Ches Mont League

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association's final attempt to derail a lawsuit questioning its authority was unsuccessful last week, and the start of what could be a long legal war is set for today in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. The lawsuit, filed by the Central League, is designed to block a PIAA- mandated merger between the Central League and the four remaining members of the Ches-Mont League. The merger was to take place this fall. But the legal wranglings are now expected to last at least a year, meaning that Coatesville, Downingtown, West Chester East and West Chester Henderson will be on their own. "We're just going to have to be a four-team league and try to survive this year," said Paul Chenger, principal of Coatesville and president of the Ches- Mont League.

The old-time sportswriters were only partially correct. Football isn't the only game of inches. Just ask West Chester East coach Ron McGee. McGee's Vikings (2-2; 1-2 league) entered the week with an undefeated record and a legitimate shot at the Ches-Mont League championship. But after two tough 27-28 losses to league rivals Downingtown and Boyertown, McGee and his team can only realistically hope to finish in the top four in the league and make their mark at the district championship.

Behind the consistent low scoring of sophomore twins Chris and Drew Yard, Downingtown strengthened its hold on first place last week with a 19-stroke win over West Chester East to remain unbeaten in Ches-Mont League golf. Despite East's home-course advantage on the tricky, par-71 Hershey's Mill Golf Club, not to mention the rain and hail, Downingtown emerged after 18 holes Tuesday with a 442-461 win over the Vikings and a league record of 3-0. With the victory, Downingtown stayed two points ahead of second-place Owen J. Roberts at 2-1 in the league.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association failed yesterday in its final out-of-court attempt to force a merger between the Central League and the dying Ches-Mont League. No resolution to the problem was reached during a meeting between PIAA executive director Russell T. Werner and representatives of the five leagues in the southern portion of the PIAA's District 1. The Central League is now expected to resume its quest for temporary and permanent injunctions that would prevent the merger.

Downingtown coach John Walker joked with the media after his team's very impressive 85-60 victory over West Chester East on Tuesday. He said he was afraid to say anything to his club during halftime in fear of "screwing them up. " Walker's team is hitting its peak at just the right time, with the Ches- Mont League title on the line this Thursday and the PIAA Class AAAA District 1 playoffs looming soon after. "I was saying to my assistant, Ken Sigle, that everything they do is just so sharp right now, even in practice," Walker said.

In the first showdown of the season between the top two clubs in the Ches- Mont League softball race, Downingtown committed a couple of errors but came away unscathed. Coatesville, on the other hand, committed one that led to a four-run fourth inning. As a result, the defending champion Whippets went on to a 5-2 victory that left them atop the league standings with a 3-0 mark, 9-1 overall. Coatesville, 6-3 overall, fell to 2-1 in the league. As has been the case quite a few times this season, Laura Parke took charge of the Whippets' offense.

Downingtown, despite its first-ever Ches-Mont League championship, despite beating Coatesville twice, despite its rugged nonleague schedule, did not get a bye through the first round of the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA boys' basketball tournament. The top four seeds did get byes, however, in the tournament that opens today and tomorrow at various sites throughout the district. Downingtown is actually only the eighth seed in the 28-team field. But none of this matters to Whippets coach John Walker.

When his team enters tomorrow's District 1 golf tournament at Philmont Country Club to defend its title, Downingtown coach Mike Morgan will be able to do nothing but stand back and watch. After practicing with them from the sweltering days of late August to the chilly October afternoons, after guiding them to a 14-0-1 overall record and a seventh consecutive Ches-Mont League title, Morgan will now just have to wait and see what happens. In the district tournament, the youngsters are on their own. "It's really an individual sport, but we play it as a team," Morgan said.

Consider the predicament of James S. Calhoun, principal at Phoenixville High School and president of the Pioneer Athletic Conference. At a meeting of District 1 principals tomorrow at Westover Golf Club in Jeffersonville, Calhoun will cast Phoenixville's vote against amendments that would allow the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to freely realign local athletic leagues. Passage of those amendments is considered crucial if Downingtown, a Ches- Mont League school in which Calhoun's daughter, Jodi, plays lacrosse and basketball, is to escape limbo.

Downingtown and Great Valley again won their respective boys' soccer league championships on Thursday. The Whippets captured their eighth straight Ches- Mont League title while the Patriots downed visiting Owen J. Roberts, 5-0, to win their seventh consecutive Pioneer Athletic Conference title. Yet neither team had a smooth run as both adjusted to playing without star players. Downingtown lost much of its size through graduation, and had to use its superior ball skills and speed to wear opponents down.

Holy Ghost Prep baseball coach Keith Smeraglio was looking ahead Thursday afternoon when he penciled in Tim Brennan as the Firebirds' starting pitcher. Brennan has eight saves this season, but Smeraglio said it was time to stretch the sophomore's right arm and get him ready for the playoffs. He sure looked prime against Lower Moreland, as Brennan pitched six innings, scattered two hits, and fanned eight to help Holy Ghost Prep win, 3-1, and clinch its ninth Bicentennial Independence title in the last 10 years.

With a new format in place, the individual postseason for wrestlers in Districts 1 and 12 is scheduled to begin Saturday with a series of league and sectional tournaments. District 1 wrestlers will compete in league tournaments, a change from sectional tournaments used in the past, in the first round of the playoffs. District 12 wrestlers will be divided into Catholic League and Public League sectionals. The Pioneer Athletic Conference and the Bicentennial, Ches-Mont, Del-Val, and Central Leagues of District 1 will hold one-day individual tournaments scheduled to start Saturday morning.

Jennifer Wittick's first goal was pretty. Her second goal, clinical. The third one? Well, that was just impressive. By the time Wittick scored her fourth goal for the Downingtown West girls' soccer team on Thursday night, the ball hitting the back of the net by way of Wittick was expected. Her tremendous individual effort gave the Whippets a 4-2 victory over Bishop Shanahan in a matchup of the top two teams in the Ches-Mont League. The win solidified the Whippets (12-2 overall)

Downingtown East coach Mike Matta is getting awfully comfortable with a Lauletta taking snaps from behind center. Senior Kyle Lauletta will start for Matta again this season, after throwing for 1,971 yards and 23 touchdowns last year. He took the reins from his brother Trey, who started the previous three seasons for Matta's Cougars and is going into his sophomore year at Bucknell. Catching passes from Lauletta will be Michigan State recruit Jay Harris, who caught 53 balls for 717 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Cougars in 2011.

It was 3:10 p.m. last Tuesday when Ron Savastio began to lean against the Bishop Shanahan fence - the giveaway that the fun-loving 79-year-old coach might turn serious, according to catcher Claudia Boggi. Savastio chewed and spit out a handful of sunflower seeds. He popped a piece of gum into his mouth and began chewing some more. Practice was supposed to start at 3:15, but only six girls from the undefeated Eagles had arrived, chatting and giggling. Wearing a white "Eagles Softball" shirt tucked into khaki pants, Savastio already had carried two buckets of balls to the empty dirt field and walked the 500-some feet to the outfield bleachers and back to check on the junior varsity team.

It was 3:10 p.m. last Tuesday when Ron Savastio began to lean against the Bishop Shanahan fence - the giveaway that the fun-loving 79-year-old coach might turn serious, according to catcher Claudia Boggi. Savastio chewed and spit out a handful of sunflower seeds. He popped a piece of gum into his mouth and began chewing some more. Practice was supposed to start at 3:15, but only six girls from the undefeated Eagles had arrived, chatting and giggling. Wearing a white "Eagles Softball" shirt tucked into khaki pants, Savastio already had carried two buckets of balls to the empty dirt field and walked the 500-some feet to the outfield bleachers and back to check on the junior varsity team.

West Chester Rustin needed just six innings to drop visiting Ches-Mont League rival Great Valley on Wednesday, pounding its way to a 16-6 victory in a baseball game called an inning early because of the mercy rule. The victory not only kept the Golden Knights (7-0) unbeaten, but also marked their third straight game of scoring 12 runs or more. Rustin scored in every frame but the third en route to its season-high run total. It was highlighted by a seven-run, six-hit second inning in which five Knights drove in runs.

Downingtown West got off to a fast start and claimed its first Ches-Mont League basketball championship in nine years with a 43-36 win over rival Downingtown East on Tuesday night. Brittany Sicinski tossed in a game-high 19 points, and Allison Shaw added 9 points and a dozen rebounds for West (22-2), which swept its three meetings with the Cougars (15-9) this winter. Noelle Alicea scored 13 points to lead East, which fell behind by 23-11 at halftime and 33-17 entering the final period.

It isn't likely that longtime Villa Maria Academy field hockey coach Maurene Polley will forget her induction into the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Not when at least 150 people - former players, coaches, and others with some connection to Villa and its field hockey program - showed up for her induction luncheon Saturday at the Convention Center in Philadelphia. "I had fun from the day's start," said Polley, the Hurricanes coach since 1968, when she graduated from West Chester State Teachers College (now West Chester University)

It isn't likely that longtime Villa Maria Academy field hockey coach Maurene Polley will forget her induction into the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Not when at least 150 people - former players, coaches, and others with some connection to Villa and its field hockey program - showed up for her induction luncheon Saturday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. "I had fun from the day's start," said Polley, the Hurricanes coach since 1968, when she graduated from West Chester State Teachers College (now West Chester University)