Bill Beckner stories, Page 13
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill pitcher headed to West Virginia
Rising redshirt senior Ian Korn, who had an exceptional season for Seton Hill, is transferring to West Virginia for a season of Division I baseball. Korn, the NCBWA Division II National Pitcher of the Year, went 11-2 with a 1.81 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 84 innings this year. Opponents...
Former Norwin standout fills scoresheet as college hockey freshman
Mario Cavallaro was a sophomore in 2022 when he played a key role in Norwin’s PIHL Penguin Cup championship run. He scored the game-winning goal in the finals on an assist from his brother, Anthony. But Super Mario was far from finished. Cavallaro went on to play for the South...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Recruiting heating up for Franklin Regional defensive back
Jaymier Austin began showing up on the college football recruiting radar last summer when three Division I programs — Purdue, Youngstown State and Marshall — offered him scholarships. The rising senior at Franklin Regional continues to garner interest, with eight total offers on the table for the 6-foot-4, 180-pound wide...
Penn-Trafford makes lasting memories with state title win
UNIVERSITY PARK — Giuliana Youngo might have played her last softball game Friday night. The Penn-Trafford senior right fielder, though, probably will be back at Penn State’s Beard Field, the site of the Warriors’ 2-0 win over Greencastle-Antrim in the PIAA Class 5A championship. She has enrolled at Penn State....
Penn-Trafford blanks Greencastle-Antrim to claim 2nd PIAA softball championship
UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn-Trafford has won two PIAA softball championships without ever winning a WPIAL title, and that is just fine with coach Denny Little. “Sometimes you have to eat your dessert first,” Little said Friday night after the Warriors captured their second state title in six years with a...
Fox Chapel’s Harran Zureikat, nation’s top-ranked kicker, commits to Georgia
Fox Chapel’s Harran Zureikat, the No. 1-ranked kicker in the country by Kohl’s Kicking Camps, made a verbal commitment Thursday to Georgia. The five-star rising senior chose the Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference over offers from Pitt, Penn State, Akron, Boston College and Maryland. He received the offer from Georgia...
PIAA Class 5A softball state championship preview: Penn-Trafford vs. Greencastle-Antrim
Class 5A Penn-Trafford (23-3) vs. Greencastle-Antrim (22-3) 4 p.m. Friday at Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park, Penn State District-place: Penn-Trafford 7-2; Greencastle-Antrim 3-3 PIAA titles: Penn-Trafford 1 (2019); Greencastle-Antrim 1 (2009) Road to State College: Penn-Trafford — Defeated 6-1 Central Mountain, (3-2), 3-1 Red Land (6-5) and 7-3...
Penn-Trafford playoff run wakes up the echoes of 2019 state championship team
Former Penn-Trafford outfielder Brooke Cleland recalls catching the final out at Beard Field and squeezing her glove around the softball. It was like time stopped for a millisecond. Then, in a rush of emotion and noise unlike anything she and her teammates had ever experienced, it became official: The Warriors...
Multiple heroes have Penn-Trafford on brink of 2nd state softball title
If you hit, you play. That is Denny Little’s mantra for the Penn-Trafford softball team, and the ninth-year coach has an abundance of talented hitters to pencil onto his lineup card. “You take your nine best hitters, and you find a place for them,” Little said, not giving away any...
Southmoreland quarterback Anthony Smith transfers to Seton LaSalle
Rising sophomore quarterback Anthony Smith is leaving Southmoreland after a record-breaking first season. Smith, who became the second freshman in WPIAL history to pass for more than 2,000 yards last fall, has enrolled at Seton LaSalle. He was with the Rebels on Wednesday for a 7-on-7 workout at Woodland Hills....
Seneca Valley pitcher Lexie Hames named Gatorade player of year
Seneca Valley star pitcher Lexie Hames was named the Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year for the second straight season. Hames, a Clemson commit, led the Raiders to a WPIAL 6A runner-up finish, their fourth consecutive finals appearance. The two-time WPIAL champion went 17-3 with a 0.49 ERA, a...
Penn-Trafford softball step-sisters chase state title together
Penn-Trafford senior softball players Kylie Anthony and Cam Ponko have made tweaks to their swings this season. Anthony has embraced “sighting,” a timing approach that she and her teammates learned from former Warriors standout Emma Little. Ponko is focused more on “slugging,” which also shortens the swing and gets the...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Southmoreland grad, Duquesne assistant Abel joins St. John’s
Vanessa Abel is taking her coaching experience to a larger program. The Southmoreland graduate, who spent the last six seasons as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Duquesne, was hired as an assistant at St. John’s. Abel was an associate head coach for the Dukes this past season. Abel, a...
Westmoreland PIAA softball playoff preview capsules: Games for Monday, June 9, 2025
PIAA softball playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Hempfield (23-1) vs. Nazareth (21-4) 4 p.m. TUESDAY at Norco Park Softball Complex, Fayetteville District-place: Hempfield 7-1; Nazareth 11-2 Winner plays: Winner of 3-3 Central Dauphin (19-3)/1-3 Perkiomen Valley (21-4) in the championship at 4 p.m. Thursday at Nittany Lion Softball Park, Penn State...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Franklin Regional baseball standout Luke Williams reopens recruitment
Luke Williams is hitting reset on his college baseball recruiting. The rising senior shortstop at Franklin Regional committed to Virginia when he was a freshman and has remained loyal to the Cavaliers. But a coaching change has disrupted his plans. Williams opened his recruitment and is looking for a new...
Hempfield softball team appreciates challenge of close calls
Hempfield has scored 205 runs this softball season and allowed 23. The Spartans have been an offensive machine, sending runners through the turnstiles with the rapidity of a marathon finish line. They have 10-runned their opponents 11 times. So what’s up with these tight games in the playoffs? The team...
Knee injury no match for former Norwin softball standout’s grit, love of the game
Hours after surgery to repair a torn medial patellafemoral ligament and meniscus in her knee May 20, Bailey Snowberger was dugout-side watching her high school alma mater play in the WPIAL softball semifinals. The Maine freshman shortstop didn’t want to miss Norwin going against Seneca Valley in a rematch of...
Norwin notebook: Softball senior headed to all-star game
It will be one more go-round for Norwin senior Rachel Minteer. The first baseman was selected to play in the Western Pennsylvania Softball All-Star Game at 7 p.m. June 24 at Plum. Minteer will play for Team Black against Team Gold in the eight-inning game meant for seniors. It will...
Prep school gets Franklin Regional grad ready to tackle college football
There is a reason they call it prep school. Owen Sinclair knows that better than anyone at this point. The former Franklin Regional standout linebacker spent a year at The Kiski School in Saltsburg to enhance his skills and build his resume for college football. The opportunity gave him a...
Confidence builds as inspired Penn-Trafford softball team heads into state semifinals
After Penn-Trafford lost to Shaler in the WPIAL Class 5A softball championship game, the Warriors gathered for practice the next day, only they didn’t pick up a bat or a ball. Instead, coach Denny Little picked up a remote control. “The first thing we did was have an hour-and-a-half practice...
Day resigns as Seton Hill football coach, assistant May takes over
Citing the desire to pursue opportunities outside of football, Seton Hill coach Dan Day resigned Friday after six seasons. Seton Hill went into a hurry-up offense to replace him, immediately promoting Kevin May, Day’s defensive coordinator. Day, who has the most football coaching wins at the university, went 18-36 leading...
Hempfield softball clips Chambersburg for another 1-run win in PIAA quarterfinals
WINDBER — As quickly as Hempfield built its lead, Chambersburg did everything it could to tear it down. And it almost did. It didn’t take Hempfield long to adjust to Chambersburg’s pitching, but the Spartans did have to recalibrate to hold off another opponent in the state playoffs. WPIAL champion...
Penn-Trafford’s pinch-hitting secret weapon delivers walk-off win over Red Land
WINDBER — Sophomore Annabell Carvajal spent some extra time in the batting cage with coach Denny Little this week in preparation for the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals. Penn-Trafford’s top pinch-hitter turned the reps into a walk-off winner. Carvajal sent a two-out single to right field in the bottom of the...
Westmoreland County PIAA baseball/softball playoff preview capsules for June 5, 2025
Baseball Class A quarterfinals Greensburg Central Catholic (19-4) vs. Clarion (15-6) 2 p.m. Thursday at Slippery Rock University District-place: Greensburg Central Catholic 7-4; Clarion 9-2 Winner plays: Winner of 7-3 Eden Christian (17-5)/Homer Center (20-5) in semifinals Monday Players to watch: Tyler Samide, Greensburg Central Catholic; Derek Smail, Clarion Extra...
Tireless drive to improve carries Greensburg Central Catholic baseball into state quarterfinals
Practice ends and Greensburg Central Catholic baseball players break to greet the day ahead. Maybe an afternoon by the pool awaits? A Sheetz run? Hanging out at a friend’s house? No, it’s time to hit the cages. What’s a little more baseball? Training never seems to stop for the Centurions,...
