Records and Awards – A Year to Remember for Minersville

Minersville has been known for their local success throughout their many years of athletics, and that success did not change in 2025. From Dante Carr signing to continue his football career at UCF to the boy’s soccer team making their first state playoff appearance, this was a rather historic year for Minersville sports, and this article will look back to the best moments from this year.

Business on the Basketball Court
Starting on the hardwood, the boy’s basketball team made their first Schuylkill League championship appearance since 2002 when they played Shamokin. After defeating Weatherly and Nativity in the first two rounds, Pottsville was a test the Miners could not handle, falling 50-43.

Transitioning into District playoffs, they defeated Notre Dame-Green Pond in overtime but fell to Catasauqua in another championship game by a score of 61-50. They finished as the Class 3A runner up and qualified for state playoffs where they lost in the closing seconds by a score of 49-48.

In a shocking turn of events at the end of the season, head coach Dave Mullaney resigned after three seasons at the helm of the program.

The girl’s squad really struggled under first year head coach Emily Mealey as they went 2-20. After losing their head coach, and almost all of their starters and bench from the state semifinal team a season ago, they ultimately returned one experienced varsity player, she was a senior.

Shining in the Spring
Under first year head coach Kate Rittenbaugh, the softball team had an up and down year. With no pitching depth (two pitchers to be exact), this team managed to go 9-11 in the regular season.

After pulling off an upset in the District semifinals against Schuylkill Haven by a score of 4-2, local powerhouse Williams Valley gave the Big Blue Machine a run for their money, losing 7-2.

Going from one diamond to the other, baseball went 13-10 with a solid start to the season. Once they made it to leagues, Tri-Valley took them out 4-0, but they still had District playoffs to keep their hopes alive. After defeating Marian Catholic 5-3 in the quarterfinals, they narrowly lost to Schuylkill Haven, 2-1.

One senior from this team went on to play collegiately. That was Logan Hutsko, who went to Elizabethtown College.

The summer of Dante Carr
Minersville football was put on the map this summer and it was thanks to one man, Dante Carr. In early June, the three-star quarterback announced his commitment to carry on with his prolific football career at the University of Central Florida (UCF).

When Carr took his visit in late May and early June, he knew where he wanted to go once he stepped on campus. The people of Minersville are really excited to know that the next game he will play in will be aired on ESPN, or in the college football video game for the 2026-27 season.

He joins several other Minersville football alumni who went on to play Division 1 football, including Dan Lipsett (MAHS ‘84) who went to Rutgers.

Soccer success
For the boys soccer team, their main goal was to win their division and make the Schuylkill League playoffs since day one of mandatory practices. And after a 15-3 regular season, they achieved both goals. However, they lost 4-0 to Pine Grove Area in the semifinals.

They easily took care of Schuylkill Haven in the 1A semifinals, winning by a comfortable 5-1 margin against last season’s district champions. For the first time since 2020, and the first time since the program was reinstated again in December of 2023, they made a District championship game. Jordan Bowers had a two goal performance to help lift the Battlin’ Miners past the Bulldogs of Tri-Valley to claim the program’s first ever district championship.

However, once they made it to the state playoffs, they went up against a whole new level of competition, falling to Wyoming Seminary 6-0 at their home field in Kingston in the first round.

With a 14-2-2 regular season, the girl’s soccer team made another Schuylkill League playoff appearance as a 2-seed. They lost an overtime thriller to Pine Grove Area 2-1 in the quarterfinals, but that didn’t change anything for District playoffs.

They entered the 1A playoffs easily handling Tri-Valley by a score of 4-1, but their next game was over from the start. Schuylkill Haven ended their season after defeating them 7-2 in the championship game.

Friday Night Lights
For Minersville football, it was like nothing changed from the previous year. They still had their athletic quarterback and speedy wide receiver. But if you look deeper, you will realize that Minersville lost most of their offensive and defensive line along with a good chunk of their defense.

One question ran through my head during the scrimmage weekend. How will Minersville do with what looks mostly like a completely new line on both sides of the ball?

To answer that question, this line looked great this season. From helping Carr make big time plays to making blocks for Derek Derenzo to run and score, they did their job and surprised me and others on their performance.

This team beat everyone they were supposed to beat and lost the games against the state recognized teams, Williams Valley and Schuylkill Haven.

After easily winning their first three games, they lost in two close games to the Vikings and Hurricanes. They closed the regular season with their best football of the fall, winning five games in a row.

In District playoffs, they defended their home field against Pen Argyl where Carr made what is probably one of the biggest plays of his career, maybe the biggest one. In a first quarter of nightmares and giving up 21 points, they lost the semifinals 56-35 at and against Williams Valley.

Wrapup of 2025 and a glimpse into 2026
From January 1st to December 31st, there were many big moments in Minersville sports. There were three District championship games, four Schuylkill League playoff appearances, and two state playoff appearances.

Chris George took over Mullaney’s role as head coach of the boy’s basketball team where they are dominating the Schuylkill League scene, currently sitting at 9-1.

The girl’s basketball team is currently at 1-7, but they are looking way better than last season, especially on the defensive side of the game.

Hopefully 2026 brings more playoff appearances across all sports, and trophies to the cases at the Minersville Area Jr./Sr. High School.