Bill Beckner stories, Page 147
Mt. Pleasant seeks to regain focus in time for PIAA semifinal against Punxsutawney
The best softball teams usually are the most self-critical at this time of year. The way aluminum-pinging Mt. Pleasant has been playing, a slightly off-kilter day can raise some concerns and make coaches and players reevaluate some things. That is what occurred Friday when Mt. Pleasant (19-3) won its PIAA...
Mt. Pleasant’s Puskar delays National Guard for semifinal game
It’s all about the red, white and blue for Lexi Puskar. For one more game, Lexi Puskar will wave the Mt. Pleasant flag and its colors. After that, it’s all about the Stars and Stripes. Puskar, a senior softball player at Mt. Pleasant, delayed her departure to the Army National...
Westmoreland PIAA playoff preview capsules for June 14, 2021
PIAA softball playoffs Class 2A Semifinals Ligonier Valley (21-2) vs. Union City (20-1) 2:30 p.m. Monday at Slippery Rock University Coaches: Mark Zimmerman, Ligonier Valley; Jerry VanZandt, Union City Players to watch: Ruby Wallace, So., Ligonier Valley; Cyaira Zielinski, Sr., Union City Winner plays: Winner of Line Mountain/Williams Valley (21-4)...
PSU’s Maddie Holmberg claims All-America honors in heptathlon
Maddie Holmberg did not ask for an extra year of college track and field, but she took advantage of the one she was afforded. And she capped her decorated college career with more accolades. A grad student at Penn State and a Hempfield alum, Holmberg finished sixth in the heptathlon...
Westmoreland notebook: Norwin’s Giansante hits right notes on, off track
For John Giansante, it is all about rhythm. From his pre-event routine in the triple jump, to his preparation for playing the violin at a musical competition, he has a purposeful focus. The senior from Norwin is taking his duality to the college level. He will compete for the Seton...
Norwin Star notebook: Triple jumper puts a bow on high school career
For John Giansante, it is all about rhythm. From his pre-event routine in the triple jump, to his preparation for playing the violin at a musical competition, he has a purposeful focus. The senior from Norwin is taking his duality to the college level. He will compete for the Seton...
Medically cleared to return to court, Norwin’s Ty Bilinsky headed to UPJ
Ty Bilinsky went from thinking it might be time to throw his basketball shoes over the telephone wires to merging back into the fast lane to a possible college career. The Norwin senior, who encountered several health issues over the winter and missed most of his final high school season,...
Mt. Pleasant sees room to improve after closing out Avonworth for 5th straight postseason shutoutVideo
Mt. Pleasant slept on a 3-0 lead but didn’t think that would be the final score against Avonworth in a PIAA Class 3A softball quarterfinal that took two days to complete. But it was, and the Vikings are moving on with an eye toward waking up their bats. “Survive and...
Palmer Jackson wins state match play championship
A pair of college players dueled for the 18th R. Jay Sigel Match Play title Thursday. While only one could raise the trophy, one thing was clear: The game’s future is in good hands. Notre Dame rising junior Palmer Jackson, the former PIAA champion from Franklin Regional, held off Patrick...
Mt. Pleasant takes lead before rain suspends PIAA quarterfinal matchup with Avonworth
Mt. Pleasant was primed to add to its lead in a PIAA Class 3A softball quarterfinal Thursday afternoon when the sky darkened, lightning struck and heavy rain pelted the field at Norwin. After a delay of about 1 hour and 40 minutes and the grass outfield unplayable, officials decided to...
Derek Orndorff, Seton Hill center fielder, makes ESPN top plays — again
Derek Orndorff is getting to be a regular on ESPN. The Seton Hill senior did it again, making another spectacular sliding catch in center field Tuesday night during the Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C. to once again make SportsCenter’s Top Plays. This time he checked in at...
Franklin Regional enjoys ‘the year of firsts’
Even with a pandemic shadowing their every move, Franklin Regional sports teams have found a way to flourish this school year. While 2020-21 has left many schools feeling glum, Franklin Regional has had plenty of fun. The baseball team won its first WPIAL championship since 2001 with a thrilling, 2-1...
Mt. Pleasant, Ligonier Valley softball roll with punches to move on in state tournament
Besides winning, Mt. Pleasant and Ligonier Valley had something else in common in their PIAA softball playoff openers Monday. Both teams had to shuffle their defenses. WPIAL Class 3A champion Mt. Pleasant (18-3) was dealt a surprise in warmups when senior star and leading hitter Haylie Brunson dislocated her finger...
Brody Jackson resigns as Pitt-Greensburg men’s hoops coach
Brody Jackson will miss his players and his former program. What he won’t miss are the long nights, the solo recruiting trips and the frequent drives from here to Ohio. Jackson’s life had been in transit for too long and it was time for a change. He resigned as the...
West Allegheny knocks off WPIAL champ Franklin Regional in 1st round of PIAA playoffs
West Allegheny kept loading the bases against Franklin Regional in the teams’ PIAA first-round playoff game. Sooner or later, it was going to swing momentum in the Indians’ favor. Something was going to give. It did a lot more than that. Jamming the bags not only minimized their plight but...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Hempfield grad Uschock to finish softball career at Shippensburg
Maddie Uschock is rebooting her college softball career. The former Hempfield ace is leaving Dominican, a Division II program in Orangeburg, N.Y., and will transfer to Shippensburg. Uschock, who just completed her junior year, said she needed a change. “Despite really loving my friends, teammates and professors, the environment wasn’t...
Locals Palmer Jackson, Jason Li competing at star-studded U.S. Open qualifier
The old “look to your left, look to your right,” stock phrase often used on the first day of college could pertain to the U.S. Open qualifier going on Monday in Columbus, Ohio. Every time Palmer Jackson and Jason Li look around they see PGA stars. Jackson and Li, once...
Westmoreland PIAA softball capsules for June 7, 2021
PIAA softball playoffs Monday’s games Class 2A First round Ligonier Valley (19-2) vs. Sharpsville (14-6) 3 p.m. at Slippery Rock University Coaches: Mark Zimmerman, Ligonier Valley; Mark Piccirilli, Sharpsville Players to watch: Bella Vargulish, sr., Ligonier Valley; Breanna Hanley, so., P, Sharpsville Winner plays: Winner of Chestnut Ridge (17-6)/Shenango (16-5)...
WPIAL champ Mt. Pleasant hopes to carry momentum into PIAA playoffs
Mt. Pleasant won its second WPIAL softball title with a relentless, rapid-fire offensive attack. Frozen ropes and gap shots. Doubles off the wall. The Vikings touched all the bases. “We practiced hitting off tees to get ready for (Ellwood City pitcher Julia Nardone),” Vikings senior third baseman Haylie Brunson said....
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Local baseball, softball players earn honors
Westmoreland County was well represented on the Big 5/6 Conference all-section baseball and softball teams. The Big 5/6 recognizes team and individual accomplishments in the WPIAL’s two largest classifications. In baseball, WPIAL Class 5A champion Franklin Regional dominated the Section 1 team with five first-team selections: seniors Louie Kegerreis (SS),...
Norwin notebook: Knights baseball, softball teams reflect on seasons
Postseason runs that were expected to last a lot longer ended rather abruptly in the WPIAL semifinals for the Norwin baseball and softball teams. The baseball Knights were roughed up by rival Hempfield, 12-2, while the softball team fell to Canon-McMillan, 7-4. Both were No. 2 seeds. Neither team qualified...
Supporters donate thousands to Jeannette athletics in memory of dedicated fan
All his life, Jay Clayton celebrated Jeannette athletics. You might say he put the Jay in Jayhawks. Now, Jeannette athletics are celebrating him. Clayton, a longtime Jayhawks fan, died in April at age 84. In lieu of flowers, Clayton wanted donations to be made directly to the Jeannette athletic department....
Penn-Trafford’s Cade Yacamelli pulls in offer from Wisconsin
Another week, another Division I football offer for Penn-Trafford’s Cade Yacamelli. Actually, the rising senior running back and defensive back added two more scholarship offers this week, but one stands out among all of the others. Wisconsin of the Big Ten offered him after he attended a Badgers’ prospect camp....
Ligonier Valley softball hits reset button, sets sights on PIAA run
Mark Zimmerman said the chip Ligonier Valley softball had resting firmly on its collective shoulder is all but gone. “That’s been knocked off a little bit,” the veteran coach said. “That can be a good thing, too. This is the start of a new run. Now it’s all about the...
Big-hitting Mt. Pleasant blanks Ellwood City for 2nd WPIAL softball championshipVideo
A fourth-grade student made the Mt. Pleasant softball team a good-luck card before the WPIAL championship, one of several the players received and read. One charming message stood out from the pile: “Softball was invented to show boys how it’s done.” The Lady Vikings must have been inspired. They showed...
