Bill Beckner stories, Page 145
Westmoreland County Girls Athlete of the Year: Olivia Cernuto, Southmoreland
Unless she takes a summer vacation or a few random days off, Olivia Cernuto gets little rest during the sports year. “A few days here and there,” the rising junior at Southmoreland said. When you play three sports to the level at which Cernuto does, rest is immaterial. Cernuto had...
Westmoreland high school notes: Basketball tournament to honor late Jeannette standout
Almost a year to the day that he was killed in a motorcycle accident, former Jeannette three-sport star athlete Tre Cunningham will be honored through a charity basketball event. The “Tre Cunningham Memorial Basketball Tournament,” sponsored by the Jeannette Educational Foundation, will be July 23-24 at Jeannette High School. Open...
Jeannette football program soldiers on as transfers, defections decimate rosterVideo
Tyler Horn said his motivation to play football at Jeannette this season is simple. “We know what football means to this town and this community,” the rising senior said. “We’re here to play and can’t let distractions get in the way.” There is no way to sugarcoat it. A WPIAL...
Paul Ajak III, Sean Knapp tired but triumphant at Tri-State Amateur
Paul Ajak III and Sean Knapp played in the 36-hole U.S. Amateur qualifier Wednesday at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, so they were dragging a bit when they teed it up Thursday at the Tri-State Amateur. Their bodies had to catch up with their mental acceleration. “It was really hot...
TribHSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team: Donovan Hinish, Central Catholic
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Terry Totten wanted to remove some heavy weightlifting platforms from a Central Catholic workout...
Previewing Thursday’s Tri-State Amateur golf championship
Tri-State Amateur golf championship 8 a.m. Thursday, Hannastown Golf Club, Greensburg Format: 36 holes of stroke play. Second round will begin around 1 p.m. Defending champion: Brent Colella Divots: Champions will be recongnized in the amateur and senior amateur divisions. … The event was not played from 2009-19 before it...
Seton Hill’s Jared Kollar transferring to NCAA Division I program
Jared Kollar isn’t playing an extra year of college baseball because he has to. The former Latrobe and Seton Hill pitcher is taking advantage of another year of eligibility because he wants to. He would probably take a sixth, seventh, eighth year if he could. Not that he wants that...
Mt. Pleasant softball places 3 on all-state 1st team
Another state championship in hand, the Mt. Pleasant softball team celebrated some personal accolades Tuesday when the all-state teams came out. The Vikings, who finished 21-3 after winning WPIAL and PIAA titles, saw three players make the Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association All-State Teams. Senior pitcher Mary Smithnosky, senior...
Beaver’s Payton List, Bethel Park’s Reagan Milliken win state player of year honors
One did it with her arm, the other with a heavy bat. A pair of WPIAL standouts led their teams to championships this season and both were lauded for their efforts Tuesday as they were declared two of the state’s best. Beaver junior pitcher Payton List was named the Class...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Latrobe’s Ryan Shawley lands coaching gig
Former Latrobe star baseball player Ryan Shawley announced he has accepted a grad assistant coaching position at Keiser, a NAIA program that competes in the Sun Conference, formerly known as the Florida Sun Conference. Shawley, who just finished his senior season at Chatham, was a two-way player for the Cougars...
Franklin Regional alum Palmer Jackson eyes spot in U.S. Amateur
“This close,” Palmer Jackson points out, pinching his index finger and thumb together like he’s holding a SIM card. “I was this close to (automatically qualifying for the U.S. Amateur), but I just missed,” Jackson said of previous summers. “Looking back, I realized I was close a few times.” The...
Norwin grad out to make an impression with Washington Wild Things
The Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League added a local name to the roster recently, announcing the signing of former Norwin and Pitt standout Connor Perry. Perry, who most recently played in the minor leagues for the Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers, also spent the 2019 season with the Gulf...
Westmoreland high school notes: Hempfield’s Sierk has smarts
Dan Sierk is as much a student of the game as he is a fierce, run-blocking tight end and an edge-turning defensive end. An incoming senior at Hempfield, Sierk is a load at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. But it takes more than size and skill to play college football at...
Murrysville Star notebook: Local volleyball team headed to nationals
The Westmoreland Elite 17 Black volleyball team qualified for the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Tournament, which was set to begin Saturday in Las Vegas. The team, coached by Greg Lockley, consists of Sydney Andrews (Penn-Trafford), Rebecca Hess (Greensburg Central Catholic), Julia Kubera (Franklin Regional), Anna Novak (Burrell), Isabella Panasko...
Plum native Scott McGough to play for USA baseball team at Olympic Games
USA Baseball certainly didn’t have to scour the globe to find its Olympic closer. The notion doesn’t even make sense. But that is what it did to locate Scott McGough. And the organization found McGough in a rather ironic location — Japan. McGough, a Plum and Oregon alum who bounced...
JJ Matijevic uses long ball to earn Triple-A promotion with Astros
Home runs make the crowd ooh and aah, like fireworks or a photo finish. They also can get minor leaguers promotions. Right, JJ Matijevic? Call what the former Norwin standout and Houston Astros prospect is doing a power trip. After showing he can still go yard with the best of...
Diane Metzger to take over Norwin girls soccer team
Diane Metzger is the new girls soccer coach at Norwin. A former player for the Knights, she was a member of the 1996 PIAA championship team before graduating in 2000. A goal-scorer from the midfield, she played college soccer at Grove City. Metzger replaces Lauren Karcher, who resigned after seven...
Chase Koepka wins Fuhrer Invitational on first playoff holeVideo
A double-bogey caught Chase Koepka by surprise on his 71st hole Wednesday during the final round of the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational. Jumped up and grabbed him. Suddenly, his two-shot lead was gone, and the one hand he had on the crystal trophy slipped off. What, Koepka, worry? Not...
Chase Koepka, Patrick Flavin wait as rain delays Fuhrer playoff
With lightning in the area, the last round of the 37th Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational was forced into a weather delay around 1 p.m., just as the final twosome was walking off the course. All that is left to settle is a sudden death playoff between leaders Chase Koepka...
Chase Koepka climbs into lead after 3 rounds at Fuhrer InvitationalVideo
Third-round leader Chase Koepka keeps making headlines at the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational, but not entirely for his golf. First, he lost his clubs and suitcases on a layover flight while on his way to the tournament. Then, with one hole to play in Tuesday’s third round, he and...
Former Franklin Regional boys basketball coach opens up about opioid abuse
Steve Scorpion admits he almost died. “I stopped breathing three times and coded twice,” the former Franklin Regional boys basketball coach and standout player said. “I thought it was all over for me. When I woke up, I knew God saved me because he had a greater purpose for me....
Replacement clubs no problem for Chase Koepka on Day 1 of Fuhrer Invitational
Essentially playing with a rental set of clubs, Chase Koepka grinded his way into contention in his first Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational. The younger brother of four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, Chase lost his clubs and clothes in transit when he left Hartford, Conn., after playing in the PGA...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Carlow’s Miller top River States Conference female athlete
Carlow senior Olivia Miller earned the respect of her opponents during the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. Now, she is being held in high regard by every athletic director in the River States Conference. Miller, a Ligonier Valley graduate, was named the RSC Female Athlete of the Year...
Mt. Pleasant’s Haylie Brunson honored as Tribune-Review Westmoreland Softball Player of the Year
2021 Tribune-Review Westmoreland Softball All-Stars Player of the year Haylie Brunson Mt. Pleasant, Sr., IF Haylie Brunson has to be filed under “toughest softball players to get out in the state.” The Mt. Pleasant senior, who hit second in a fully loaded lineup that propelled the Vikings to WPIAL and...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: GCC’s Joe Blahovec on the rise
Behind the scenes, Joe Blahovec could be carving out a path to a Division I football career. The incoming senior at Greensburg Central Catholic has been raiding prospect camps as the summer forges ahead toward a new season, and recently he caught the eye of an FCS program that recruits...
