Bill Beckner stories, Page 207
Former Pitt-Greensburg coaches Strickland, Williams, land head coaching jobs elsewhere
A pair of former Pitt-Greensburg coaches landed lead positions at new programs. Sean Strickland, who led the UPG men’s basketball team for seven years before a two-year stint as women’s associate head coach at Penn State Beaver, is the new associate head coach of the women’s program at Muskingum in...
Mt. Pleasant names softball coach Chris Brunson as new athletic director
Chris Brunson just finished his first season as the softball coach at Mt. Pleasant. He will be attending many other sporting events at the school in the near future. Brunson on Monday night was hired as the athletic director at Mt. Pleasant. He replaces Allan Bilinsky, whose workload was restructured...
District 31 American Legion league announces all-stars
League finalists Bushy Run and Hempfield East were well-represented when District 31 American Legion baseball announced its all-district teams Monday. The all-stars were selected through voting done by coaches from the Westmoreland County league. First team Pitchers Matt Henderson, Latrobe Maclean Maund, Bushy Run Cole Novak, Unity Max Pici, Bushy...
Belle Vernon grad Josh Hoffman claims MVP honors in Ohio summer baseball league
Incoming Youngstown State freshman baseball player Josh Hoffman has had a strong summer in preparation for his first college season. He has some hardware to prove it. Hoffman, a Belle Vernon graduate and Tribune-Review all-star, was named the Your Sports Network/Baird Brothers Player of the Year in the Youngstown Class...
Buddy Valinsky aims to make Norwin boys basketball ‘a proven program’
Buddy Valinsky bought a new hybrid SUV to abate his trek from Squirrel Hill to North Huntingdon. The new Norwin boys basketball coach has been driving back and forth quite a bit this summer and will continue to do so in the coming months. His motor is running like new,...
Trib HSSN rewind: A look back at the 2019 softball season
Late-round WPIAL playoff losses can do plenty to motivate teams for the state playoffs. Finality has its place, but it can wait. Penn-Trafford (Class 5A) and Frazier (2A) showed just how valuable a second chance can be as both rebounded to win PIAA championships to highlight the 2019 softball season....
Former Ligonier Valley star Maddy Grimm voted an ASBA all-star
Former Ligonier Valley star Maddy Grimm will play in the American Softball Association All-Star Game Saturday night at Pat Hick Field in Alabama. A power-hitting shortstop and third baseman for Team moh-BEEL! USA, Grimm was voted into the game, which will benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. A...
Trib HSSN rewind: A look back at the 2018-19 girls basketball season
Peters Township and Chartiers Valley championed the cause for perfection. Thirty up and 30 down. The Indians and Colts put together two of the most impressive runs by a WPIAL girls basketball team — in Class 6A and 5A, respectively — on the way to district and PIAA championships, making...
WCCA Shootout showcases ‘a good day of basketball’
Teams try to get different things out of summer basketball shootouts. Winning matters, but it is far from paramount. At the third annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association Shootout on Friday, Jeannette was looking for strong participation; Norwin and Latrobe wanted some continuity; and Valley and Greensburg Salem sought out offseason...
Several WPIAL stadiums undergoing turf renovationsVideo
Roll out the green carpet: football season is near. A number of WPIAL stadiums are in the process of getting new artificial turf. Most schools change turf after 10 or 15 years and several were due for updated playing surfaces. Westmoreland County, in particular, has ongoing turf projects at Penn-Trafford,...
Hempfield grad Bridget Guy takes bronze at world games
Virginia redshirt senior Bridget Guy will bring home a bronze medal from Italy. Guy, a former Hempfield standout, took third place in the pole vault while competing at the World University Games in Napoli. She cleared 14 feet, 1.75 inches. Guy came into the event with the sixth-best vault of...
New Greensburg Central Catholic coach Hyland brings youthful energy
Christian Hyland’s first memories of NBA basketball consist of postseason journeyman Robert Horry sinking the winning shot for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Sacramento Kings in the 2002 Western Conference Finals and veteran guard Derek Fisher’s walk-off jumper to lift the Lakers past the San Antonio Spurs two years...
Penn State baseball player Derek Orndorff leaving for Seton Hill
Incoming junior Derek Orndorff is leaving the Penn State baseball program to play closer to home. Orndorff recently announced on his Twitter account that he is transferring to play at Seton Hill. A utility player who starred at Connellsville — he was a second-team all-state player who hit .542 as...
Planet Fitness makes $2,500 donation to Educated Athletes First
Nonprofit business ventures — in athletics or otherwise — need pillars of support to maintain stability. A local one is growing as a result of donations. Educated Athletes First, the informative start-up endeavor run by former Jeannette star athlete and current Cincinnati Bengals safety Demetrious Cox and his father, Dorsey,...
Hempfield’s Mayo nabs All-America honors in 50 free for second time
Recent Hempfield graduate Gavin Mayo has been named for the second consecutive year to the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association Boys High School Swimming All-America Team. The 6-foot-3 Mayo, a North Carolina recruit, won the WPIAL Class AAA title in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 20.60 seconds. He...
Seton Hill to retire number of late volleyball teammate, Maggie Murray
An annual homecoming weekend match will be particularly special for the Seton Hill women’s volleyball team in the fall. On Oct. 12, when the Griffins host Bloomsburg at 1 p.m., the school will retire the No. 9 jersey of fallen teammate Maggie Murray. Murray, a 2018 graduate, died as a...
Former Latrobe standout Austin Butler back to work after surgery
The ball went through the basket — swish — and a smile curled up on the shooter’s face. Yes, this is the stuff. How I’ve missed you, old friend. Austin Butler was out of basketball for the last three months as he recovered from shoulder surgery. But the former Latrobe...
Seton Hill’s Pellis to play in PGCBL all-star game
Fresh off a strong junior season at Seton Hill, third baseman Tommy Pellis is honing his skills in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, touted as the premier summer league in New York. A utility infielder for the Albany Dutchmen, Pellis was named a reserve for the PGCBL All-Star Game...
Norwin grad John Stevens among Thiel hall of fame class
John Stevens helped lead Norwin to an undefeated wrestling season in 1959. That team featured seven Westmoreland County champions. It can now say it features a Thiel College hall of famer. Stevens will be one of a half-dozen inductees going into the Thiel Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony...
Pitt wrestler Micky Phillippi to compete at U23 World Championships
After a breakthrough college wrestling season, Pitt’s Micky Phillippi will get his shot at worlds. The reigning ACC champion and NCAA Tournament qualifier at 133 pounds, Phillippi will be a fill-in at the U23 World Championships Oct. 28 through Nov. 3 in Budapest, Hungary. Phillippi, a Derry graduate who won...
Bobby Over takes reins of Seton Hill track, cross country programs
Three-year assistant coach Bobby Over was promoted to head coach of the Seton Hill track & field and cross country programs. “From day one, Seton Hill has felt like home to me,” Over said. “I am very excited to be able to continue to work with the athletes that make...
Former Seton Hill reliever Kenny Wells signs with Braves
This week has been a real thrill for the “Trill.” Kenny Wells, a former Seton Hill relief pitcher with the social media name, “Kenny Trill,” signed this week with the Danville Braves, the Advanced-Rookie level affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. He made his minor league debut on the Fourth of...
JJ Matijevic returns to baseball, says he learned lesson during suspension
Humbled and motivated by mistakes, slugger JJ Matijevic is back in the swing of things. Matijevic, a minor leaguer with the Houston Astros, recently returned from a 50-game suspension for violating league rules pertaining to the use of banned drugs. The former Norwin and Arizona star twice failed a test...
Gateway’s Derrick Davis hopes to carry team back to states
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 23 during a HSSN Media Day live broadcast at Kennywood Park. When Derrick Davis gets into a rhythm carrying the football,...
Hempfield’s Mackenna Orie named Tribune-Review Westmoreland Girls Athlete of the Year
Mackenna Orie took up track and field, throwing events in particular, because she watched her sister, Sam, heave heavy objects during meets. It looked fun. Challenging and burdensome, maybe, but something she wanted to try. Four years later, Orie is following in her sister’s footsteps as a Division I thrower....
