Bill Beckner stories, Page 151
Seton Hill baseball coach Marc Marizzaldi reaches 600 wins
The coach from the start in 2003, Marc Marizzaldi has molded the Seton Hill baseball program into a model of consistency, on a local and national scale. He has constructed top-tier recruiting classes, cultivated a winning culture and helped turn the Griffins into a Division II power. Over time, wins...
Norwin notebook: Turcovski, fellow Knights athletes shine at WCCA meet
The Westmoreland County Coaches Association Track and Field Championships usually are pretty good to Norwin’s athletes. This year’s event, conducted May 1 at Latrobe, was no different. Jordyn Turcovski took home track MVP honors for the girls after winning the 100- and 200-meter dash events with times of 12.87 and...
Norwin baseball finds ways to finish the job
Close games aren’t always a bad thing, especially when you find ways to win them. Highly touted Norwin knows a little something about razor-thin baseball games this season. The Knights, ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL and No. 4 in the state in Class 6A, had played in six one-run...
Pirone, Treloar form strong 1-2 punch for Franklin Regional rotation
When baseball season began, Franklin Regional coach Bobby Saddler referenced pitching depth and how it could relate to covid shutdowns for WPIAL teams. He said the staffs with depth probably would negotiate a stoppage best but also could be effective in the new back-to-back section series format. The Panthers (13-0),...
Greensburg’s Mark Goetz, WVU senior, headed to NCAA golf regional
College golf just keeps getting better for Mark Goetz. The West Virginia senior from Greensburg was selected to compete in the NCAA Regional qualifier May 15-19 at The Sagamore Club in Noblesville, Ind. Goetz, who attended The Kiski School and plays out of Hannastown Golf Club, becomes the first individual...
Saint Vincent pulls several teams from PAC postseason over covid cases
The Presidents’ Athletic Conference softball and men’s lacrosse playoffs are going on in full force this weekend, but one school is missing from both tournaments: Saint Vincent. That is because the Bearcats had to forfeit their earned spots in both tournaments because of a covid-19 shutdown, and necessary protocols, on...
Westmoreland players Skrabak, Osikowicz lift Seton Hill softball team into PSAC semis
Seton Hill softball players Jenna Osikowicz and Christiana Skrabak were as impactful in Thursday’s 16-0 runaway against Mercyhurst in the deciding game of a best-of-three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference quarterfinal series as they have been all season. Osikowicz is a senior with perspective — and a bonus year to play...
Greensburg Central Catholic’s baseball title hopes renewed
Greensburg Central Catholic baseball had serious postseason expectations last year, as in, we can win the WPIAL and PIAA kind of expectations. The Centurions admit they were loaded. The pandemic didn’t care. With a half-dozen seniors unable to play and help to bring those high hopes to fruition, the younger...
Westmoreland high school baseball notebook: Ligonier Valley closes in on playoff spot
Ligonier Valley is on the verge of securing a playoff spot in its first season playing in the WPIAL. The Rams, who had a strong program in District 6 before joining a new league last year, were playing .500 baseball (7-7, 4-4 Section 3-3A) at midweek. Coach Brett Marabito said...
Fun-loving Norwin softball team blanks Hempfield to clinch section titleVideo
When Norwin softball players were told by their coach, Brian Mesich, that an umpire wanted them to “tone it down” on the field, they seemed taken aback. They weren’t sure what that meant, exactly. “They don’t want us to have fun, I guess,” one player said. “So let’s have extra...
Explosive offense helps to carry Southmoreland softball team
Each time Southmoreland smacks an ear-ringing home run over the fence — and it happens often these days — the Scotties exchange fist-bumps and high-fives in a mob at home plate, then it’s on to the next hitter. “New at-bat, new batter, new everything,” said freshman shortstop Amarah McCutcheon. New...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Westminster’s Caterino scores national honor
Westminster junior Tyler Caterino (Monessen) was named the United Soccer Coaches Division III Men’s Soccer Player of the Week. Caterino notched the first hat trick of his career as the Titans defeated Saint Vincent, 4-0, to secure the No. 4 seed in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference playoffs. Caterino helped Westminster...
Westmoreland County softball notebook: Playoff picture still cloudy
A nearly washed-out week did not help to uncover more local qualifiers for the WPIAL playoffs. The deadline to finish section games is May 7, although the league may have to grant an extension with this week’s rash of postponements. The playoffs are supposed to start the week of May...
It’s been a banner spring for Seton Hill sports teams
Spring sports teams at Seton Hill felt they had plenty to prove after their 2020 seasons were sawed short because of the pandemic. Many of them have used this year to take out pent up frustration, and it led to conference titles, national rankings and potentially pending success in the...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Flack shines in spring season
Justin Flack is finding his running rhythm out of the Waynesburg backfield, and this season could pave the way for more to come. Flack, a sophomore from Derry, was named to the All-Presidents Athletic Conference First Team as an all-purpose player. Flack led the PAC in rushing yards despite missing...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Chrisman helps Baylor acrobatics win title
Baylor acrobatics and tumbling junior Hannah Chrisman (Norwin) won her second NCATA national championship, the second-seeded Bears’ sixth in a row, with a 279.790 to 276.465 victory over Azusa Pacific. Chrisman, a base/top performer, is the sister-in-law of Norwin alum Max McDowell, a minor league baseball player with the New...
Westmoreland notebook: Anticipated Hempfield-Norwin baseball series awaits
Finally. The much-anticipated two-game baseball series between Hempfield and Norwin is set for Monday and Tuesday. The Section 2-6A series features Norwin (10-1, 6-1), ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL and No. 4 in the state, against the sneaky-good Spartans (10-5, 6-2), who are perched third in the WPIAL ranks....
Norwin softball team expects to keep on contending
Norwin had just lost to Hempfield, 10-5, to snap a four-game winning streak. It was the first Section 2-6A loss for the softball Knights, who vaulted to No. 2 in the Trib HSSN rankings. They quickly brushed off the defeat, learned from it and moved on rather abruptly. “We’ll use...
Clutch hits, bullpen lift Hempfield baseball past Penn-Trafford
Like sunshine that finally peeked through a slate gray sky to warm up an otherwise wet and windy Friday afternoon, Hempfield shined when it mattered most. The Spartans rallied from a late two-run deficit to clip host Penn-Trafford, 7-6, in a nonsection baseball game in Harrison City, ending the Warriors’...
Roundball Classic to allow fans at Geneva
Roundball Classic organizer Allen Deep said he has received a number of inquiries about fan attendance at the all-star basketball event set for May 13, 14 and 15 at Geneva College. Deep said 450 fans will be allowed to attend each of the eight games. That would equate to about...
Penn-Trafford grad Tyler Horvat bolsters lineup, rotation at W&J
As Tyler Horvat pauses to admire his handiwork (if he actually does), the sophomore baseball player at Washington & Jefferson immediately shifts his attention to the now. “I think the season has gone well so far,” the pitcher and outfielder said. “I came into the year looking to improve on...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Injuries haven’t slowed Hempfield
Hempfield might be down two key players, but the Spartans don’t seem too concerned about the sky falling any time soon. Junior Joey Fiedor and senior Michael Hosni were injured in the same game when the Spartans won at Bethel Park, 3-2, on April 16. Fiedor injured his right elbow,...
Offense helps Derry baseball team overcome slow start, get into contention
In between a pair of covid shutdowns — one that is going on now — the Derry baseball team discovered something about itself: It can flat-out score runs. Derry (5-3, 3-2) jumped right into Section 3-3A play, losing its first two-game series to Valley. But it was quick to rebound,...
Burrell ace Armstrong whiffs 17 in win over Greensburg Salem
Katie Armstrong said she “drew a blank” when she tried to remember the Greensburg Salem softball lineup and hitter’s tendencies when she and her Burrell teammates faced the Golden Lions for a second time. “Because it was so long ago,” she said. “As the game went on, though, I started...
Westmoreland softball notebook: Latrobe’s Tallman sisters flying high
The Tallman sisters, Jordan and Jenna, hope to take the Latrobe softball team to new heights this season, their last together as high school teammates. But they have been reaching for the sky for some time now — several months, in fact — as they seek to become certified pilots....
