Bill Beckner stories, Page 145
Penn-Trafford’s Trevor Wilson headed for Gardner-Webb
Trevor Wilson was born in Charlotte, N.C., and eventually made his way to Penn-Trafford where he developed into a talented baseball pitcher. He made his mark in Harrison City, but he always will be a Carolina boy. His college commitment will play a part in that assertion. Wilson, a recent...
Latrobe grad Zach Kokoska looks forward to starting pro career with Rockies
Nervous moments kept tapping Zach Kokoska on the shoulder as he watched names slide across his television screen during the MLB Draft earlier this week. His cellphone sat quiet in his palm. The power-hitting outfielder recalled having similar feelings a year ago during a condensed version of the draft, when...
Seton Hill announces hall of fame class; Penn-Trafford alums Zimmer, Fawcett among 5 inductees
Tyler Zimmer juggles a busy schedule. The former Penn-Trafford football standout will be an assistant coach at Greensburg Central Catholic this fall, and he also serves as the strength coach for Seton Hill men’s lacrosse and runs Alphalete Performance and Fitness in Export. His athletic background makes all of that...
Norwin serves notice with win at WCCA 7-on-7 tournamentVideo
There were notable absences at Thursday’s Westmoreland County Coaches Association 7-on-7 Football Passing Tournament at Latrobe. Organizers and coaches missed former president Larry Sellitto, who died in December. This was one of his favorite county events. Jeannette and Derry did not compete for the first time in the event’s 10...
Marko Thomas makes quick adjustment to surroundings as GCC’s head coach
Marko Thomas took over the Greensburg Central Catholic football program not quite knowing what to expect. But just the same, he was eager to peel back the curtain. He has been pleasantly surprised by his fresh surroundings, quickly establishing a connection with his new team. The coach at Connellsville the...
Greensburg Central Catholic boys soccer program under new leadership
Two-time defending WPIAL Class A boys soccer champion Greensburg Central Catholic is loaded with talent again, but the team will have a new coach this fall. Tyler Solis resigned after five seasons leading the Centurions. He quickly was replaced, however, by Rob Fabean, his assistant over the last two years....
Jeannette announces latest hall of fame class
Jeannette announced its 2021 Jayhawk Athletic Hall of Fame class on Tuesday. The class, selected by the the Jeannette Educational Foundation in conjunction with the school district, will be recognized during a home football game on Sept. 17 against Riverview. A banquet will follow on Sept 18. The latest inductees...
Jeannette grad Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State teammates seeking retroactive restoration
Referring to themselves as the “Tattoo 5,” Terrelle Pryor and four former Ohio State football teammates are asking that their vacated wins be restored, along with their legacy in the program. They want the 2010 season to be wiped clean. In a letter released on social media, Pryor, DeVier Posey,...
Trib HSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team: Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Quinton Martin has scholarship offers from Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Rutgers, Virginia Tech...
For Norwin grad and long-drive pro Justin Moose, round of golf is a different animal
The broad-shouldered man with a moose on his hat and anti-gravity in his golf drives is just glad he got the phone call. Maybe even more glad that he answered it. Justin Moose was sitting behind a desk in 2018, working as a site manager at a distribution center for...
Westmoreland County Girls Athlete of the Year: Olivia Cernuto, Southmoreland
Unless she takes a summer vacation or a few random days off, Olivia Cernuto gets little rest during the sports year. “A few days here and there,” the rising junior at Southmoreland said. When you play three sports to the level at which Cernuto does, rest is immaterial. Cernuto had...
Westmoreland high school notes: Basketball tournament to honor late Jeannette standout
Almost a year to the day that he was killed in a motorcycle accident, former Jeannette three-sport star athlete Tre Cunningham will be honored through a charity basketball event. The “Tre Cunningham Memorial Basketball Tournament,” sponsored by the Jeannette Educational Foundation, will be July 23-24 at Jeannette High School. Open...
Jeannette football program soldiers on as transfers, defections decimate rosterVideo
Tyler Horn said his motivation to play football at Jeannette this season is simple. “We know what football means to this town and this community,” the rising senior said. “We’re here to play and can’t let distractions get in the way.” There is no way to sugarcoat it. A WPIAL...
Paul Ajak III, Sean Knapp tired but triumphant at Tri-State Amateur
Paul Ajak III and Sean Knapp played in the 36-hole U.S. Amateur qualifier Wednesday at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, so they were dragging a bit when they teed it up Thursday at the Tri-State Amateur. Their bodies had to catch up with their mental acceleration. “It was really hot...
TribHSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team: Donovan Hinish, Central Catholic
The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Terry Totten wanted to remove some heavy weightlifting platforms from a Central Catholic workout...
Previewing Thursday’s Tri-State Amateur golf championship
Tri-State Amateur golf championship 8 a.m. Thursday, Hannastown Golf Club, Greensburg Format: 36 holes of stroke play. Second round will begin around 1 p.m. Defending champion: Brent Colella Divots: Champions will be recongnized in the amateur and senior amateur divisions. … The event was not played from 2009-19 before it...
Seton Hill’s Jared Kollar transferring to NCAA Division I program
Jared Kollar isn’t playing an extra year of college baseball because he has to. The former Latrobe and Seton Hill pitcher is taking advantage of another year of eligibility because he wants to. He would probably take a sixth, seventh, eighth year if he could. Not that he wants that...
Mt. Pleasant softball places 3 on all-state 1st team
Another state championship in hand, the Mt. Pleasant softball team celebrated some personal accolades Tuesday when the all-state teams came out. The Vikings, who finished 21-3 after winning WPIAL and PIAA titles, saw three players make the Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association All-State Teams. Senior pitcher Mary Smithnosky, senior...
Beaver’s Payton List, Bethel Park’s Reagan Milliken win state player of year honors
One did it with her arm, the other with a heavy bat. A pair of WPIAL standouts led their teams to championships this season and both were lauded for their efforts Tuesday as they were declared two of the state’s best. Beaver junior pitcher Payton List was named the Class...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Latrobe’s Ryan Shawley lands coaching gig
Former Latrobe star baseball player Ryan Shawley announced he has accepted a grad assistant coaching position at Keiser, a NAIA program that competes in the Sun Conference, formerly known as the Florida Sun Conference. Shawley, who just finished his senior season at Chatham, was a two-way player for the Cougars...
Franklin Regional alum Palmer Jackson eyes spot in U.S. Amateur
“This close,” Palmer Jackson points out, pinching his index finger and thumb together like he’s holding a SIM card. “I was this close to (automatically qualifying for the U.S. Amateur), but I just missed,” Jackson said of previous summers. “Looking back, I realized I was close a few times.” The...
Norwin grad out to make an impression with Washington Wild Things
The Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League added a local name to the roster recently, announcing the signing of former Norwin and Pitt standout Connor Perry. Perry, who most recently played in the minor leagues for the Low-A Lakeland Flying Tigers, also spent the 2019 season with the Gulf...
Westmoreland high school notes: Hempfield’s Sierk has smarts
Dan Sierk is as much a student of the game as he is a fierce, run-blocking tight end and an edge-turning defensive end. An incoming senior at Hempfield, Sierk is a load at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. But it takes more than size and skill to play college football at...
Murrysville Star notebook: Local volleyball team headed to nationals
The Westmoreland Elite 17 Black volleyball team qualified for the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Tournament, which was set to begin Saturday in Las Vegas. The team, coached by Greg Lockley, consists of Sydney Andrews (Penn-Trafford), Rebecca Hess (Greensburg Central Catholic), Julia Kubera (Franklin Regional), Anna Novak (Burrell), Isabella Panasko...
Plum native Scott McGough to play for USA baseball team at Olympic Games
USA Baseball certainly didn’t have to scour the globe to find its Olympic closer. The notion doesn’t even make sense. But that is what it did to locate Scott McGough. And the organization found McGough in a rather ironic location — Japan. McGough, a Plum and Oregon alum who bounced...
