PT boys lose, girls win WPIAL Class 3A golf titles
3 min read
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By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Nick Haught of Peters Township hits his shot out of the bunker and onto the green during WPIAL Class AAA team championship action. The sophomore carded an 84 for the Indians, who finished runners-up to Central Catholic, losing by two strokes, 389-391.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Rocco Salvitti reacts as his putt shot lips out of the hole on No. 9 during the WPIAL team championships. Despite the miss, Salvitti shot a 1-under-par on the front nine during the team finals. The Central Catholic senior and Canonsburg resident earned medalist honors with a 71 and led the Vikings to the Class AAA team title with a 389-391 victory over Peters Township.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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A wide-eyed Colton Lusk of Peters Township watches his tee shot on No. 9 during the WPIAL team championships. The sophomore fired a 76 to help the Indians to a runner-up showing in the Class AAA standings with a 391 score. Central Catholic won the title by two strokes.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Colton Lusk of Peters Township intently watches putt on No. 9 during the WPIAL Class AAA team championships. The sophomore fired a 76 to help the Indians to a runner-up showing in the Class AAA standings with a 391 score. Central Catholic won the title by two strokes.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Colton Lusk grits his teeth as he watches his approach shot on No. 9 during the WPIAL Class AAA team championships. The sophomore fired a 76 to help the Indians to a runner-up showing in the Class AAA standings with a 391 score. Central Catholic won the title by two strokes.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Griffin Hansberry of Peters Township attempts to coax the ball into the hole but to no avail during WPIAL team championship action. The sophomore fired a 76 to help the Indians to a runner-up showing in the Class AAA standings with a 391 score. Central Catholic won the title by two strokes.
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Rocco Salvitti watches his drive on No. 9 during the WPIAL Class AAA team championships. The Central Catholic senior and Canonsburg resident earned medalist honors with a 71. He also led the Vikings to the Class AAA team title with a 389-391 victory over Peters Township.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Marissa Malosh chips out of a sticky situation during WPIAL Class AAA team championship action.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ellie Benson of Peters Township watches her tee shot during WPIAL Class 3A team championship action. The freshman carded an 81.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Marissa Malosh tees on on No. 17 during WPIAL Class AAA team championship action. The South Fayette senior earned medalist honors during the event, carding a 70.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Rocco Salvitti earned medalist honors with a 71 during the WPIAL Class AAA team championships.
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Rocco Salvitti drives his shot off the tee on No. 9 during the WPIAL Class AAA team championships. The Central Catholic senior and Canonsburg resident carded a 71, good enough for medalist honors.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Brooke Vowcheck of Peters Township watches as her shot approaches the hole during WPIAL Class AAA team championship action. The sophomore scored a 78 to lead the Lady Indians.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Ellie Benson of Peters Township attempts to figure out how to approach her shot during WPIAL Class AAA team championship action.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Nick Wetzel of Peters Township tees off on No. 10 during WPIAL Classs AAA team championship action. The senior scored an 82 for the Indians.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Ben Miller watches the tragectory of his shot off the No. 10 tee during WPIAL Class AAA team championship action. The sophomore scored an 82 for the Indians.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
BELLE VERNON – A lot can happen during a round of golf.
Take Austin Malley for example. The senior from Peters Township shot a very good round of 75 over the hilly, 6,640-yard par 72 golf course at Cedarbrook.
Imagine his surprise when he was credited with a 72 on the scoreboard. Fortunately, the mistake was discovered, by Malley, who was quick to point it out to WPIAL officials.
If the score was left as it was first reported, and no one caught it, then Peters Township and not Central Catholic might have been crowned champion at the WPIAL Class 3A team championships on a rainy Thursday. Central Catholic won by two strokes over the Indians, 389-391.
“I saw the computer and it didn’t add up to the correct score,” said Malley. “Most likely, they would have noticed if I hadn’t said anything.”
Still, the Indians finished in second place and out of the PIAA Class 3A Team Tournament, which take place Wednesday.
“There is only one way to play this game and that’s the right way,” Peters Township head coach Dave Kuhn said. “That’s our expectations. That’s what we expect from our kids. This is one of the last great games where integrity matters.”
Then there was the other two-stroke win, by the Peters Township girls in Class 3A. Coming into this tournament as underdogs to North Allegheny, the Indians got an overall outstanding performance.
“I’m proud, excited and amazed,” said Peters Township girls coach Mike Lacey. “We tried to stay focus and know that everyone is counting on you and everyone is counting on each other. They played every hole as if it were the last one.”
This was the second WPIAL title for the Indians, who lost the state title by two strokes last year.
Brooke Vowcheck was team medalist with a 78 over the par-71 course and she is only a sophomore. Ellie Benson, a freshman, shot 81. Sophia Severns, a sophomore, carded an 82 and her sister, Amelia, shot 87.
“Brooke brought in our low score,” said Lacey. “It’s a long course and she’s only a sophomore. She’s a 15-year-old girl playing against 18-year-olds and she brought in the low score for us. That really got us back. We were down and she brought us back to a tie score.”
Jackson Bould, the No. 1 golfer from Quaker Valley. was disqualified for signing for the wrong score after hitting one of his tee shots from outside the tee box area. His loss was monumental for Quaker Valley in its chase for the Class 2A title. Sewickley Academy won it in a playoff against Belle Vernon.
Rocco Salvitti, a Canonsburg resident and senior at Central Catholic, was medalist for the boys, shooting a 1-under-par 71. He has played this course numerous time and shot 64 here once.
“The course played soft and you had to be careful spinning wedges but it was tough how windy it was,” said Salvitti.
Marissa Malosh shot a 1-under-par 70 for South Fayette. The senior medalist shot 36 on the front and 34 on the back to help the Lions to a fifth-place finish.
“I’m happy. I worried about my team,” said Malosh, who had four birdies and nearly had an eagle on the par-5 13th.
“It is a little bit weird. It seems like the season is over but I’m still playing. (On Friday), we won’t have practice but I will.”
Belle Vernon needed an extra hole, for a playoff with Sewickley Academy, but came up one stroke shy of extending the playoff and two shots shy of winning.
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