Bill Beckner stories, Page 226
Mt. Pleasant’s Giallonardo invited to be Wild Things’ special guest
Dom Giallonardo could be in for a “Wild” night. The Mt. Pleasant senior who is inspiring more people each day with his comeback story of how he beat cancer twice, was invited to be a special guest at a Washington Wild Things baseball game in the summer. After the team...
Southmoreland baseball looks to change direction under new coach
Southmoreland baseball will be “governed” differently from now on. Al Govern begins his first year as the Scotties’ head coach and is embarking on one of those everybody-buys-in, culture-changing projects. His passion for the venture alone could be what ignites a change in a down-in-the-dumps program. “It needs a change,”...
Southmoreland ready to defend WPIAL title with 8 returning startersVideo
Southmoreland kicked up a thrilling celebration last year after dismantling defending state champion South Park to win the WPIAL Class 3A softball championship on the carpet at Seton Hill. The title run was historic, something the program in Alverton had not seen before. Scotties coach Todd Bunner wants nothing more...
Campus clippings: Belle Vernon’s Slagus leads Bucknell to NCAA Tournament
Tournament MVP Kaitlyn Slagus and her teammates are going to the Big Dance. Slagus, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, scored a game-high 23 points to power the top-seeded Bucknell women’s basketball team to a 66-54 victory over No. 2 American in the Patriot League championship game Sunday in Lewisburg. Bucknell (28-5)...
Latrobe raising funds for Scott Munchinski, local coach with leukemia
Latrobe is rallying around one of its own. Friends of Scott Munchinski have started a GoFundMe page to help pay for medical costs and other expenses as he battles Acute Myeloid Leukemia. In the fight with you @ScottMunch73 You got this. Munchinski Family Jason Thomas (@ramblerjay) March 19, 2019...
Hempfield softball has extended trip home from State Capitol after bus breaks down
Stranded but still enjoying the ride, the state softball champions didn’t let a broken down bus dampen their trip to the state capitol. Hempfield, the only three-peat state champions in the PIAA’s largest classification, were stuck on the Turnpike for just more than two hours Monday evening after their school...
Seton Hill’s Pellis earns PSAC honor for hot stretch
Tommy Pellis looks comfortable in the batter’s box at Seton Hill, like he belonged there all along. That’s not to say the junior third baseman did not fit in at Penn, but his transfer closer to home has him swingly freely and producing for the Griffins. Pellis was named the...
Belle Vernon’s Slagus powers Bucknell to Patriot League title, NCAA berth
Tournament MVP Kaitlyn Slagus and her teammates are going to the Big Dance. Slagus, a 6-foot-2 senior forward from Belle Vernon, scored a game-high 23 points to power the top-seeded Bucknell women’s basketball team to a 66-54 victory over No. 2 American in the Patriot League championship game Sunday in...
IUP, Cal U women to meet again, in regional final
IUP will try to win a regional title and advance in the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament. The third-seeded Crimson Hawks (28-3), though, will have to get past their nemesis, another local program, to win the Atlantic Region title and move into the national quarterfinals. (26-5) for the third...
Boys PIAA playoff preview capsule: Monessen vs. Vincentian
PIAA basketball playoffs Boys Class A Semifinals Monessen (18-9) vs. Vincentian (19-8) 7 p.m. Monday at Mt. Lebanon Winner plays: Winner of Sankota Freedom Academy (16-10)/Lourdes Regional (24-4) 2 p.m. Thursday in championship at Giant Center, Hershey Coaches: Dan Bosnic, Monessen; Tim Tyree, Monessen Players to watch: Elijahwa Price, 6-4,...
Westmoreland high school lookahead: Week of March 18, 2019
Highlights of the week ahead in Westmoreland County high school sports: MONDAY Boys basketball: Monessen (18-9) will try to continue its magical run through the state tournament. The Greyhounds, the last remaining county team in the PIAA playoffs, will take on Vincentian (19-8) in the Class A semifinals, also known...
Jeannette grad “ShowBoat” Robinson gets serious about basketball HOF nomination
Dribbling circles around helpless Washington Generals, making half-court shots while blindfolded and throwing buckets of confetti on flinching fans made people laugh for years. But when Lamont Robinson took a brief timeout from comedy basketball to acknowledge a more serious moment, one that knocked the spinning ball off his finger,...
Westmoreland notebook: YWCA to honor Hempfield softball
When it comes to awards and championships, Hempfield softball wins in bunches. The Spartans won their fourth straight WPIAL title last season, then followed with a third consecutive PIAA title — a record in the state’s largest classification. All that winning produced another repeat for the team with the YWCA...
Inspiring Mt. Pleasant senior back on diamond after cancer, surgeryVideo
Dom Giallonardo is not even. His legs are unbalanced because he does not have a right hip and is missing half of his pelvis. He had a cancerous tumor removed from his hip in 2015 and endured countless hours of chemotherapy. But he beat the disease known as Ewing’s sarcoma...
Mt. Pleasant softball team rebuilds with new coachVideo
Several Mt. Pleasant softball players left the practice field one day last week but didn’t head to the parking lot to catch a ride home or drive away like they had in the past. Instead, they disappeared into the field house behind the football stadium. What was so intriguing behind...
Mt. Pleasant baseball focuses on bringing runners home
Chris Firmstone does not get bogged down with or obsess over statistics. The Mt. Pleasant baseball coach couldn’t tell you who led the team in a certain category last year or what opponents batted against the Vikings. He is not an analytics type of guy. Keep your sabermetrics to yourself....
Peters Township girls top Norwin in PIAA basketball quarterfinalsVideo
Norwin knew if it had a chance against Peters Township, the game would have to resemble a 12-round heavyweight fight. The Knights would have to trade punches with the unbeaten Indians and be able to go back and forth. Norwin got a few uppercuts in late, but Peters Township ultimately...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill lacrosse player drafted
Seton Hill is sending another lacrosse player to the pros. Senior long-stick midfielder Brett Craig was picked by the Atlanta Blaze in the fifth round of the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft. He was the 39th overall pick but the first from a Division II program. The reigning Great Midwest...
Scorpion admires Groat as grandfather and broadcaster
Dozens of Dick Groat stories have been shared in around Pitt basketball circles in the past few days since word surfaced that the longtime courtside broadcaster and sidekick to Bill Hillgrove was parting ways with the Panthers after 40 years. Steve Scorpion knows those stories, and many more, only he...
Mt. Pleasant’s Alincic changes college commitment
On the eve of her senior season, Mt. Pleasant softball player Carolyn Alincic is changing her college plans. The fast-throwing strikeout pitcher announced Thursday she is decommitting from Division II Dominican (N.Y.) and instead will play at Division I Morehead State (Ky.). Alincic said “many obstacles have presented themselves along...
Senior leaders use past experiences to help Norwin girls prepare for PIAA quarterfinal matchup
When Emily Brozeski and Jessica Kolesar were freshmen, they were part of Norwin’s varsity scout team. They helped get the WPIAL-champion Knights ready for intense, later-round playoff games. “They would want us to come in and (simulate) speed and fly around,” Brozeski said. “We learned a lot from that team.”...
Westmoreland basketball notebook: Norwin family trees grow with playoff success
Family connections tend to follow successful sports programs at the high school level. The same last names tend to surface over and again as teams make postseason runs. Family trees branch into playoff trees. That is the case at Norwin where the girls basketball program has become a perennial power...
Westmoreland PIAA basketball playoff capsules for games of March 15
Boys Class A Quarterfinals Nazareth Prep (21-3) vs. Monessen (17-9) 6 p.m. Friday at Keystone Oaks Winner plays: Winner of Vincentian Academy (18-8)/Cornell (21-5) on Monday in semifinals Coaches: Nehemiah Brazil, Nazareth Prep; Dan Bosnic, Monessen Players to watch: Tre Harvey, Sr., F, Nazareth Prep; Dishon Howell, Sr., G, Monessen...
Former Penn-Trafford RB Gay leaving Air Force
John Gay IV wants to be a more traditional college student, which he hopes can make him a more traditional college football player — and maybe lead to something further. The former Penn-Trafford standout running back is leaving the Air Force Academy and will transfer to Lafayette, a FCS program...
Campus clippings: Transfers finding success on diamond
Change has been good for a few local athletes who have found new homes this spring sports season. Tommy Pellis transferred from Penn to Seton Hill, seeking a better on-field opportunity and a chance to play baseball in the area where he grew up. Pellis, a junior infielder out of...
