ST. CLAIRSVILLE — He was mentored by some of the true legends in the coaching business. Now Ron Balog is poised to take that learning and put it to the test.

Balog is a 1987 St. Clairsville High grad. He was coached by two of the OVAC’s most successful coaches — George Strager and Mike Young.

The former Red Devil quarterback was recently named head coach at Quaker Valley High in Leetsdale, Pa., in Allegheny County. The Quakers captured their first state championship last fall, defeating the Middletown Blue Raiders 41-24 to claim the PIAA Class 3A crown in Hershey.

Balog has served as freshman coach at Pittsburgh Central Catholic the past two years. He replaces interim coach Jerry Veshio, who guided the Quakers for one season

“I am very excited about this opportunity. The school administration has been great,” Balog said. “Quaker Valley reminds me of the St. Clairsville community with its size and support. Just like St. C., this is a great place.

“While I was an athlete I was influenced by some great coaches and people. George Strager, Mike Young, Kelly Rine, Mickey Blatnik and Ron Gregan were great coaches and teachers,” he added. “They had a great impact on shaping me as a person. They gave me a lot of life lessons. I hope to do the same.”

Balog is taking over a team that won a state title under somewhat strange coaching circumstances.

The head coach quit two days prior to the start of August football practice. A retired teacher who coached the Quakers 20 years ago agreed to guide the team for one year, which amazingly led to a state championship.

“Most of last year’s staff is returning. That will be a great help with retaining continuity. It was very important to have these guys coming back,” Balog said. “Quaker Valley (located next to Sewickley) is not just a football school. They were state soccer champs and made the state semifinals in basketball.”

Balog, age 49, inherits a team stocked with solid numbers and talent, buoyed by state-title bravado.

“We have 25-26 players back. We will have about the same number as last year, some 35-40 players,” the former Muskingum University gridder said. “We did lose 12 fantastic seniors but we have a great junior class and a lot of big-play performers returning.

“We have a great facility here. We play in Chuck Knox Stadium (named after the successful NFL head coach),” he added. “We play in a brutal section. We compete against teams like Beaver Falls, Aliquippa, Keystone Oaks, Central Valley and Hopewell. Quaker Valley went 15-1 last year, losing to Aliquippa in the regular season.”

Balog’s grid career at St. Clairsville was cut short, blowing out his knee as a junior quarterback. The following year, the Red Devils advanced to the state semifinals. He was able to return to play baseball as a senior for legendary Lefty Hall.

“Ron was very dedicated, very focused and very hard working. He was a student of the game who studied the game hard. Ron was a very coachable young man. His injury took him out of the game physically but he’s always had a heart and mind to play and coach it,” Young said. “I spoke with him after I heard he got the job. I am very proud and very happy for him. Even though he’s in the business world, this is a great calling for him. It was a pleasure to coach such a fine young man and I am very excited for him and this opportunity to show his work as a coach.”

Rine, while no longer a coach, is now the St. Clairsville’s athletic director — one of the finest in the state in that capacity. Some 30 years later, he still remembers Balog quite vividly.

“Ron Balog was a really good kid from a great family and enjoyable to be around. You could tell at that age of 15-18 that he was knowledgeable about sports and kind of a “junkie”, so to speak. He had the misfortune of suffering a serious knee injury, which kept him out of the storied ’86 fall football season,” Rine said. “He worked hard to rehab the knee to get back into competitive athletics. With his background and work ethic, I’m not surprised at all about him becoming a head coach at the high school level. He will do well.”

Prior to coaching Central Catholic’s frosh team, Balog spent some 10 years coaching at the junior high level in the Pittsburgh-area Catholic league.

Balog is a financial advisor and resides in Cranberry Township with his wife, former Bridgeport High standout hurdler Kim Tubaugh. They have a son Sevi, 17, and a daughter Aniela, 11.

GYMNASTIC STAR

AUSTYN MARSALA Hartlieb is an 11-year-old Arizona gymnastics star with Ohio Valley connections.

The young dynamo recently competed in the regional meet consisting of the top level 6 gymnasts from Utah, Nevada, Southern California, Northern California and Arizona. She injured her foot and was only able to compete on bars at the massive and talent-laden meet. Despite the injury, Hartlieb placed second in the region for her age group and scored the highest for any Arizona athlete in the meet. Due to her injury, she was forced to withdraw from the state team competition.

The 4-6, 51-pounder has won numerous championships this year in prestigious meets, spanning the country from California to Las Vegas to Walt Disney World in Florida.

Austyn’s success is forged through a rigorous workout schedule. She trains five days a week, encompassing some 25 hours. In addition to her gymnastic routines, Austyn also hones her elite skills through ballet, Pilates and Crossfit.

Last year, she finished third in the all-around competition at both the state and regional tournaments.

Hartlieb is the daughter of Mark and Angela Hartlieb. Mark is a Bellaire native and former baseball star at St. John Central. She is also the granddaughter of Doug and Cynthia Hartlieb of Bellaire.

BUBBA’S BITS

THE HONORS continue to roll in for Times Leader sports scribe Kim North. North was honored by the OHSAA as the Eastern District Media Person of the Year. Earlier this year, he was tabbed as 2018 National Wrestling Sportswriter of the Year by USA Wrestling Magazine. He was previously honored as West Virginia Wrestling Sports Writer of the Year in 1990 and 2017.

THE DICK Dei Track Classic met with rave reviews this spring. Dei officials are wasting no time in expanding the classic, already adding Cincinnati Taft to the 2019 field. Bringing in teams from the Queen City is an impressive move.

BLAZE GLENN continues to enjoy a superb sophomore baseball season at Youngstown State. The former Toronto High star is hitting a robust .326 in 41 games. He has swatted nine home runs, driving in 34 teammates while scoring 22 runs.

C.J. GOODWIN continues to travel through the NFL. The Linsly grad was claimed off waivers Wednesday by the New York Giants from the Arizona Cardinals. The 6-4, 220-pounder has seen action in 28 regular-season games with one start for Atlanta and Arizona. He made several stellar plays in the Falcons’ epic Super Bowl loss to the Patriots. Goodwin entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2014, from California University of Pennsylvania.

RILEY BENNINGTON has scripted an amazing career at Wheeling Central. In hoops, she did a lot of the selfless dirty work in helping the Maroon Knights win the state title this winter. She is also undoubtedly one of the finest softball players in Maroon history. The exclamation point may have come Thursday with a pitching performance of the ages. She not only no-hit a quality Madonna team, she fanned an amazing 20 batters out of a possible 21. That is total domination. I will be surprised if she doesn’t help carry Central to a third successive state softball championship.

PAIGE GEANANGEL is scripting a tremendous pitching career at Youngstown State. The Indian Creek product ranks sixth in all-time circle wins with 34 triumphs. She is 10th in Penguin career strikeouts with 169. Geanangel is 12-10 this spring with a 3.20 ERA. She has 71 Ks in 133 innings of work.

JERRY SNODGRASS has been named the new executive director of the OHSAA. He is the ideal pick. Snodgrass has been a teacher, coach and administrator at several Ohio schools including Findlay, where he served for 25 years, including 16 as athletic director. While at Findlay, he coached Ben Roethlisberger. Snodgrass been on the OHSAA staff since 2008.