching duties, setting off a firestorm of public criticism.
Behind the controversial decision -- which the BG administration termed "regrettable" in a public statement -- was dissatisfaction on the part of the parents of some of the players about the roles of their sons on the team.
There was also a perception that football players on the basketball team were slighted, which Drenning acknowledged but disputed.
In fact, some of the football players on Drenning's basketball roster over the years played a pivotal role in the success of his basketball teams.
Drenning's departure and the hiring of 43-year-old former BG player Ryan Lestochi to replace him as the Marauders' coach in early May, topped the list of the most significant transactions in the Mirror's high school sports coverage area this past year.
Accomplished and esteemed area high school girls basketball coach Jim Swaney announced his retirement in May after 31 seasons. Swaney spent 18 years as Tyrone's head coach and the past 13 at Bellwood-Antis, where he led the Lady Blue Devils to two PIAA Class 2A state championships in 2018 and 2019 behind Alli Campbell, now a member of the Penn State University women's team.
Swaney's 569 career coaching wins are second all-time among Blair County basketball coaches behind Mark Moschella's 603.
One of Swaney's longtime assistant coaches, Kylie Longo-McGarvey, was appointed by the Bellwood-Antis administration in June to replace him as the school's head coach.
The 2023 calendar year was a big one for Penn State athletics.
The Penn State football team opened the year with a victory over Utah in the Rose Bowl, and the Nittany Lions' men's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Micah Shrewsberry, punched its first berth into the NCAA Tournament in 12 years.
The Nittany Lions won their first-round game handily over Texas A&M before being eliminated by Texas in the second round.
Less than a week later, Shrewsberry -- an Indiana native who had coached the Lions for only two seasons -- announced that he was leaving Penn State to become the head men's coach at Notre Dame.
On March 29, Penn State hired Mike Rhoades as its new coach. Rhoades, a native of northeastern Pennsylvania, had previously been the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Penn State wrestling team extended its reign of dominance under head coach Cael Sanderson, riding individual championship efforts from Carter Starocci at 174 pounds and Aaron Brooks at 184 to another NCAA team title -- the Nittany Lions' 10th in the past 12 seasons.
The Altoona Curve franchise changed ownership in late June, when a minor league conglomerate named Diamond Baseball Holdings -- which owns 21 teams -- took over the reins of the franchise from the Lozinak family.
The passing of three sports legends -- former National League Football All-Pro center Ed Flanagan, former longtime Bellwood-Antis High School football coach John Hayes and Pittsburgh sports personality and Blair County Sports Hall of Fame emcee Stan Savran -- cast a damper on the area sports scene in 2023.
Flanagan, an Altoona native who was inducted into the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame's first class in 1987 after playing 12 seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and former San Diego Chargers, passed away from heart failure at the age of 79 on May 10 at UPMC Altoona.
Hayes, who served as the head coach at Bellwood-Antis for 38 seasons, from 1980 to 2017, died on Sept. 30 at the age of 76 after battling numerous health problems. Hayes enjoyed an illustrious coaching career at Bellwood, leading the Blue Devils to 323 career victories, numerous district and conference championships and three appearances in the PIAA state semifinals. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Central Pennsylvania Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame. Bellwood's football field at Memorial Stadium also bears Hayes' name, and he also served as the school's longtime athletic director.
Savran, who died on June 12 at the age of 76 from complications of lung cancer, had a distinguished sports journalism career in Pittsburgh television and radio that spanned over four decades, earning him induction into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and a spot on the Pittsburgh Pirates Wall of Fame.
Savran served as the Master of Ceremonies for Blair County Sports Hall of Fame induction dinners since the Hall's inaugural event in 1987, adding a combined element of humor and insight with his smooth-speaking and sharp-witted presentations that will be sorely missed. The Blair Hall has selected another longtime Pittsburgh area sports personality, Bob Pompeani, to succeed Savran, beginning with its next induction ceremony this coming April.
In other top stories, Penn Cambria's Josh Stolarski captured the PIAA Class 2A gold medal in the 400-meter run in the PIAA Track and Field Championships last May at Shippensburg University, while the Central Cambria girls 3200-meter relay team of Abigail George, Annaliese Niebauer, Abigail Sheehan and Alaina Sheehan won a PIAA Class 2A gold medal in that event for the second consecutive year.
This past year was a very special one for Bedford resident Leah Shackley, who is also a member of the Blair Regional YMCA TigerSharks swimming team.
Shackley was selected by the USA Swimming organization to compete in the Junior Worlds competition in Israel in September after successfully competing in the USA Swimming Summer Nationals and International Team Trials in Indianapolis over the summer.
Last March, Shackley also won two PIAA Class 2A gold medals for the second consecutive season in both the 100-meter butterfly and the 100-meter backstroke at the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Bucknell University.
Two Altoona baseball teams qualified for Babe Ruth League World Series competition in different leagues by winning championships in separate Mid-Atlantic Regional tournaments at Seitz Field last summer.
The Altoona team for 13-year-old players, managed by Brad Hatch and featuring most of the same players that distinguished themselves for the Hollidaysburg Little League team in the 2022 Little League World Series at Williamsport, punched its ticket to the Babe Ruth World Series for 13-year-olds at Glen Allen, Va. in August.
The Altoona team posted a 4-2 record and finished fourth in the tournament, logging four victories to advance out of pool play to the semifinals, where it lost to eventual champion Hawaii. Altoona then dropped the consolation game to Texas.
The Altoona team for players ages 16-18, managed by Brian Bell, made it to the Babe Ruth World Series in St. Girardeau, Mo., in August. Altoona finished 1-3 in the tournament.
After failing to make the National Hockey League playoffs last spring for the first time in 17 seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins shook up their front office, firing general manager Ron Hextall, assistant general manager Chris Pryor and president of hockey operations Brian Burke in April, and hiring Kyle Dubas as president of hockey operations and general manager, and Jason Spezza as assistant general manager, in June. The Penguins retained the services of head coach Mike Sullivan.
This past spring, the PIAA also officially sanctioned girls wrestling competition starting in the 2023-24 season, with a state girls tournament planned for this March in Hershey. High school girls wrestling programs are now in place at Claysburg-Kimmel, Central Cambria, Philipsburg-Osceola/Huntingdon co-op, Bald Eagle Area, Bishop McCort, Central Mountain, State College and United in District 6, and at Northern Bedford, Bedford and Chestnut Ridge in District 5.
The PIAA had mandated that the state would need 100 schools with wrestling programs in order to be officially recognized by the PIAA, and that number was reached and surpassed in 2023.
Following is a closer look at many of the Mirror's top stories in 2023:
BG coaching change
The BG basketball shakeup involving Drenning seemed surreal after the veteran coach had led the Marauders' program to great accomplishments for over a decade. Six of Drenning's 11 BG teams won at least 20 games, with the 2018-19 state finalist team winning 27 and the 2019-20 squad winning 26 in a season that was ended prematurely by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although he was offered the chance to re-apply for the job, Drenning declined.
Lestochi, a former standout player at BG who has strong ties with the school, has, since 2017, been running his nationally-recognized All Day Hoops training program in Altoona for players from the kindergarten through Grade 12 levels.
In addition to offering one-on-one lessons, Lestochi has led multiple travel teams to tournament championships with the program.
A 1997 graduate of BG, Lestochi went on to play collegiate basketball at Mount Aloysius College, where he became a two-time Athlete of the Year and MVP, and was also named a basketball All-American.
Penn State wins Rose Bowl
In what will be the last traditional Big Ten-PAC 12 Conference Rose Bowl game ever played -- with the game to serve as an annual College Football Playoff game site going forward -- Penn State rung in the calendar year in excellent fashion by riding two very big second-half plays to a 31-21 victory over Utah last Jan. 2 in Pasadena, Calif.
Nick Singleton, a freshman tailback last season, parlayed his breakaway speed into an 87-yard touchdown run for Penn State early in the third quarter that snapped a 14-14 halftime tie and gave the Nittany Lions -- who finished the 2022 season with an 11-2 record -- the lead for good, 21-14.
Quarterback Sean Clifford capped off a solid collegiate career by hitting wide-open receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith on a pass play that went for an 88-yard touchdown that extended the Penn State lead to 28-14 early in the fourth quarter. The play established a new Rose Bowl record for the longest passing touchdown ever in the Rose Bowl.
A crowd of 94,873 -- most of whom were Utah fans even though Penn State fans also traveled well to Pasadena -- watched the classic game that pitted two teams which were ranked among the top 10 in the country.
Clifford, who was chosen by the Green Bay Packers in the 2023 NFL Draft, earned the game's Most Valuable Offensive Player award by completing 16 of 21 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
Safety Ji'Ayir Brown earned the game's Most Valuable Defensive Player award with eight tackles and an interception for Penn State, which has now split its four appearances in the Rose Bowl.
This 2023 Penn State team broke in a new quarterback in highly-touted redshirt freshman Drew Allar. While Allar was getting his feet wet at the most vital position on the field, the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions carded a 10-2 regular-season record and will face 11th-ranked Mississippi on Saturday at noon in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.
Both the offensive and defensive coordinator positions at Penn State have undergone changes since the outset of this season.
After the Nittany Lions had lost at home to Michigan, Penn State coach James Franklin fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich in mid-November and the Lions hired former Kansas Jayhawks offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for the position on Nov. 30.
The Lions' esteemed defensive coordinator, Manny Diaz, who had directed this season's Penn State defense to one of the top performances in the nation, left the team to become the new head coach at Duke University in early December.
He has been replaced as the Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator and linebackers coach by Tom Allen, who formerly was the head coach at Indiana University before being fired there earlier this season.
Washington, USC, UCLA and Oregon have all left the PAC-12 Conference and will join the Big Ten Conference beginning with the 2024 season, as national expansion and super-conference formats continue to occur in conjunction with college football's new 12-team playoff format that starts next season.
PSU, Pitt go dancing
Led by Jalen Pickett -- Penn State's first basketball All-American since Jesse Arnell earned the honor in 1954 while leading the Nittany Lions into the Final Four -- the Nittany Lions reached the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game last March, losing there to top-seeded Purdue, while earning their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2011.
Finishing 23-14, this Penn State team sparked excitement about the school's basketball program for the first time in over a decade, hammering Texas A&M, 76-59, in a first-round NCAA game in Des Moines, Iowa, on March 16 before suffering elimination with a 71-66 loss to second-seeded Texas two days later.
After Shrewsberry -- who had been an associate head coach at Purdue before coming to Penn State in 2021 -- accepted the Notre Dame position on March 22, the Nittany Lions began a coaching search that ended with the March 29 appointment of Rhoades, who grew up in Mahanoy City, two hours east of the Penn State campus.
Rhoades, 50, signed a seven-year contract at Penn State worth a guaranteed $25.9 million.
Rhoades compiled a 129-61 record at VCU, where he led the Rams to three NCAA Tournament appearances -- including an NCAA berth last March. That team won 27 games and the Atlantic 10 Conference championship during the season before suffering a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to St. Mary's.
Rhoades had previously served as a head coach at both Rice and Randolph-Macon.
He faces a rebuilding job at Penn State, where all the starters from the 2022-23 team have moved on, but he has already hit the ground running with the addition of some promising transfers and recruits.
The University of Pittsburgh Panthers also reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 last March, winning their first two tournament games -- including a play-in contest -- before bowing out with a 24-12 season record and a second-round loss to Xavier in Greensboro, N.C.
New owners for Curve
Last June 28, Diamond Baseball Holdings became the third owner of the Altoona Curve in the franchise's 25-year history, taking the reins from original owner Bob Lozinak and his family.
Diamond Baseball Holdings, under the direction of CEO and Pennsylvania native Peter Freund, currently also owns the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Railroaders -- which is the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees -- as well as the Williamsport Crosscutters, who compete in the MLB Draft League, and the State College Spikes.
Freund pledged organizational stability, emphasizing that the Curve would remain an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and that the franchise's management team "will remain in place.''
Team president David Lozinak called his family's decision to sell the franchise an "extremely difficult" one. His father and mother, Bob and Joan, were the original owners for the team's first season in 1999, along with the late Tate DeWeese, before the Lozinaks sold the team to Chuck Greenberg in 2001 and bought it back in 2008.
The purchase price of the sale was not disclosed.
PSU matmen continue dominance
Penn State reigned king again at the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships that were held March 15-17 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.
Led by the gold-medal efforts of Starocci at 174 pounds and Brooks at 184, Penn State -- which had also won the Big Ten Conference Tournament team championship earlier in March -- racked up 137.5 team points to breeze to the NCAA team championship. Iowa was a distant second with 82.5 team points.
Starocci and Brooks became the fifth and sixth three-time national champions in Penn State's illustrious wrestling history. Starocci pinned Nebraska's Mikey Labriola in 2:46 in the 174-pound title match, while Brooks topped Northern Iowa's Parker Kekelsen, 7-2, in the 184-pound championship bout.
Three other Penn State wrestlers -- Roman Bravo-Young (133 pounds), Levi Haines (157) and Greg Kerkvilet (285) -- reached the championship matches in their respective weight classes, but each lost their title bouts and finished second.
Iowa's Matt Murin, a former PIAA state champion at Central Cambria High School, earned All-America status with a sixth-place NCAA finish at 149 pounds last March.
PIAA track gold medalists
Penn Cambria's Stolarski, a junior last spring, won first place in the PIAA boys Class 2A 400-meter dash with a time of 49.09 on May 27 in the state meet held at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium.
Stolarski, who became Penn Cambria's first-ever state champion in any sport, finished ahead of 400-meter dash runner-up Jacob Hunter of Holy Redeemer High School, who registered a time of 49.73.
Stolarski also won a fourth-place state medal in the 200-meter dash.
Central Cambria's quartet of seniors George and Niebauer, along with sophomores Abigail Sheehan and Alaina Sheehan, won the gold medal in the PIAA Class 2A girls 3200-meter relay for the second straight year, logging a time of 9:27.9 on May 27 at Shippensburg.
Central Cambria rallied in the final two legs of the race to pull out the win over Elk County Catholic's team, which finished second in the event with a time of 9:31.15.
More laurels for Shackley
A berth in the Junior Worlds event in Israel in September capped off a big year for Shackley, who competed in the 100 butterfly, the 50 butterfly and the medley relay for the United States team in the international competition.
Shackley was selected for the world competition by the United States Swimming organization after finishing second in the 100 butterfly in the USA Swimming Summer Nationals at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) ages 18-and-under division in late June with a time of 8:59. She was also third in the 100 backstroke at Indianapolis with a time of 1:00.22.
Shackley accomplished all of this after winning two gold medals in the PIAA Class 2A Swimming Diving Championships for the second consecutive year last March.
Shackley, who was a junior last year at Bedford High School, won her second state championship in the 100 butterfly and set a new state record in the process on March 15 with a time of 51.93, shattering the old state record of 53.50. She also broke the old Bucknell University pool record of 52.99 in the event.
On March 16, Shackley broke the state record again in the fourth heat of the 100 backstroke with a time of 51.71, which bettered the previous record time of 52.42 that she had set in that event in 2022. But in the final heat of the 100 backstroke, Shackley set another state and Bucknell pool record with a time of 51.61, en route to winning her second state gold medal in the event.
She was also named the PIAA Class 2A Swimmer of the Meet for the second year in a row.
Shackley -- who competed in the United States Olympic Trials in the 100 backstroke in 2021 -- had originally committed to swim on the NCAA Division I college level at the University of Indiana, but last year, she changed her choice and committed to swim at North Carolina State University.
Everett wins softball title
Outside the Mirror's core coverage area, the Everett Area High School girls softball team won its first PIAA championship June 15 at Penn State University's Beard Field, capturing the state Class 2A title with a 12-1, six-inning victory over Bald Eagle Area.
The win capped a perfect 26-0 season for Everett, as the Lady Warriors ushered out their veteran coach Jackie Levy in style. Levy had previously told her team that she was retiring after the 2023 season, wrapping up a nine-year tenure as the school's head softball coach.
Everett broke open a scoreless game with five runs in the fifth inning and seven in the sixth to put the mercy rule into effect.
Designated hitter Makenna Richards went 4-for-4 at the plate with a three-run homer in the title game for Everett, which also got three-hit shutout pitching from Olivia Hillegas.
Philipsburg-Osceola also won a state girls volleyball championship.
Juniata women volleyball champs
The Juniata College women's volleyball program won its second straight NCAA Division III championship on Dec. 2 at the Claremont-Mudd-Scripts and Roberts Pavilion in Claremont, Calif., with the 2023 Juniata team wrapping up a perfect 35-0 season with a straight-set 25-22, 25-20, 25-21 victory over Hope (Mich.) College in the title match.
Olivia Foley of Juniata was named the NCAA Championship Tournament's Most Valuable Player, and Foley and her Juniata teammates Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez and Lily Podolan were named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team, as Juniata captured its fourth NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship in program history.
Also in memory
Former Pittsburgh Pirate Frank Thomas, 93; Former Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop, NBA player and University of Pittsburgh basketball color analyst Dick Groat, 92; Former Pittsburgh Pirates first base coach Don Leppert, 91; Former Bellwood-Antis High School coach and athlete Bob Fowler, 91; Former Pittsburgh Pirate Vic Davalillo, 87; Willie Maier, 86, who played professional baseball in the minor leagues and also participated in the Altoona Greater City Baseball League; Former Bishop Guilfoyle boys basketball coach Bill Gaffey, 84, who led the Marauders to the Pennsylvania Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship in 1967; Former Altoona High School District teacher/coach and longtime PIAA basketball and football official Frank Swalga, 82; Longtime WTRN Tyrone sportscaster "Radio" Rich Saupp, 78; Former Greater City Baseball League legend Jimmy Ronan, 72, who was inducted into the Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame ... Former Central High School volleyball coach Gerre Bassler, 68; Former Hollidaysburg High School and Navy football standout Doug Rhodes, 60. He is the father of NFL long snapper Luke Rhodes; Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Tim Wakefield, 57; Former Juniata Valley three-sport athlete and coach Mike Smith, 54, who was also a former member of the Penn State football team; Former Altoona High School three-sport athlete David Jones, 48; Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans, 46, a member of the 2006 Steelers Super Bowl championship team ... Former Hollidaysburg High School basketball player Paul Anderson, 44; Former Bellwood-Antis High School athlete Rich Shawley, 33; Former Cambria Heights athlete Tristin Irwin, 28; Former Hollidaysburg High School baseball player Benny Stapelfeld, 19.