Bill Beckner stories, Page 210
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill’s Stevenson earns berth in NCAA shot put
Seton Hill senior Lexi Stevenson will make a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II track and field championships Thursday through Saturday at Javalina Stadium at at Texas A&M Kingsville. Stevenson will compete in the shot put after qualifying with a throw of 14.79 meters at the PSAC championships....
Collin Liberatore is MVC’s top newcomer
Some athletes have “hello world” moments in college sports. Collin Liberatore has had a “hello world” season at Indiana State. The junior starting pitcher was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year. Liberatore, a righthander from Greensburg Central Catholic who transferred from Pitt and sat out a season,...
Franklin Regional baseball advances to WPIAL semifinals for 1st time since 2001
Andrew Muraco changed gloves, then helped Franklin Regional change momentum in the sixth inning. The sophomore pitched five-plus innings before moving to right field, but he had an immediate impact at his new position. Muraco made one of two key defensive plays that not only eliminated baserunners for which he...
Shields again tabbed top NAIA regional athlete
Decorated Point Park track standout Anna Shields has more regional athlete of the year awards than a relay team has runners. The senior was named the NAIA Great Lakes Region Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association —...
Buddy Valinsky named boys basketball coach at Norwin
Buddy Valinsky said he would have remained at Allderdice had the school joined the WPIAL in boys basketball. Because that wasn’t going to happen, though, he decided to leave the program he built into a perennial power to make inroads to the WPIAL, only in a different way. Valinsky, who...
W&J baseball wins NCAA regional
Washington & Jefferson baseball took down No. 11 Rowan, 6-5, Sunday in Salibury, Md., to win the NCAA Division III Salisbury Regional and advance to the Super Regional round. Mullen Socha hit a two-run home run and Dante Dalesandro added a solo homer for the Presidents (35-11), who rallied to...
Joe Lewandowski will stick around at Point Park
Point Park removed the interim tag from Joe Lewandowski Friday and officially named him head men’s basketball coach, the university announced. Lewandowski coached the Pioneers last season, filling in at the last minute after the departure of Gabe Bubon, who left to take the head boys hoops job at Warren...
Pratt, Carmichaels blank Jeannette in Class 2A opening round
Down by one and its season on the line, Jeannette had a runner at third with nobody out in the top of the seventh inning. Knowing they were locked in a pure pitcher’s duel where defense was exceptional and offense was hard to come by, the Jayhawks had to react...
No. 5 Norwin rolls past Bethel Park in WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals
Slightly perturbed by its WPIAL playoff seeding, Norwin took out its frustration on — and laid the aluminum to — Bethel Park. “We beat Hempfield twice so I feel like maybe we should have been up a little higher,” Norwin junior third baseman Victoria Shimko said. “But what can you...
Westmoreland baseball playoff preview capsules: Games of May 16, 2019
Thursday’s games Baseball First round Class 6A No. 8 Upper St. Clair (12-6) vs. No. 9 Hempfield (11-9) 4 p.m. at West Mifflin Winner plays: No. 1 Penn-Trafford (16-3) Coaches: Jerry Malarkey, Upper St. Clair; Tim Buzzard, Hempfield Players to watch: Eli Shedd, Jr., P, Upper St. Clair; Luke Hudson,...
Westmoreland campus clippings: McQuaide fights through pain to win pole vault title
Courtney McQuaide fought back tears as she limped to the medal stand and pulled herself up to the top block to receive her gold medal. It wasn’t the writhing pain she felt in her left foot or the thrill from winning a third straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference pole vault...
Franklin Regional’s Kranick commits to play soccer at Oakland
Auston Kranick was glad to be collateral damage. That is how recruiting sometimes can work. Funny story, though, how Kranick became a Division-I soccer player. The Franklin Regional senior was not the recruit Oakland University was coming to scout during a game last season, but the Golden Grizzlies are glad...
Westmoreland campus clippings: P-T grad Emma Nedley named top Ivy League freshman
Emma Nedley was so good this season for the Penn softball team, the postseason award she garnered Wednesday almost seemed anticlimactic. Nedley was rewarded for her breakthrough season by being named Ivy League Rookie of the Year. A freshman outfielder from Penn-Trafford, she also made the all-conference first team as...
CMU’s Jason Li up for prestigious Jack Nicklaus Award
Carnegie Mellon sophomore Jason Li is a semifinalist — one of 30 players nationally — for the prestigious NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award. Li, a Sewickley Academy graduate, is having one of the best scoring seasons in the country. He was selected by the...
Gannon’s Michael Marsico advances out of NCAA golf regional at Totteridge
Gannon sophomore Michael Marsico grabbed the final individual qualifying spot Saturday for the NCAA Division II Golf Championships with a 54-hole total of 4-over-par 220 at the Atlantic/East Regional tournament played at Totteridge Golf Club near Greensburg. Marsico, a Fox Chapel graduate, shot 73, 74 and 73 over the 7,154-yard...
On broken foot, Slippery Rock’s Courtney McQuaide wins third PSAC pole vault title
Courtney McQuaide fought back tears as she limped to the medal stand and pulled herself up to the top block to receive her gold medal. It wasn’t the writhing pain she felt in her left foot or the thrill from winning a third straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference pole vault...
Penn-Trafford, Mt. Pleasant set to begin softball playoffs as favorites
Perhaps as clear-cut as No. 1 seeds come, Penn-Trafford and Mt. Pleasant didn’t give the WPIAL softball steering committee much to think about in Class 5A and 4A. Playoff pairings came out Thursday, and both were slotted comfortably into the top-left corner of the brackets, earmarking them as the teams...
Zak Kruger named Seton Hill women’s soccer coach
Zak Kruger was named women’s head soccer coach at Seton Hill, the university announced Thursday. Kruger replaces Andy McNab, who resigned after four seasons to take a coaching job at Barton College in Wilson, N.C. Kruger was the head coach at Wilson College in Chambersburg last year. He also was...
Hempfield’s Emma Hoffner hopes to add to bucket of memories
There is a bucket spilling over with softballs in the corner of Emma Hoffner’s room. Each ball is labeled with accomplishments from the Hempfield sophomore’s high school and travel career: home runs, big hits, important wins. Warm and fuzzy memories. A can of keepsakes. Included is the ball she drove...
Franklin Regional baseball completes perfect section season
For the first time this season, the scoreboard was up and running at Haymaker Park, adding some ambience to Franklin Regional’s final home game. Senior outfielder Tommy Kegerreis enjoyed seeing the old display panel working again so much he took direct aim at it in the fifth inning. Kegerreis clubbed...
Emma Nedley named softball rookie of year in Ivy League
Emma Nedley was so good this season for the Penn softball team, the postseason award she garnered Wednesday almost seemed anticlimactic. Nedley was rewarded for her dynamic, breakthrough season by being named Ivy League Rookie of the Year. A freshman outfielder from Penn-Trafford, she also made the all-conference first team...
With just 8 teams in playoff field, Class 6A softball tournament to feature familiar matchups
The WPIAL Class 6A softball bracket will be noticeably more compact when the pairings are released Thursday. With the WPIAL going from three sections to two this season, the league took just eight teams to the postseason in its largest classification. There were 13 qualifiers last season and 12 made...
Mt. Aloysius’ Lydia DeFazio, Penn-Trafford grad, is AMCC softball player of year
Lydia DeFazio took Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference softball by storm this season. The sophomore catcher and first baseman swung a hot bat from start to finish in the regular season and her proficiency earned her AMCC Player of the Year honors Wednesday. DeFazio, a Penn-Trafford graduate, was a “triple crown”...
Slippery Rock RB Wes Hills to sign with Arizona Cardinals
Wes Hills had been stuck between the Rock and a pro place. But that all changed this week as the former Slippery Rock star running back was invited to rookie minicamp with the Arizona Cardinals. He is expected to sign a free agent contract. Hills, a native of Wildwood, N.J.,...
Franklin Regional’s Williams commits to Yale baseball
Franklin Regional’s standout shortstop and top entrepreneur is heading to the Ivy League. Senior Jake Williams will further his playing career at Yale, the Panthers’ baseball team announced Tuesday via Twitter. Williams, who helped create the nonprofit business, mySportResume.com, an online athletic and academic portfolio for aspiring college student-athletes, used...
