Bill Beckner stories, Page 211

Sydney Ball sat on a three-shot lead for the better part of six months. The Saint Vincent sophomore, however, still closed the deal. Ball this weekend was named MVP at the PAC Women’s Golf Championships after winning the title by nine shots at Chestnut Ridge Resort in Blairsville. The Pittsford,...

Opponents would rather not go one-on-one against Butler rising star Ethan Morton. Of course, Morton also is pretty good at three-on-three. Morton returned home from Colorado this weekend a champion after he and his three teammates on Team Attack won the USA Basketball 3x3 National Championship. The team finished 8-0...

The word special will forever be etched into the 2018 women’s volleyball season at Seton Hill. The Griffins endured tough times but rose to the occasion, turning hardship into motivation, to string together their best season — one thrilling match at a time. They played with reverance and resolve for...

Highlights of the week ahead in Westmoreland high school sports: MONDAY Softball: Norwin has thrown its hat into the ring of contention in Section 2-6A with three straight wins to get within two games of first-place North Allegheny. The Knights, who are tied with Hempfield for second place, will play...

Two-time WPIAL rushing champion Dustin Shoaf will play in an all-star game after all. The senior from Yough received a late invite to the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game. The game will be 2 p.m. May 5 at Mansion Park in Altoona. The West team had 22...

Andy McNab resigned as the Seton Hill women’s soccer coach after four seasons. He is leaving to coach the women’s team at Barton College in Wilson, N.C. McNab spent two years with the Griffins as an assistant. Seton Hill reached the PSAC playoffs the last two years, finishing 12-6-1 in...

Undefeated Island has been a crowded place. While the population dwindled some this week, those remaining don’t want to leave. Four teams from Westmoreland County baseball and softball take unblemished records into Friday, and they will press on with the hopes of maintaining perfection as the season nears its midway...

Former Franklin Regional star Spencer Lee enjoys repeats. Repeat trips to the NCAA wrestling finals. Repeat national championships. And repeat visits to the Iowa State Legislature. Lee, a sophomore at Iowa, was honored for the second year in a row Wednesday at the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines...

Longtime Saint Vincent College baseball coach Mick Janosko reached another milestone Wednesday with his 400th victory. Janosko, who began coaching the Bearcats in 1998, helped guide the team to a 6-1 victory over Geneva in Latrobe. Junior pitcher Fred Gillespie tossed a three-hitter and senior Bobby Finn tripled and drove...

Maclean Maund said his go-to pitches weren’t working for him. The fastball wasn’t popping and his curve missed its spots. Not that it showed. The Penn-Trafford senior pitcher soundly negotiated his deficiencies, as minor and well-hidden as they were to the audience at Seton Hill, and tossed a gem. Maund...

Saint Vincent has a coach for its newest varsity sport. The school added men’s volleyball, its 24th sport, and Tuesday announced Derry native Scott Wisneski will lead the first-year program, which is expected to begin play for the 2019-20 season. Wisneski was an assistant for the Bearcats women’s volleyball team...

Penn-Trafford announced its 2019 Warrior Football Hall of Fame class. The committee scours over decades of program history, dating back to players from Trafford and Penn Joint, which later became Penn-Trafford, to come up with a well-balanced class. This year’s honorees include: • Tim Cortazzo (Penn-Trafford Class of 2007) •...

Lynn Washowich met with his players Monday and explained that it would be unfair to them if he returned as boys basketball coach at Norwin. “I told the kids I did it for them,” said Washowich, who resigned after 21 seasons in the program, the last 17 as head coach....

Baseball coaches will tell you it never hurts to have a little dog in their team. In Tuesday’s case, an actual dog — not the euphemism for toughness — made an appearance in the fourth inning, delaying play between Jeannette and visiting Southmoreland for a few minutes. The toughness part...

Jeannette’s longtime vision of having artificial turf at McKee Stadium is no longer a pipe dream. Consider it as good as done. The school board voted Monday by a unanimous, 8-0 vote to approve the installation of turf, and a new track, at the decades-long home of the Jayhawks. McKee...

Max Eismann’s head-turning performance in net on Saturday for the Seton Hill lacrosse team earned him special recognition. Eismann, a junior goalkeeper, was named to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division II Team of the Week. Only 10 players across the country make the cut each week. Eismann also...

Not many college basketball players can say they played in two Division II final fours and led their team to the No. 1 ranking in the nation. But IUP senior Carolyn Appleby can say she’s done that — and much more. Appleby had quite the career for the Crimson Hawks...

Longtime Latrobe manager Jason Bush is going into the Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame. Bush, set to begin his 21st season with the Jethawks (15 as manager), has 316 wins and has won Region 7 and District 31 championships. He has guided Latrobe to the playoffs 14 times....

Jeannette’s longtime vision of having artificial turf at McKee Stadium is no longer a pipe dream. Consider it as good as done. The school board voted Monday by a unanimous, 8-0 vote to approve the installation of turf, and a new track, at the decades-long home of the Jayhawks. McKee...

See it. Rip it. Penn-Trafford softball players aren’t trained to wait on pitches and work their way through long at-bats. Coach Denny Little wants the green light shining bright from the moment his hitters dig into the batter’s box. It’s like they’re facing pitching machines instead of live arms. “I...

As a scoreless game meandered into the third inning, Norwin figured it might need a fortunate bounce, a break to go its way, if it was going to get a handle on its Section 2-6A baseball opener. Visiting Latrobe obliged. A topsy-turvy third for the Wildcats aided Norwin’s 6-1 victory...

Westmoreland County softball players have shown a propensity for hitting the long ball this college softball season. A quartet of local players are leading their respective teams in home runs — at the Division I, II and III levels. Penn State freshman outfielder Chelsea Bisi (Derry) blasted her team-leading ninth...

There was a Pittsburgh-area presence at the annual Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Whitehall native Michael Quallich finished eighth in the boys’ 7-9 age division. It was his third time competing but first trip to the finals. Quallich, 9, is...

MONDAY Baseball: Section 2-6A is expected to produce a tight race, and the schedule will continue to offer quality matchups. Three of note include Connellsville at Penn-Trafford, Hempfield at Plum and Latrobe at Norwin. Section 1-5A and 1-4A won’t skimp, either: Kiski Area visits Franklin Regional in the former; Yough...

Senior Bobby Finn is the new home run king at Saint Vincent. Finn blasted his record-breaking 19th career homer Saturday, then added another in the second game of a doubleheader, as the Bearcats (14-9, 7-4) swept host Geneva, 8-4 and 9-0. Finn moved past TJ Conroy, the son of former...