Bill Beckner stories, Page 114
Westmoreland H.S. athletes of the week: Norwin’s Bailey Snowberger, Hempfield’s Chaz Ewer
Bailey Snowberger School: Norwin Sport: Softball Year: Sophomore Claim to fame: Snowberger, a shortstop, helped Norwin make a late push for a WPIAL Class 6A playoff spot. She led off Tuesday’s game with a triple, hustling to third and beating the throw, and finished with two hits and an RBI...
Ligonier Valley ace Maddie Griffin dealing with hand injury, could miss time in playoffs
Ligonier Valley ace softball pitcher Maddie Griffin could miss Wednesday’s WPIAL playoff opener, and possibly be out longer, because of an injury to her throwing hand. The senior right-hander, who tossed a 21-strikeout perfect game earlier this season, was hurt Monday during a game at Apollo-Ridge. Griffin hit a grounder...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Area players to take part in upcoming Roundball games
Basketball season ended months ago, but the Roundball Classic will bring together some of the top talent from the WPIAL this week. The nine senior all-star games will be Thursday through Saturday at Geneva College in Beaver Falls. Area boys selected are Nick Crum and Noah Wright of Penn-Trafford, Michael...
Penn-Trafford football pipeline to Division I just getting started
Winning can do a lot for a high school football program, not the least of which boost college recruiting and a school’s reputation within that realm. When teams win championships, college coaches show up. Teams that win must have legitimate talent, they deduce. That is the case at Penn-Trafford, where...
Norwin grad wins Atlantic 10 gold in heptathlon
Emily Brozeski won the heptathlon in record fashion May 8 at the Atlantic 10 track and field championships in Richmond, Va. The Duquesne sophomore and Norwin graduate captured gold with a school-record 5,122 points, posting first-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and long jump. She took second in...
Norwin notebook: Track teams surge into WPIAL finals
The Norwin track and field teams advanced to the WPIAL Class 3A championship. The meet was set for May 11 at West Mifflin. At the semifinal meet, the girls earned commanding wins over Canon-McMillan (98-52), Bethel Park (124-26) and Belle Vernon (120-30). The boys topped Connellsville (121-29), Canon-McMillan (97-53) and...
WPIAL baseball seedings set up Westmoreland County clash in 1st round
When two second-place section teams received better seeds than his section-winning one, Yough baseball coach Craig Spisak didn’t kick up dust. After winning its second section title in four years, Yough was branded with a No. 5 seed in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A baseball playoffs, which...
Westmoreland baseball notebook: Franklin Regional playing well at right time
Franklin Regional won’t get the No. 1 seed like it did last year, but the Panthers have something most of the other teams in the WPIAL Class 5A playoff field don’t have: championship experience. The defending champions, who ran their winning streak to six with a 10-3 win over Kiski...
WPIAL softball playoff bracket breakdown
Favorite: Perennial power Hempfield has been ranked No. 1 for most of the season not based on reputation but on talent. While the Spartans are young (four seniors) and could be a year or two away from possible WPIAL glory, they have pitching, hitters and defense that can carry them...
Versatility helps Greensburg Central Catholic overcome injuries to make Class A baseball playoffs
Zach David and Max Kallock appeared to be the ideal one-two pitching punch for Greensburg Central Catholic. They were posturing to pair up and help the Centurions navigate section series and make a WPIAL run in Class A. But then injuries threw them a curveball. Actually, they both suffered the...
Westmoreland County softball notebook: Top-5 seeds at stake when WPIAL brackets are released
The WPIAL is scheduled to release playoff brackets at 4 p.m. Thursday virtually via the TribLive High School Sports Network. The rundown of local teams in the postseason looks like this: Hempfield (12-2) and Norwin (4-8) in Class 6A; Franklin Regional (13-5), Kiski Area (12-5), Penn-Trafford (13-2) and Latrobe (7-4)...
Hitting from left side has turned out all right for Mt. Pleasant leadoff hitter Katie Hutter
When Katie Hutter was small, she picked up a softball bat for the first time and immediately squared up like a left-handed hitter. “I was told right away that wasn’t the way to bat,” Hutter said. “But I don’t know, maybe it was meant to be.” Before she became the...
Norwin shuts out North Allegheny to earn spot in WPIAL softball playoffs
There was a WPIAL “last chance” track and field meet going on Tuesday at Norwin. Simultaneously, on the upper part of the campus, there also was a “last chance” softball game. With its season hanging in the balance, Norwin took care of business in the Section 2-6A finale, delivering a...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Norwin grad Emily Brozeski wins Atlantic 10 title
Emily Brozeski won the heptathlon in record fashion Sunday at the Atlantic 10 Track and Field Championships in Richmond, Va. The Duquesne sophomore and Norwin graduate captured gold with a school-record 5,122 points, posting first-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and long jump. She took second in the...
Franklin Regional baseball adds to win streak, knocks Kiski Area from playoffs
Jack Bridges had been out of the Franklin Regional baseball lineup since early April with an elbow injury. Clearly, the senior was glad to be back Monday. He and his teammates elbowed Kiski Area from the playoff race. Bridges and senior teammate Ryan DalCanton both went 3 for 4 —...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Kevin Wanichko adds men’s cross country coach duties at Saint Vincent
Kevin Wanichko is the new men’s cross country coach at Saint Vincent. The Latrobe native will have a busy sports year: He already coaches the men’s and women’s track and field teams, and the women’s cross country team. An SVC alum, Wanichko replaces Andrew Herr, who resigned after 18 seasons...
Coach says Franklin Regional’s Caden Smith ‘will open some eyes’ as Pitt walk-on
Caden Smith didn’t choose football. Football chose him. “Football is the most fun,” the Franklin Regional senior said, comparing the game to his other sports (basketball, baseball). Smith has excelled in all three, earning first-team all-conference/section in each one. He had college interest in those sports, too. But football will...
Westmoreland High School Athletes of the Week: Hempfield’s Liz Tapper, Yough’s James Shoman
Liz Tapper School: Hempfield Sport: Track and field Year: Junior Claim to fame: Tapper puts on a show when she throws the discus — and often other events, too. She holds the No. 1 distance in the event in the state (164 feet, 4 inches), a mark that also ranks...
Norwin notebook: Former, future Knights wrestlers compete at U.S. Open event
There is no offseason for the Norwin wrestling program. A Norwin graduate and a rising standout competed recently in national competitions. Kurtis Phipps, a sophomore at Bucknell, and Landon Sidun, who is set to make the jump from junior high to varsity wrestling, competed at the United States Marine Corps/USA...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Mt. Pleasant’s Hutter reopens recruitment
Mt. Pleasant softball standout Katie Hutter has changed her college plans. Initially an Akron commit — a decision she made in fall 2020 — Hutter decommitted because of a coaching change. The senior has opened her recruiting. Hutter, a .593 hitter and shortstop, will likely play outfield in college....
Ligonier Valley ace Maddie Griffin to throw out 1st pitch at Pirates game
Ligonier Valley senior softball pitcher Maddie Griffin will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Pittsburgh Pirates play the St. Louis Cardinals on May 22 at PNC Park. The Sunday game starts at 11:35 a.m. Griffin recently threw a 21-strikeout perfect game against Seton LaSalle that turned heads around...
District college notebook: Heder steps down at IUP; Judy breaks another record at Gannon
After two decades on the sidelines, IUP women’s soccer coach Adel Heder is retiring. A former Kiski Area boys soccer coach from 1987-2001, Heder guided the IUP program since ‘01. His overall record of 220-139-24 is the best in program history and he led the Crimson Hawks to two regular-season...
East Allegheny tunes up for baseball playoffs with nonsection win over Greensburg CC
Fresh off its first section title since 1999, upstart East Allegheny used Thursday’s nonsection baseball game at Greensburg Central Catholic for extra reps. Both teams already had clinched WPIAL playoff spots. Now is the time to fine-tune, tweak and tinker. “Everyone got an at-bat,” Wildcats coach Mike Cahill said. “We...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Southmoreland takes giant leap into playoffs
Senior shortstop/pitcher Anthony Govern said this season was “playoffs or bust” for Southmoreland. He didn’t flinch when he said it. The Scotties have lived up to their long-time-coming goal of reaching the postseason, qualifying for the first time since 2008. The team was 6-6 overall and 5-5 in Section 4-3A...
Stecko taps power potential for Norwin baseball team
Ty Stecko remembers when his baseball bat seemed to weigh more than he did. “I was always tall, but I was really skinny,” the Norwin slugger said about his stature in youth baseball. “I had to put some weight on.” Once a scrawny lamp post, Stecko has grown into a...
