Bill Beckner stories, Page 200
Westmoreland County don’t-miss football matchups for Week 8
Class 6A Hempfield (2-6, 1-6) at Butler (0-8, 0-6) 7:30 p.m. Friday at Art Bernardi Stadium On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com; 1050 AM Last week: North Allegheny 62, Hempfield 35; Central Catholic 55, Butler 6 Coaches: Rich Bowen, Hempfield; Eric Christy, Butler Players to watch: Nathan Roby, Hempfield (Sr., 5-7, 155,...
Breaking down the 2019 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs
Here’s a look at the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs: Class AAAA Favorite: Norwin (16-1), which has an opening-round bye, may be the fastest end-to-end team in the WPIAL, not to mention the team’s depth. Three Pitt recruits lead the way in junior midfielders Katelynn Kauffman (19 goals) and Lacy Bernick...
Franklin Regional’s Aly Kindelberger makes Division I commitment for volleyball
A versatile, 6-foot-1 hitter who can deliver from all three positions on the court, Franklin Regional junior Aly Kindelberger has all the tools and instincts to be a Division I volleyball player. She now has a scholarship, too. Kindelberger has committed to play at DePaul. She also had an offer...
Jeannette product Demetrious Cox taken in XFL Draft
Demetrious Cox is ready to start a new chapter in his football career. The former Jeannette and Michigan State standout was selected Wednesday in the XFL Draft. He was the second player picked in the fifth round — the 34th pick overall — by the New York Guardians. A safety,...
WPIAL releases soccer playoff pairings
The WPIAL soccer playoff brackets are set. First-round games begin Saturday for boys and Monday for girls in the eight tournaments, which culminate with championship games Oct. 31 and Nov. 1-2 at Highmark Stadium at Station Square. There are single preliminary-round games Thursday in boys Class A, and girls Class...
Penn-Trafford draws up plan of attack for girls soccer playoffs
Sitting on early leads will not be the strategy that takes Penn-Trafford far in the WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer playoffs. Adding to them could be what produces desired results, according to the Warriors’ coach. “We have a tendency to sit back and protect when we’re ahead,” coach Jackie Bartko...
Hempfield grad Kason Harrell signs contract with NBA G League team
Kason Harrell is a man of faith and believes in the value of discipline and extra practice. Rewards are earned, not entitled. What happens in lonely gyms stays in lonely gyms. The former Hempfield basketball standout felt he had done all be could do in his pursuit of a professional...
Campus clippings: Seton Hill runners win title in Lawrence County
The Seton Hill women’s cross country team won the Bill Lennox Invitational at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds with seven runners inside the top 11. Senior Caitlyn Padgett also won the individual title in the 6K race in 22 minutes, 41 seconds. Sophomore Alexis Cunningham was fourth (23:16), senior Skye Christian...
Hempfield grad Kason Harrell signs NBA G League contract
Kason Harrell’s journey to professional basketball reached a high note Monday night when the former Hempfield star signed a contract with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the NBA G League affiliate of the Indiana Pacers. Harrell, who graduated last year from Purdue Fort Wayne, had a tryout with the Mad...
Norwin beats rival Penn-Trafford, clinches girls soccer section title with second-half surge
A slow start gave way to a fast finish as the Norwin girls soccer team amped up its play, looking more like a potential WPIAL title contender in the second 40 minutes, and captured its second consecutive Section 3-AAAA championship. Senior defender Eva Frankovic scored her first two goals of...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent, Seton Hill end skids
The Saint Vincent and Seton Hill football teams have more than a few things in common. Both broke losing streaks and gave their rookie coaches — and proud alums of their respective schools — their first wins Saturday. Saint Vincent broke a nine-game skid with a 41-18 victory at Thiel...
Westmoreland football notebook: Three more teams clinch WPIAL playoff spots
Three more Westmoreland teams punched their ticket to the WPIAL playoffs with wins Friday night. Latrobe, Franklin Regional and Greensburg Salem will return to the postseason. Latrobe and Greensburg Salem will make back-to-back playoff appearances after droughts: Latrobe made it last year for the first time since 2009, and the...
Latrobe makes goal-line stand to defeat Plum, claim playoff spotVideo
As momentum swayed, it was one of those games that seemed destined to produce good news and bad news for the Latrobe football team. And it did. The good news for the Wildcats? There was hardly any bad news. Latrobe wiped its collective brow and took care of business Friday...
Fox Chapel, Sewickley Academy boys, Upper St. Clair, GCC girls take WPIAL team golf titlesVideo
A couple of streaks ended and a couple more carried on Thursday at the WPIAL team golf championships. New champions were crowned in boys and girls Class AAA, while it was the same old story in both Class AA tournaments played at sun-splashed Cedarbrook Golf Course in Rostraver. In Class...
JJ Matijevic is a fall league all-star
JJ Matijevic has made his presence known in the Arizona Fall League. The 23-year-old Norwin graduate and Houston Astros prospect was selected to play in the AFL All-Star Game set for 5 p.m. Saturday at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Maricopa County, Ariz. Matijevic, a first baseman for...
Saint Vincent QB Brady Walker done for the season
Saint Vincent freshman quarterback Brady Walker is done for the season with a knee injury, Bearcats coach Aaron Smetanka confirmed. Walker was injured Sept. 28 in a home game against Carnegie Mellon, a 49-14 loss for Saint Vincent (0-4). Walker, who started his college career at West Virginia Wesleyan before...
Playoff hopes still flickering for resilient Mt. Pleasant boys soccer team
Give Mt. Pleasant’s boys soccer players credit: All things considered, they’ll be able to say they stayed in the race until the race was over. A key injury and some harried schematic changes made out of desperation sent the team sideways but didn’t stop it from chasing a WPIAL playoff...
Westmoreland football Q&A with Mt. Pleasant’s Jake Johnson
Teetering between a potential playoff berth and an early end to the season can be like purgatory for WPIAL teams. It’s a week-to-week waiting game as the season crawls to a finish. The only way they can impact their fate — and avoid potential tiebreakers and the dreaded Gardner Points...
Westmoreland County don’t-miss football matchups for Week 7
Class 6A Hempfield (2-5, 1-5) at No. 1 North Allegheny (7-0, 6-0) 7 p.m. Friday at Newman Stadium, McCandless On the air: TribHSSN.TribLive.com Last week: Seneca Valley 40, Hempfield 12; North Allegheny 49, Butler 14 Coaches: Rich Bowen, Hempfield; Art Walker, North Allegheny Players to watch: Fintan Brose, Hempfield (Sr.,...
Former Hempfield hockey player Christian Gorscak makes D-1 commitment
Former Hempfield hockey standout Christian Gorscak finished his high school education online and graduated last year. Next up is a college degree for the rising prospect — and he hopes a lot more hockey. Gorscak announced Wednesday he will continue his career at Niagara, a Division I program in New...
Six from WPIAL nominated for HS All-American soccer games
Four girls and two boys from the WPIAL have been added to the 2019 High School All-American Soccer Game Watch List. The national game for seniors will be Dec. 7 in Orlando, Fla. Finalists will be chosen at a later date. WPIAL girls players on the ballot include Norwin defender...
Locals Jackson, Goetz lead college teams to victory
Household names in local golf are on their way to carrying that same status at major college programs. Notre Dame freshman Palmer Jackson and West Virginia junior Mark Goetz led their teams to victory Tuesday. Jackson, a Franklin Regional graduate who has quickly taken to Division I golf, dropped a...
Norwin’s Kendro gives verbal commitment to Tennessee
An impressive workout at a summer showcase will afford Jake Kendro the opportunity to showcase his talents at the highest level of college baseball. The sophomore middle-infielder from Norwin began drawing interest from Tennessee after coaches saw him at a Perfect Game event in July in Georgia. An offer followed...
Campus clippings: Franklin Regional graduate Nate Leopold sets tone for John Carroll football
Nate Leopold got the scoring started and set the tone for his defensive teammates as the John Carroll football team dumped Muskingum, 31-10, in an Ohio Athletic Conference game. Leopold, a sophomore defensive back out of Franklin Regional, scooped up a first-quarter fumble and returned it 34 yards for a...
Defense dominates as Class 5A No. 1 Penn-Trafford beats Latrobe
Penn-Trafford was not clicking offensively. The running game was sluggish, passes were off the mark and the sticks weren’t moving with normal rapidity. The Warriors’ defense, however, was there to bail it out. No. 1 Penn-Trafford held Latrobe to one first down, pressured the Wildcats’ continuously and pounded down a...
