Bill Beckner stories, Page 156
Westmoreland campus clippings: GCC grad Stowovy enters NCAA transfer portal
Brittany Stawovy is on the move. After completing a four-year playing career at West Virginia Wesleyan, the senior basketball player has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Stawovy, a Greensburg Central Catholic graduate, is unable to continue with a post-grad program, so she is looking to play one more season somewhere...
Immediate future looks bright for GCC softball
Greensburg Central Catholic softball has been a slow build since coach Mike Gaffney took over six years ago. There always were talented players, but Gaffney had to play them at varying positions on the field, many times in spots that didn’t quite suit them. It all was out of necessity....
Franklin Regional baseball set goals beyond WPIAL playoffs
Just about every WPIAL team starts a season with goals of winning section and WPIAL titles. What’s the point if that is not the case, right? But only a select few have the talent to change those goals from words into actions; to follow them through to a finish. Count...
Franklin Regional softball team appreciates perspective
Jim Armstrong remembers the day it all came crashing down. “We were in the gym playing kickball,” the Franklin Regional softball coach said. “It kind of dawned on me what was about to happen. It was over.” The PIAA canceled spring sports last year as the coronavirus pandemic began to...
With most sports in full swing, Westmoreland colleges experience different March Madness
As the NCAA Tournament tipped off Friday afternoon, Aaron Smetanka was preparing for kickoff. Yes, kickoff. In March. The Saint Vincent football coach was finalizing gameday plans for the Bearcats’ season opener at Grove City. Elsewhere on campus, the women’s basketball team was practicing for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship...
Westmoreland notebook: Jeannette looking for new girls basketball coach
Jeannette is taking its girls basketball program in a new direction. The district opened the coaching position held for the last three seasons by Jonathan Bass after the Jayhawks finished 0-19 this season. The team was 0-6 in section play but opted to enter the WPIAL open playoff tournament and...
Louisy eager to take over Franklin Regional boys soccer program
Thomas Louisy had pondered coaching high school soccer in the past. “I had hundreds of offers,” he said. “I just never had been interested in coaching high school.” But then the recruitment started, and he made a quick pivot. The Franklin Regional job opened after his longtime cohort, Rand Hudson,...
Norwin notebook: Girls basketball team well-stocked for solid 2021-22 season
With the WPIAL sending only champions to the PIAA playoffs this year in basketball, local fans only can wonder what might have been for some teams in the state tournaments — the ultimate second chance for teams that were tripped up in the district playoffs. Take Norwin’s girls. The Knights...
Large, talented senior class gives rise to optimism for Norwin boys lacrosse
With one of its largest senior classes — and arguably one of its most talented — the Norwin boys lacrosse team is hoping for a season that extends into the WPIAL playoffs. Sixth-year coach Chad Good’s team could match his namesake. “We always have high expectations,” Good said. “We have...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Penn-Trafford grad slugs her way to conference honor
Otterbein senior Hannah Dobrinick, a Penn-Trafford grad, has been named the Ohio Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week. A first baseman, Dobrinick went 7 for 11 in a four-game series against John Carroll with a pair of two-run home runs. She drove in five runs and scored seven times. She...
Jeannette opens girls basketball coaching position
Jeannette is taking its girls basketball program in a new direction. The district opened the coaching position held for the last three seasons by Jonathan Bass after the Jayhawks finished 0-19 this season. The team was 0-6 in section play but opted to enter the WPIAL open playoff tournament and...
Mt. Pleasant softball team honors late State Rep. Mike Reese by wearing his numberVideo
You could not tell the players apart by their roster numbers, but you could tell they were playing collectively for a common purpose. Everyone wore No. 12 for the Mt. Pleasant softball team on a sunny Wednesday afternoon when the Lady Vikings hosted Laurel Highlands for a scrimmage. The team...
Belle Vernon freshman Quinton Martin gets 2 more Power-5 offersVideo
Quinton Martin had his share of exciting slam dunks this season for the Belle Vernon boys basketball team. He even had a few alley-oops from junior point guard Devin Whitlock. But that is only one of the sports in which Martin makes big plays. Only a freshman, he could be...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill baseball continues hot start
Seton Hill baseball powered its way to an upset and continued a hot start. The top four hitters in the Griffins’ lineup homered as Seton Hill took down No. 10 Millersville, 13-6, to mark its best start since 2012. The team has risen to No. 1 in the National Collegiate...
Penn-Trafford grad Lydia DeFazio again tabbed AMCC softball preseason player of year
Softball season opens Saturday for Mt. Aloysius and junior standout Lydia DeFazio, a player who will carry a unique distinction into a doubleheader at Pitt-Greensburg. DeFazio, a Penn-Trafford product, is the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Preseason Player of the Year. She was bestowed that honor last season before the pandemic...
Saint Vincent women run past Waynesburg, give coach Petruska 200th win
Saint Vincent advanced in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament and Bearcats’ coach Jimmy Petruska reached a milestone. Petruska, in his 10th season, registered win No. 200 of his career as SVC downed visiting Waynesburg, 87-59, in the PAC quarterfinals. Saint Vincent (8-0) advances to play Westminster (6-4) at...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Saint Vincent men’s basketball moves on
The Saint Vincent men’s basketball team snapped a six-game losing streak, and the feat came with a bonus: The Bearcats advanced in the PAC postseason. SVC (3-7) toppled Waynesburg, 72-58, in the play-in round to advance to Tuesday’s quarterfinals at Geneva. The Bearcats used a 45-point second half to pull...
Norwin notebook: Altieri shakes off slam to wrestle at states
John Altieri was cleared for a trip to Hershey for the PIAA Wrestling Championships, but the Norwin senior’s participation in the state tournament looked like it might be in question after a brutal body slam. During the PIAA West Super Regional at Altoona, Altieri won a championship at 145 pounds,...
Franklin Regional swim team hopes to add to medal haul at PIAAs
Franklin Regional sent a number of swimmers to the medal stand at the WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Upper St. Clair. “I am very happy with our results from WPIALs,” Panthers coach Victor Santoro said. “All three girls relays won medals.” The girls 200-yard freestyle relay finished fifth, the 200-yard...
Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: Southmoreland girls should contend again
The Roundball Classic committee couldn’t pick any girls basketball seniors from Southmoreland to play in its event in May. It’s not because the Scotties are lacking worthy players. They just don’t have any seniors to offer. Southmoreland had one of the youngest semifinal-qualifying teams in the WPIAL this season, with...
OLSH handles Greensburg CC to take 3rd straight WPIAL crown
While Greensburg Central Catholic was talking about diamonds, Our Lady of the Sacred Hearts grabbed the gold. Second-seeded GCC tried a diamond-and-1 defense early, trying to slow down No. 1 OLSH in the WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball championship, and the plan was effective early. But the high-speed Chargers adjusted,...
Westmoreland notebook: County well-represented in Big 5/6 selections
The Big 5/6 Conference, which recognizes the accomplishments of teams and athletes in the WPIAL’s two largest classifications, announced all-section teams for basketball and a number of Westmoreland County players made the list. In Class 6A, Hempfield senior guards Christian Zilli and Michael Hosni, Penn-Trafford senior guard Josh Kapcin, and...
In 1st finals since 2014, Greensburg CC to face high-powered OLSH offense
Greensburg Central Catholic didn’t get the home-court advantage other No. 2 seeds did in the WPIAL playoffs this year. Its gym was too small to host in the first round, so it had to play on the road, and issues from a water main break forced the Centurions to play...
Chartiers Valley scorches nets, beats Latrobe to set up rematch with Trinity
Latrobe girls basketball coach Mark Burkhardt looked up at one of the baskets after Thursday night’s playoff game at Chartiers Valley and, half-jokingly, wondered how often the school has to change the nets. “I don’t know how they keep them up in here,” Burkhardt said. With the way second-seeded Chartiers...
‘Iceman’ McGowan leads Greensburg Central Catholic into Class 2A final
His knees encased in twin glaciers, an exhausted Christian McGowan limped out of the Norwin gymnasium Wednesday night after a postgame interview and joined his teammates on the bus. The “Iceman” from Greensburg Central Catholic had just given the Centurions (16-3) all he had — and then some — in...
