Before we continue our countdown of the top games and plays from ATVN’s broadcasts from the past sports season, a few local sports notes and rumors concerning teams in our coverage area.

First, there has been a lot of griping about some of the local sports scheduling over the last few years, with teams complaining about the unlevel playing field.  No team wants to play in blowout games–win or lose–and it looks like there’s serious discussions underway that may result in scheduling changes moving forward.

Keep checking back for more on this development as conversations continue and (hopefully) changes will be made official in the coming months.

As far as on the field news….

This spring continues to be a wild one for Lehigh Valley baseball and softball teams, with many teams beating up on each other and very few squads looking invincible (we saw our last team fall from the ranks of “unbeaten” last week).

That being said, a few schools, including Parkland, Bangor, Saucon Valley and Southern Lehigh on the boys side, seem to have emerged as the top teams in their respective classifications.

On the girls side, Whitehall, Northwestern and Palisades have been the top teams in Classes 5A, 4A and 3A respectively, with Freedom, Northampton, Emmaus, Easton, Liberty and Nazareth all playing well at the 6A level in the District XI softball playoff picture.

Freedom, Parkland, Emmaus and Easton have earned the top spots among local boys lacrosse teams and Emmaus, Easton and Freedom girls have also clinched playoff spots with just a couple weeks remaining in the regular season.

Track and field, volleyball and tennis also have their seasons beginning to wind down.  We’ll have more on the local sports landscape coming up on our “SportsTalk” show that airs every Thursday at 7pm live and replays at 9pm and Saturday morning at 9am on the Astound TV Network.

Also, if you missed last week’s show featuring our first look at the new head football coaches in our coverage area, the show is now available on Video-On-Demand, which is free for all Astound Broadband video customers.

Now, we continue our countdown of the best highlights of the past year for games aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Executive Education vs. Palmerton (2/23)

2. Astound Sports: Emmaus vs. Nazareth (2/23)

3. Astound Sports: Pen Argyl vs. Palmerton (2/23)

4. Astound Sports: Liberty vs. Emmaus (2/23)

5. Astound Sports: Notre Dame Green Pond vs. Saucon Valley (2/23)

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” here on our website for more on local sports news and highlights of recent productions.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Softball has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember.

My career started at Egypt Park in Whitehall on field number 4 – picking daisies in the outfield and looking forward to going to the snack stand for mozzarella sticks after games.

During my time at Egypt, I learned all the fundamentals of softball from two amazing coaches – Kevin Hutter and my father, Dennis Laub.

My dad is my role model in life and he will always be my first and favorite coach I’ve ever had. He always does what is best for me at the drop of a hat and is always there for me.

I started my tournament career with the Lehigh Valley Patriot Flames after my time playing for Egypt. I was trying my best to learn and navigate the game as best I could while trying to have as much fun as I could.

I have so many memories from my first year of travel ball, but my all-time favorite was when we were playing in our final tournament in Quakertown. It was a night owl tournament where all of our games were played late at night and I thought it was so cool that we were allowed to eat candy in the dugout to keep us awake during our games. We won the tournament! That is still a moment I will never forget.

The next season would be a very different experience for me. We got a new coach and he truly changed the sport of softball for me.

Coach Joe Gmitter taught me mostly everything I know about the game of softball and without him I would not be the player I am today. I would end up playing for him for nine years. Those years were the best years of my life.
I was able to play every position on the field besides pitcher and catcher for him, but ultimately he developed me into the outfielder I am today.

Playing for Coach Joe for nine years came with so many amazing experiences. He not only taught me the game of softball, but also to be a better person as well. I was the only original member left when the team collapsed at the end of last summer. I still remember when we were playing our last tournament in Alabama and I had the final at- bat of the tournament. Coach Joe called time out, called me down and all he did was give me a hug and say, “I am so proud of you, go get one more hit.”

The most famous quote he ever taught me was, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

I think that this can apply to so many aspects in life, not only softball. My college coach recently used this quote and it brought so many flashbacks about my days playing travel ball.

In my final season before I came to college, my team ended up getting 3rd place overall in the USSSA Space Coast National Tournament, 2nd place in the USSSA Gulf Shores Alabama National Tournament, and being the #1 team in the 18u age division in the state of Pennsylvania.

I am thankful for my time as a Flame, but I am also able to say that playing softball at Whitehall High School was an amazing, unforgettable experience.

I had the opportunity to play for two of the greatest high school softball coaches the Lehigh Valley has ever had: Blake Morgan and Ed Stinner.

Coaches Morgan and Stinner are two of the main reasons why my softball career has continued into college. They sharpened my skills and shaped me into a collegiate athlete. Countless hours of practice and endless reps in right field made me into the player I am.

During my time at Whitehall our team was a 3 time District IX runner up, qualified for the Pennsylvania state tournament three times, and made the league tournament three straight years as well.

The biggest piece of advice I can give younger softball players is to respect the game and respect your coaches. Also, know that the littlest opportunities do not go unnoticed and everything happens for a reason.

Without softball I truly do not know where I would be. Most of my childhood memories revolve around softball and without this sport I would not be the person I am today. I am so thankful for all of my coaches who have given me the opportunity to play the sport I love. I am so incredibly thankful for all of my amazing teammates who pushed me to be the best every single day. Most importantly I would like to thank my parents for being the inspiration for me playing the game.

Thank you softball for the amazing coaches, endless friendships, and most importantly so many memories that will last a lifetime.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Our ATVN Sports family continues to grow!

In addition to preparing for our spring high school playoff season, finalizing our summer lineup (some exciting news on that to come soon) and laying the groundwork for the fall football season (yes, already in April), we are excited to announce a new personality joining the Astound TV Network!

Mackenzie Laub is currently a Division-I college softball player at Eastern University in Philadelphia (she hit a game-winning home run in her collegiate debut a few weeks ago).

Mackenzie will be introducing herself as well as talking about her experiences, accomplishments and giving some thoughts on her ‘life lessons’ learned through her experiences in sports in her first blog coming up in a couple days right here on our website.

She will also be commenting/blogging going forward on a number of women’s sports and timely issues, which has become an even bigger ‘hot topic’ both in the local sports realm and across the country.  Among her recent accomplishments includes an exploration of the Title IX provisions addressing equality for women in sports.  Mackenzie also has key experiences and connections with sports personalities and coaches in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Please join me in welcoming her to our network and keep an eye out for her blogs this spring and summer!

Now, we continue our countdown of the top plays and games broadcast on the Astound TV Network…

1. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (11/22)
   
2. Astound Sports: Emmaus vs. Easton (12/22)
   

3. Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Easton (12/22)
   

4. Astound Sports: Notre Dame vs. Bethlehem Catholic (1/23)
   

5. Astound Sports: Notre Dame vs. Saucon Valley (1/23)
   

Check back each week for more of the top highlights from our games from the season right here at “The SportsTalk Shop.”  For copies of these and other productions on the Astound TV Network, you can call 610-443-2909.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we continue our countdown of the top games and plays from ATVN’s broadcasts from the past sports season, a “heads up” about upcoming editions of our SportsTalk program.

Coming up this spring we will…

• Begin our interviews with this fall’s brand new head football coaches in the Lehigh Valley
• Talk with Frank Scagliotta, the former Bangor Head Football Coach and veteran NCAA official who was recently inducted into the Eastern Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
• Speaking of officials, we’ll be discussing the widening disparity between the college and scholastic levels, not only in terms of rule differences but also the widening gap in pay and, not surprisingly, a surplus in one area with a steady decline in participation at the other level
• A preview of the District XI baseball and softball playoffs (check back to our website very soon for this spring’s scholastic sports playoff broadcast schedule on ATVN)
• And…for the first time ever, an ‘all-features’ edition of SportsTalk highlighting every spring sport

 “SportsTalk” airs every Thursday at 7pm live and replays at 9pm and Saturday morning at 9am on the Astound TV Network.

Also, if you missed last week’s show featuring this year’s inductees into the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame, the show is now available on Video-On-Demand, which is free for all Astound Broadband video customers.

Now, we continue our countdown of the best highlights of the past year for games aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Emmaus (1/23)

2. Astound Sports:  Parkland vs. Nazareth (11/22)

3. Astound Sports: Individual Wrestling Championship (2/23)

4. Astound Sports:  Northwestern Lehigh vs. Palmerton (2/23)

5. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs Pocono Mountain West (2/23)

Check back to “The SportsTalk Shop” here on our website for some news on the ATVN Sports team!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

First, a programming note for this week’s “ATVN SportsTalk” show, live on Thursday at 7pm.

This week will be our annual show featuring this year’s inductees from the Eastern Pennsylvania chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame.

Among this year’s inductees include:

James Terwilliger – Quarterback at East Stroudsburg South HS ’03; Quarterback at East Stroudsburg University ’07; Coached (assistant/head) at a variety of local Lehigh Valley high schools; Coached at East Stroudsburg University since 2015 and Head Coach 2018 to present.

Bret Comp – Played football at Newport HS, Perry County ’83; US Marine Corps 1987- 88, East Stroudsburg University ’93; Teacher at Wilson Area HS 1998 to present; Coached (assistant/head) at the following East Stroudsburg South HS, Wilson Area HS (PIAA State Champions), Parkland HS.

Levi Brown – Played football Liberty HS ’08 (All State), Temple University ’14; Baltimore Ravens.

Frank D’Angelo – Principal/Director and served as Interim Superintendent at Easton Area HS, Professor at Bloomsburg University BS’83, M.Ed’85, Ed.D Northcentral University ’06; PIAA Official for 42 years (Baseball, Basketball and Football); League assignor for many leagues and organizations in the sport of: football, baseball, and boys/girls lacrosse; served as a member of the District XI Committee as the Officials Representative.

Scot Dapp, Boyertown HS ’69; West Chester University BS ’73; University of North Carolina Master; Head Football Coach Moravian College ’87 to 2010.

Tom Redding , Alllentown Central Catholic HS ’66; Shippensburg University BS ’70; Kutztown University M Ed ’73; BASD teacher 35 years; Coached Football at BECAHI, Liberty HS, Broughal MS; and PIAA Official in Football and Baseball.

We’ll discuss more about this year’s induction class and the upcoming banquet honoring these representatives on Thursday’s program.

Also, if you missed last week’s show featuring the District XI 6A baseball champions from Liberty High School, the show is now available on Video-On-Demand, which is free for all Astound Broadband video customers.    Now, we continue our countdown of the best highlights of the past year for games aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Northampton (1/23)

2. Astound Sports: Emmaus vs. Easton (1/23)

3.  Astound Sports: Catasaqua vs. Bangor (12/22)

4. Astound Sports:  Bethlehem Catholic vs. Liberty (12/22)

5.  Astound Sports: Allen vs. Dieruff (12/22)

Check back each week for more of the top highlights from our games from the season right here at “The SportsTalk Shop.”  For copies of these and other productions on the Astound TV Network, you can call 610-443-2909.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The first few weeks of the spring season have been met with a lot of postponed games, because of poor field conditions, rain or a forecast for it.  This has led to a lot of rescheduling, which has affected our Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show guest lineup.

After a little reshuffling, we are proud to announce that on this week’s program, we will have Andy Pitsilos and members of the Liberty baseball team–the defending District XI 6A champions–in our studio this Thursday at 7pm.

Also, if you missed last week’s show (which is now available on Video-On-Demand), we had training tips, clinics and other exercise and workout programs that are now available to improve sports performance–for athletes of all ages.

Now, we continue our countdown of the best highlights of the past year for games aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Notre Dame vs. Saucon Valley (2/23)
   
2. Astound Sports: Bethlehem Catholic vs Easton (2/23)
   
3. Astound Sports: East York vs. Allentown Central Catholic (3/23)
   
4. Astound Sports: Parkland vs. Garnet Valley (3/23)
   
5. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Freedom (2/23)
   

Check back each week for more of the top highlights from our games from the season right here at “The SportsTalk Shop.”  For copies of these and other productions on the Astound TV Network, you can call 610-443-2909.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

We had a lot of fun this past basketball/wrestling season bringing you all the sites and sounds of a number of scholastic sports events.

We also welcomed some new faces to our on-air sports staff and appreciate their added contributions and unique insights for all of our broadcasts this year!

Over the upcoming weeks we’ll continue to post highlights of the best plays from our games this year, along with passing along honors and awards given out from the previously played sports seasons.

But today, we are going to post pictures of our new broadcast teams out and about at sports venues and locations from across the Astound TV Network’s coverage area.

Enjoy!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

The high school winter season finally came to an end last weekend.  While no local teams again made the championship round this year, there were still plenty of outstanding games and more than the usual share of highlights from the past season.

On last Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show, we looked back at the top moments, players and lasting memories from the winter season with ATVN analysts Brittany Thomas and John Leone.  This show is available to Astound Broadband customers to watch at any time On-Demand, along with the last two months’ worth of games we broadcast on the Astound TV Network.

Today, we begin our countdown of the best highlights of the past year aired on ATVN.

1. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Emmaus (2/23)

2. Astound Sports: Notre Dame vs. Northwestern Lehigh (2/23)

3. Astound Sports: Pocono Mountain West vs. Parkland (2/23)

4. Astound Sports: Allentown Central Catholic vs. Emmaus (2/23)

5. Astound Sports: Southern Lehigh vs. Saucon Valley (2/23)

Check back each week for more of the top highlights from our games from the season right here at “The SportsTalk Shop.” Also, join us on this Thursday’s “SportsTalk” show at 7pm on ATVN as we turn the page to the spring season.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

It seems an annual tradition that when the state playoffs start up, soon thereafter begins the increasingly hostile debate on whether boundary and non-boundary schools should be competing within the same state tournament in the PIAAs.

​Such was a topic of debate on a recent edition of ATVN SportsTalk…

Recently within District XI, we’ve had non-boundary schools once again dominating the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District XI playoff championships.  ​ The debate gets louder and more heated as more and more non-boundary schools dominate competition and scores become more and more lopsided (no boundary school has defeated a non-boundary school in the last eight years of District XI competition and a school like Executive Education Charter school has won it every year of its existence). 

Over the last few years we have had a number of politicians, school administrators, current and former coaches and athletic directors and other people in the sports world weighing in on this issue.  With no easy resolution ever in sight, the only thing people seem to agree on is that it will take an act of legislation to change what is currently in place at the state level.

As far as if there will be anything that ever changes on a local league or regional level, stay tuned over the coming months to see what develops.

*******

Now here’s highlights of recent sports broadcasts on ATVN, with many of these games still available to watch for free for Astound video customers at anytime!

​1.  Astound Sports: Nazareth vs. Freedom (12/22)

2. Astound Sports: Liberty vs. Freedom  (1/23)

3. Astound Sports: Blue Mountain vs.  Bethlehem Catholic (11/22)

4. Astound Sports:  Parkland vs. Freedom (11/22)

Check back in a few weeks for more samples of the best plays from this past high school winter sports season, along with some final thoughts on the season gone by!

Also, don’t forget to check out this weekend’s schedules of PIAA state basketball playoff games on our website to see which games will be broadcasting on our network.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

I had the honor this past weekend to represent Astound Broadband at the 63rd Annual National Football Foundation-Lehigh Valley Chapter 2023 football scholar athletes awards ceremony held this year in Bethlehem, PA.

Each year, the “NFF” helps college-bound student athletes who make outstanding contributions both on and off the football field.  The awards are determined by organization members and local coaches and use a 40/40/20 percentage formula (for academic, athletic and charitable work, respectively). These awards are made available to every public, private and charter high school with a football program in the District XI region, which incorporates Lehigh, Northampton and Monroe counties.

Additionally, financial awards are also granted for outstanding accomplishments made by local colleges within the district footprint.

I’ve had the privilege of announcing the games of, as well as speaking with, a number of this year’s scholarship recipients and it was great to see so many young people’s great efforts, in multiple ways, get rewarded at this year’s event.

Here are some of the images taken from this year’s award ceremony presentation…

The major award winners in this year’s event were…

Small School Winner: Allentown Central Catholic High School – Griffin Patridge

A 6’2”, 185 lb. outside linebacker and wide receiver, he ranks in the top 19% of his class. He is an Honor Roll student and member of the National Honor Society. He earned All-State and First Team All-Conference defensive honors, while serving as team captain. He is the Student Government President, participates in various school sponsored clubs, and is the School Representative for the EPC Student Athletic Character Council. 

Big School Winner: Pleasant Valley High School – Oluwafeola Olaniyan

A 5’10”, 180 lb. outside linebacker and fullback, he ranks in the top 3 %of his class. He is an Honor Roll student, National Honor Society member, and is a state qualifier in the Supply Chain Management test for FBLA. He earned All-Conference First Team offensive and defensive honors, while serving as a team captain. He is the Future Business Leaders of America Vice-President, Key Club Treasurer, and Red Cross Blood Drive Host. He has performed over 500 hours of volunteer work.

Ed Watto Award Winner: Nazareth Area High School – Devin Tavares

A 5’8”, 165 lb. cornerback, he ranks in the top 6% of his class. He is an Honor Roll student and member of the National Honor Society. He is a member of various school sponsored clubs, serving as a club officer, is a Class Officer, and participates in varsity track and field. He volunteers with his church as a Sunday School Teacher assistant, the Red Cross, a Blood Drive, Giving Tree, Nazareth Open House, a youth football camp instructor, and is a volunteer waiter for a local club. 

Coach Michael “Guut” Gurdineer Award – Nate Kemmerer (Parkland High School)

Honorary Award for the Outstanding Lineman of the Lehigh Valley Award selected by the Northampton Area High School Football Staff.

For more information or to become a member of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation, you can go to caringcent.org/nff/chapter

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound or any other agency, organization, employer or company.