Butler Eagle Sports Editor John Enrietto speaks as he was inducted into the 2024 Butler County Sports Hall of Fame during induction ceremony at BC3 Founders Hall on Saturday April 27, 2024. (Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)

This is not a farewell column — but it is announcing my upcoming farewell as sports editor of this newspaper.

My last day as sports editor will be June 28, after which I will be taking on a part-time role in the newsroom. Those duties will be ironed out in time. Call this a semi-retirement, if you will.

One can read about our new sports editor — Jake Adams — elsewhere on this page. He comes to the Eagle with ample experience in high school sports coverage and sports journalism in general. The running of the sports department will be in good hands.

As for myself, I admit to feeling a little strange in this transition. I’ve been at the helm of Eagle sports for nearly 27 years. I still remember the first event I ever covered for this paper — Slippery Rock University’s 1997 football season opener at Youngstown State on a Thursday night.

The Rock lost that game, 33-9. Not having covered Division II college football or Div. I-AA before that time, I was unaware of the difference in level of play between SRU and YSU. All I saw was a team starting a freshman quarterback get throttled.

I met SRU coah George Mihalik during the postgame press conference. He talked about how excited he was about his team, that QB (Randy McKavish) and how he felt it could win its conference and go to the playoffs.

I thought the man was delusional.

SRU went on to win its next 11 games, including the league title and a Division II playoff games. Shows what I knew.

Mihalik was the first of an endless group of quality coaches and people in Butler County I’ve had the privilege to work with. Hopefully, some of my part-time hours will include continuing to work with them.

In the meantime, I thank all of the coaches for trusting me myself and my staff to write about their teams and athletes. The respect I have for all of you, I cannot describe in words.

Odd ending

Because Cranberry defeated Curwensville in the District 9 2A softball playoffs, Karns City’s season came to an end. The Gremlins were scheduled to play the loser of that game for the right to advance to the state tournament as the district’s second-place team.

Because Curwensville already defeated KC earlier in the D-9 tourney, it did not have to beat the Gremlins a second time to get the second-place spot. Therefore, Karns City’s season ended with a postseason victory, but not a championship.

That’s a bit strange.

There was a chance in this tournament that KC’s senior girls would have had to choose between attending their graduation ceremony or playing for their team in the playoffs. Such a choice should never be forced on a high school kd.

The PIAA and all districts need to have ample flexibility with their scheduling at this time of year to avoid any such conflicts.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle