High School Sports
Steel
The Steel-High football team celebrates its 2024 District 3 Class 2A championship at War Veterans Memorial Field in Steelton. The Rollers will not be able to play at the historic venue in 2025, due to its current conditions. FILE PHOTOVicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive The Steel-High football team suddenly finds itself without a […]
The Steel-High football team celebrates its 2024 District 3 Class 2A championship at War Veterans Memorial Field in Steelton. The Rollers will not be able to play at the historic venue in 2025, due to its current conditions. FILE PHOTOVicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive
The Steel-High football team suddenly finds itself without a home field for the 2025 season.
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A Friday press release from Steelton-Highspire School District Superintendent Dr. Mick Iskric, Jr. states the conditions of 113-year-old War Veterans Memorial Field have rendered the venue unplayable.
That leaves the Rollers football team, who won state championships in 2023, 2022 and 2020, with few palatable options to contest its home schedule, just four months before the season’s opening kickoff.
Steel-High head football coach and athletic director Andrew Erby vows that the complete Rollers schedule will be played.
Steel High head football coach Andrew Erby reacts after defeating Fort Cherry in the PIAA 1A football championship game at Cumberland Valley. December 07, 2023. FILE PHOTO
“At the end of the day, if we have to play 10 road games then so be it. We will play in the parking lot if we have to. This is a tough town with tough kids, we will find a way to make it work,” Erby said.
Steel-High’s 2025 football schedule currently lists home games against Juniata (Friday, Aug. 29), Upper Dauphin (Friday, Sept. 12), James Buchanan (Friday, Oct. 3) and Susquenita (Friday, Oct. 17).
Those games will likely be played as away games or at a neutral site. The Rollers have yet to fill an open date for a Week One game over the weekend of Aug. 23-24.
In response to the situation, the Steelton-Highspire School District, in partnership with the Roller Nation Foundation and On Hill Development LLC, announced Friday the launch of what its dubs the “Community Transformation & Stadium Revitalization Strategic Framework.”
The plan calls for a full transformation of War Veterans Memorial Field into a community education, career and health & wellness center that wil anchor a bright future for students, families, and the greater community.
“This isn’t just about upgrading a stadium — it’s about unlocking futures,” said Iskric. “With this framework, we honor our legacy while building real opportunities for the next generation.”
“Our facilities no longer reflect our legacy,” Erby said. “We’ve produced champions without resources — imagine what we could do with them.”
The first of a three-phase renovation plan calls for installation of a new synthetic turf field, an industry leading sound system, high-efficiency stadium lights, an advanced drainage systems and repositioning for a future six-lane track.
The second phase calls for construction of ADA-compliant bleachers, classrooms, a press box, restrooms and a community kitchen.
The third phase includes creation of a full-service hub offering childcare, STEM labs, career training, fitness, mental health counseling and adult learning,
“Every empty seat, every lost game, every missed opportunity is a cost we can no longer ignore,” said Steelton-Highspire assistant superintendent Willie Slade. “We are building more than a stadium. We are building futures.”
The renovated complex will also serve as a year-round hub for public programming to welcome local non-profits, healthcare partners, colleges, faith-based organizations and alumni to deliver essential wrap around services.
The school district is pursuing several channels for funding the renovations, including PA DCED, RACP, and LSA grants, state and federal education and workforce development grants, money from health and wellness foundations, corporate sponsorships and naming rights and community fundraising and event revenue.
No timetable for the beginning or completion of the planned renovations has been set.
Steelton-Highspire serves a diverse student body of 1,473 students with more 78% from low-income households, according to the district’s press release.
The school district is seeking support from alumni, community leaders, state and local legislators and potential partners.
Several notable Steel-High alumni, including former Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl champion and former Trinity High School head coach Jordan Hill, former NFL wide receiver David Sullivan and former NFL tight end and Penn State University player Troy Drayton, have expressed their support for the project.
“What we want to do is to elevate anything and everything that’s ever been done in Steelton before. This is a generational change. It’s personal with all of us,” said Sullivan, who donated $100,000 to the Roller Athletic Foundation in 2024
“This is about legacy, this is about that Roller Pride, this is about us leaving a legacy for the people that’s going to come after us,” said Drayton.
War Veterans Memorial Field hosted its first football game on Oct. 5, 1912, according to the Steelton Historical Society.
The field was dedicated to World War II veterans on Sept. 28, 1946.
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High School Sports
Athletes of the Month
The Catholic Star Herald highlights the Diocese’s student athletes who stood out during the month of April. Marissa Gras Marissa Gras Holy Spirit High School, Absecon Lacrosse Marissa Gras’ raw athletic ability helped her become not only a steady goaltender on the Holy Spirit High School girls lacrosse team, but also the program’s all-time leader […]
The Catholic Star Herald highlights the Diocese’s student athletes who stood out during the month of April.
Marissa Gras
Holy Spirit High School, Absecon
Lacrosse
Marissa Gras’ raw athletic ability helped her become not only a steady goaltender on the Holy Spirit High School girls lacrosse team, but also the program’s all-time leader in saves.
Gras, a soccer player by trade, took up lacrosse during her sophomore year when the team had an opening at goalie. Since then, the Spartans senior has been tremendous, making her 200th career save on senior night against our Lady of Mercy Academy on April 14. Two games later, Gras made nine saves in a tight 9-8 victory over Lenape to break Piper Martin’s record of 209, which was set in 2022.
Through April, Gras made 61 saves as Holy Spirit was 7-4, and she had 223 saves for her career. Gras will play soccer next year at Rowan College of South Jersey, Cumberland Campus.
Sophia Greenwood
Paul VI High School, Haddonfield
Golf
Make it back-to-back championships for the Paul VI High School girls golf team as the Eagles bested the field for the second straight year at the 26th annual Camden County Commissioners Cup on April 29.
Held at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood, Sophia Greenwood of Paul VI won the individual girls title by shooting a 90, leading the Eagles to the team title.
Greenwood started her season strong by carding a 48 at the nine-hole Moorestown Invitational on March 24. She finished the month even stronger by shooting a season-best 41 (five-over-par) on March 30 in a win over Lenape to give Paul VI a 7-1 record.
Greenwood, a senior from Medford, will attend Lehigh University next year.
Anthony Hermenau
Holy Spirit High School, Absecon
Lacrosse
A steady goal-scorer since he was a freshman, Anthony Hermenau became the latest addition to Holy Spirit High School’s 100-goal club in boys lacrosse.
Hermenau needed just six goals to reach the milestone entering the 2025 season, and he accomplished the feat in just his third game on April 4 with a hat trick in an 8-7 victory over Clearview.
Hermenau has posted five hat tricks on the season, including a five-goal game against Lenape on April 24, which matched a career high. Hermenau scored 25 goals and assisted on 11 more in the month of April and stood at 119 career goals heading into May. He will play Division II lacrosse next year at Coker University in South Carolina in the South Atlantic Conference.
Braeden Lipoff
Gloucester Catholic High School, Gloucester
Baseball
Braeden Lipoff’s season started red-hot. The junior catcher hit .655 in the month of April as the Gloucester Catholic High School baseball team began its quest for a third consecutive state title.
In his first 10 games of the 2025 season, Lipoff hit safely in every game, contributing 20 hits and 15 RBIs while scoring 12 times. The East Carolina University commit uncorked a 5-for-5 effort April 26 against Saint Augustine Preparatory School at the Downbeach Coaches vs. Cancer showcase in a battle of the two top-ranked teams in the state. Lipoff homered twice that game and drove in seven runs in a 14-5 victory to help keep the Rams rolling on an undefeated season.
Jack Kelly Lyons
Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill
Golf
The Camden Catholic High School boys golf team had a fantastic showing at the 26th annual Camden County Commissioners Cup thanks to stellar shooting by junior Jack Kelly Lyons.
Kelly Lyons fired an eight-over-par round of 80 at Valleybrook Country Club in Blackwood on April 29 to capture second place individually while helping the Irish take second place in the team standings in a field of 17 schools.
In nine-hole matches this season, Kelly Lyons has posted a score of 39 on several occasions, including back-to-back games on April 24 and 28. His 39 against Pennsauken on April 28 was the best score of the match.
Kristen Wareham
Wildwood Catholic Academy, North Wildwood
Softball
Kristen Wareham’s hot bat at the top of the order has helped Wildwood Catholic Academy surge up the standings this season.
The senior catcher carried a .606 batting average into May, hitting safely in all of the Crusaders’ first 10 games. With a small bench, Wareham’s defensive play has been a crucial part of Wildwood Catholic’s game plan each outing as she forms the battery with pitcher Emma Johnson.
Wareham has helped lead the Crusaders to a 5-5 record by driving in 14 runs through April 30. She started the season with a bang with nine hits in her first two games, including a career-high five-hit effort in a 23-0 win over Pleasantville.
High School Sports
Pope Leo XIV's Creole heritage highlights complex history of racism and the church in America
NEW ORLEANS — The new pope’s French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans genealogist, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy. All four of Pope Leo XIV’s maternal great-grandparents were ”free people of color” in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora […]
NEW ORLEANS — The new pope’s French-sounding last name, Prevost, intrigued Jari Honora, a New Orleans genealogist, who began digging in the archives and discovered the pope had deep roots in the Big Easy.
All four of Pope Leo XIV’s maternal great-grandparents were ”free people of color” in Louisiana based on 19th-century census records, Honora found. As part of the melting pot of French, Spanish, African and Native American cultures in Louisiana, the pope’s maternal ancestors would be considered Creole.
”It was special for me because I share that heritage and so do many of my friends who are Catholic here in New Orleans,” said Honora, a historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection, a museum in the French Quarter.
Honora and others in the Black and Creole Catholic communities say the election of Leo — a Chicago native who spent over two decades in Peru including eight years as a bishop — is just what the Catholic Church needs to unify the global church and elevate the profile of Black Catholics whose history and contributions have long been overlooked.
Leo, who has not spoken openly about his roots, may also have an ancestral connection to Haiti. His grandfather, Joseph Norval Martinez, may have been born there, though historical records are conflicting, Honora said. However, Martinez’s parents — the pope’s great-grandparents — were living in Louisiana since at least the 1850s, he said.
Andrew Jolivette, a professor of sociology and Afro-Indigenous Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, did his own digging and found the pope’s ancestry reflected the unique cultural tapestry of southern Louisiana. The pope’s Creole roots draw attention to the complex, nuanced identities Creoles hold, he said.
”There is Cuban ancestry on his maternal side. So, there are a number of firsts here and it’s a matter of pride for Creoles,” said Jolivette, whose family is Creole from Louisiana. ”So, I also view him as a Latino pope because the influence of Latino heritage cannot be ignored in the conversation about Creoles.”
High School Sports
HIGHLIGHTS
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Spokane Indians allowed six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-1 loss to the Vancouver Canadians. The Indians and Canadians are now tied 2-2 through four games of the six-game homestand. The Canadians got on the board first in the first inning as a fielding error brought […]
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Spokane Indians allowed six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-1 loss to the Vancouver Canadians. The Indians and Canadians are now tied 2-2 through four games of the six-game homestand.
The Canadians got on the board first in the first inning as a fielding error brought home Adrian Pinto to make it 1-0 Vancouver.
The Indians responded in the bottom of the fourth, when a pickoff attempt by Grant Rogers sailed into center field, allowing EJ Andrews Jr. to take third and turn the corner toward home, where the throw to the plate was not in time and the Indians tied the game 1-1.
The tie was short-lived, as Vancouver scored two runs in the fifth inning off a Sean Keys home run. The Indians threw a bullpen game and had seven different pitchers in the game, with Austin Becker throwing 2.2 innings in relief of Jordy Vargas, the longest of any pitcher for Spokane.
One more run scored in the sixth inning for Vancouver before Eddie Micheletti Jr. hit a home run to left-center field, which scored two runs and made the score 6-1 in favor of the Canadians.
An Adrian Pinto single scored another run, and the next batter, Aaron Parker, blasted one to left field for a three-run homer to put the Canadians up 10-1. Grant Rogers earned the win for Vancouver, going 5.0 innings, allowing four hits and one run while striking out seven.
The Indians look to win Game 5 of the series on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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