Bill Beckner stories, Page 220
Westmoreland basketball playoff capsules: Games of Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019
Saturday’s games Boys WPIAL Class 6A Quarterfinals No. 2 Latrobe (18-2) vs. No. 7 Canon-McMillan (15-8) 3 p.m. Saturday at Norwin Winner plays: Winner of No. 3 Mt. Lebanon (19-3)/No. 6 Fox Chapel (16-7) on Wednesday in semifinals Coaches: Brad Wetzel, Latrobe; Rick Bell, Canon-McMillan Points scored/allowed: Latrobe, 71.4/60.9; Canon-McMillan,...
Derry denied elusive playoff win thanks to Blackhawk’s late surgeVideo
Neither Derry nor Blackhawk had school Wednesday because of the early morning snow storm. Their first-round boys basketball playoff game went on as scheduled, but Derry still ran into some tough sledding in its long-awaited return to the WPIAL postseason. The Trojans will have to wait a little longer for...
Hempfield’s Orischak commits to St. Francis (Pa.)
Another Hempfield softball player has committed early to a Division I college. Standout sophomore Ashley Orischak, a key designated hitter for the Spartans last season during their run to a third straight PIAA title and a WPIAL four-peat, gave a verbal commitment to St. Francis (Pa.). There, she plans to...
Westmoreland basketball playoff capsules: Games of Friday, Feb. 22, 2019
Boys Class 5A Quarterfinals No. 6 Franklin Regional (17-6) vs. No. 3 Moon (21-1) 8 p.m. Friday at West Allegheny Winner plays: Winner of No. 2 Penn Hills (19-3)/No. 7 Montour (15-8) Tuesday in semifinals Coaches: Steve Scorpion, Franklin Regional; Adam Kaufman, Moon Points scored/allowed: Franklin Regional 59.1/47.4; Moon, 64.2/46.3...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Local softball pitchers shine as freshmen
The adjustment period for a few area softball pitchers has been like their throwing speed on the radar gun: glove-popping fast. Freshmen Bailey Parshall, Meadow Uncapher and Dana Vatakis have jumped into the pitching circle with urgency and efficiency. The former Westmoreland County stars are taking the momentum from their...
St. Francis pitcher Meadow Uncapher named NEC Rookie of Week
Meadow Uncapher took a roundabout path to Division I softball, but St. Francis (Pa.) is glad the freshman pitcher found her way to Loretto. Uncapher, a former pitcher and infielder who won WPIAL and PIAA championships at Mt. Pleasant, won her first two starts for the Red Flash (5-4) and...
Peters Township boys use strong 2nd half to take down Penn-Trafford in 1st roundVideo
As 8 vs. 9 games go in basketball tournaments, teams are often evenly matched and produce tight games. Outcomes sometimes are as good as coin flips. Penn-Trafford and Peters Township couldn’t have played each other much closer in the first half Tuesday night in the WPIAL Class 6A first round....
Westmoreland high school basketball playoff capsules: Games of Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019
Boys basketball Class A Quarterfinals No. 7 Greensburg Central Catholic (17-6) vs. No. 2 Cornell (18-4) 8 p.m. Thursday at Peters Township Winner plays: Winner of No. 3 Nazareth Prep (16-3)/No. 6 Union (17-6) Monday in semifinals Coaches: Greg Bisignani, Greensburg CC; Bill Sacco, Cornell Points scored/allowed: Greensburg CC, 58.2/48.7;...
Experience pays for Franklin Regional in playoff win over Thomas Jefferson
In WPIAL basketball, playoff experience knows no bounds. Its importance can’t be overstated, its benefits can be immense. Franklin Regional only has one player with substantial experience from last year’s Class 5A runner-up finish in senior guard Nick Leopold. But experience will come with time for his teammates, who were...
Westmoreland basketball playoff preview capsules for Wednesday’s games
Boys Class 4A First round No. 10 Derry (12-7) vs. No. 7 Blackhawk (9-13) 8 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny Winner plays: No. 2 Ambridge (14-8) Saturday in quarterfinals. Coaches: Tom Esposito, Derry; Brooks Roorback, Blackhawk Points scored/points allowed: Derry, 57.8/56.6; Blackhawk, 60.8/58.4 Players to watch: John Kerr, Sr., F,...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent women secure top seed for PAC tourney
The Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s basketball championship will go through Latrobe. Saint Vincent secured the top seed and home-court advantage for the tournament, set to run Monday through Saturday. The Bearcats (21-4, 15-1) get a double-bye — as does second-seeded Washington & Jefferson (18-7, 13-3) — to the semifinals, to...
Former Westmoreland softball pitchers take quickly to Division I game
The adjustment period for a few area softball pitchers has been like their throwing speed on the radar gun: glove-popping fast. Freshmen Bailey Parshall, Meadow Uncapher and Dana Vatakis all have jumped into the pitching circle with urgency and efficiency. The former Westmoreland County stars are taking the momentum from...
Penn State Behrend’s Mark Patterson dominates AMCC swim meet
This is what total domination in a swimming pool looks like. Senior Mark Patterson was named Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Swimmer of the Year for the second straight time. But that was a mere formality. What he did to earn the award is the impressive part. The Norwin graduate won...
Kromka scores 1,000th career point as SVC nabs top seed in PAC
Senior forward Tom Kromka picked the perfect time to reach a milestone. The Saint Vincent basketball standout scored his 1,000th career point Saturday during the host Bearcats’ 80-73 senior day victory over Chatham before 912 at Carey Center. Kromka, a Gateway graduate who transferred from Carnegie Mellon after his freshman...
Saint Vincent women secure top seed for PAC tournament
The Presidents Athletic Conference women’s basketball championship will go through Latrobe. Saint Vincent secured the top seed and home-court advantage for the tournament, set to run Monday through Saturday. The Bearcats (21-4, 15-1) get a double-bye — as does second-seeded Washington & Jefferson (18-7, 13-3) — to the semifinals, to...
Helm’s hot hand leads No. 7 Greensburg Central Catholic past Geibel in WPIAL 1st round
Members of Greensburg Central Catholic’s boys basketball team knew senior Geoff Helm would have to figure into an opening-round playoff victory. But the team didn’t plan on seeing a second quarter like the one Helm had on Friday night. Helm, a Shippensburg recruit, poured in 14 of his game-high 29...
Tri-State PGA announces award winners
Each year, the Tri-State PGA Section recognizes the top contributors to its organization and the district golf community. Award winners for this year were announced this week. They are as follows: Golf Professional of the Year: Tom Beeder, Grandview Golf Club Teacher of the Year: Chuck Scally, Scally’s Golf Center...
Seton LaSalle boys eliminate Southmoreland at WPIALsVideo
Seton LaSalle eliminated the hyphen from its name a while back. A hot start Saturday afternoon helped the Rebels eliminate Southmoreland from the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs. No. 4 seed Seton LaSalle hit 9 of its first 12 shots to build a double-digit lead, then held off a mild first-half...
Impressive Jeannette rolls past Springdale in WPIAL Class 2A openerVideo
With the offense flowing like a fountain and the defense locked in and smothering Springdale, Jeannette boys basketball coach Adrian Batts grew more impressed with his team. By day’s end, he was comfortable calling the Jayhawks’ playoff opener their most complete game of the season. Senior forward Marcus Barnes had...
Westmoreland basketball playoff preview capsules for Tuesday’s games
Tuesday’s games Boys Class 6A first round No. 8 Penn-Trafford (14-8) vs. No. 9 Peters Township (15-7) 8 p.m. Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon Winner plays: No. 1 Pine-Richland (20-2) on Saturday in quarterfinals Coaches: Jim Rocco, Penn-Trafford; Gary Goga, Peters Township Points scored/allowed: Penn-Trafford, 61.0/55.8; Peters Twp., 60.6/53.6 ppg avg...
Westmoreland campus clippings: SVC softball player Sleith earns national recognition
Saint Vincent softball pitcher Alona Sleith is expected to have a big sophomore season. But it isn’t just her coaches, teammates and Presidents’ Athletic Conference opponents who have the expectations. Sleith, a Yough graduate, was named Monday to the Schutt Sports and National Fastpitch Coaches Association National Player of the...
Virginia’s Bridget Guy breaks pole vault record … again
Bridget Guy just keeps raising the bar at Virginia. The Hempfield graduate and redshirt senior has broken the school pole vault record three straight weeks, the latest instance coming over the weekend at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, S.C. Guy cleared 14 feet, 4.5 inches on her first try...
Westmoreland notebook: Jeannette to hold public meeting about artificial turf
Rumblings of Jeannette getting artificial turf at McKee Stadium began months ago, but rumors and innuendo could become fact as district officials take proactive steps to advance the process. The district will have a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the high school cafeteria to present details, including cost...
Behrend’s Robbie McMaster sets program volleyball record
Robbie McMaster can dig it. A senior libero for the Penn State Behrend volleyball team and a Norwin graduate, McMaster recently became the program’s all-time leader in career digs, breaking Derek Polishen’s mark of 606 set in 2015. McMaster had 12 digs in a 3-0 win over Adrian, the fourth...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Former P-T kicker transfers to Shippensburg
Nick Tarabrella had two signing days. The first when the strong-legged kicker was coming out of Penn-Trafford to solidify his pledge to Ashland (Ohio). When he had a change of heart, the college sophomore found himself signing his name again last Wednesday, only with a different Division II program: Shippensburg....
