Bill Beckner stories, Page 47
Norwin track teams ready to take on tough section competition
After a solid turnout during the indoor season, Norwin track and field is primed to carry the momentum into the spring. “We have a very dedicated team with a nice mix of upper and underclassmen,” coach Tim Van Horn said. “This group really works to push each other within their...
Westmoreland athletes excited for Mercyhurst’s move to Division I
Division II athletes one day, Division I the next. That’s the reality of what happened in a flash this week when Mercyhurst University in Erie announced it is leaving the NCAA Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and joining the Division I Northeast Conference, instantly bolstering the reputation of its...
Bullpen High: Hempfield baseball produces quartet of high-end college relievers
Phil Fox, Christian Zilli, Jake Kramer and Brandon Coughlin were the top four pitchers on the Hempfield baseball team that reached the WPIAL Class 6A championship game in 2021. With their right arms, the Spartans had speed and craftiness. With their big-game guts, they had fearless winners. These days, the...
Belle Vernon senior Ross ruptures Achilles in freak accident
Belle Vernon standout softball pitcher Talia Ross suffered a freak injury during practice Wednesday and could miss the rest of the season. Ross, who had a school-record-tying 20-strikeout game last weekend against Latrobe, said an MRI showed a ruptured Achilles tendon. The senior left-hander will see an orthopedic surgeon next...
Buzzworthy Hempfield baseball team flashing signs of being contender
With a coach whose nickname is “Buzz,” the Hempfield baseball team is beginning to generate some of it in the WPIAL’s largest classification. The Spartans are 6-0 overall and 2-0 in Section 2-6A heading into the final game of their three-game series against Central Catholic. They are averaging 9.5 runs....
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Franklin Regional senior dedicates season to brother battling cancer
Truth be told, Blake Bertucci would love to be pitching to his brother, Luca. That is how the siblings once envisioned it. While the pitcher-catcher combination is absent this season at Franklin Regional, the sentiment remains. Blake Bertucci is a senior pitcher who leads the Panthers’ staff. Luca Bertucci is...
Mt. Pleasant picks McKeesport, Clarion grad Eckels as new AD
Mt. Pleasant hired James “J.J.” Eckels on Wednesday night to be the district’s full-time athletic director. Allan Bilinsky and Bob Gumbita have been sharing the AD duties since Chris Brunson resigned from the position in 2022. Eckels will not start officially until July 1. A McKeesport graduate, Eckels earned a...
Hot start no surprise for Southmoreland softball team, which has big expectations
When he heard one of his games was moved because of a schedule change related to Monday’s solar eclipse, Todd Bunner was surprised. When the Southmoreland softball coach looked at his team’s statistics through five games, he wasn’t so surprised. His team is casting quite a shadow over its opponents....
Westmoreland County softball notebook: With new coach, Greensburg Central Catholic itching to get 1st game in
First-year coach Chelsey Frock will tell you what it’s like to lead the Greensburg Central Catholic softball team on the field, just as soon as the Centurions play a game. GCC is one of at least eight WPIAL softball teams that has yet to play in what has been a...
Franklin Regional hockey coach disappointed after being ousted
John Winebrenner holds no ill will toward the Franklin Regional Hockey Club board, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with its decision to open his position. Winebrenner, the Panthers’ coach since 2019, was told his time behind the bench is finished, a message that has him questioning why such a...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Hempfield grad Ty Linsenbigler transfers to Seton Hill
Ty Linsenbigler is coming home. The former Hempfield standout wrestler is leaving Lock Haven to compete at Seton Hill, where he will reunite with his high school coach, Vince DeAugustine. Wrestling unattached last season as a redshirt sophomore, Linsenbigler went 16-9 with four major decisions and one pin. He was...
Franklin Regional’s Cam Rowell headlines TribLive Westmoreland boys basketball all-stars
Player of the Year Cam Rowell, Sr., G, Franklin Regional The state championship game looked like it was getting away from Franklin Regional. But just then, Cam Rowell growled. The senior guard took a pass from Colin Masten, who came up with a steal, and broke into the open court...
Norwin’s Lauren Palangio tops list of TribLive Westmoreland girls basketball all-stars
Player of the Year Lauren Palangio, Sr., F, Norwin For teams to play the type of jagged-edged schedule that the Norwin girls played this season, they must have talented players to compete accordingly. Lauren Palangio was one of those players for Norwin, bringing multiple threats to the floor, including old-school...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Curtain call for Norwin stars
The Norwin girls will get the band back together for one last performance. Three senior players — Lauren Palangio, Ava Kobus and Bailey Snowberger — will join their coach, Brian Brozeski, on the Class 6A all-star basketball team at the Roundball Classic on May 26 at North Allegheny. The foursome...
Westmoreland County high school athletes of the week: Southmoreland’s Maddie Brown, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Ian Shipley
Maddie Brown School: Southmoreland Class: Junior Sport: Softball Claim to fame: Brown, the Scotties’ stalwart in the pitching circle for the last few years, has helped the team to a 5-0 start. To boot, the Scotties have yet to allow a run. They have outscored teams 52-0, and only one...
Norwin notebook: Baseball team wins opener
Jackson Huss went 2 for 3 and drove in four runs to pace the Norwin baseball team to a 9-4 victory on the road at Pine-Richland. Matt O’Neil added a hit and two RBIs for Norwin in the season-opening victory. The Knights were primed to begin section play, where teams...
New coach brings energy, ‘tough love’ to Norwin girls soccer program
If there is one promise Ashley DeVito can make to her new Norwin girls soccer players, it is this: “Tough love,” she said. “I am going to push them and challenge them to reach their greatest potential; however, I’ll always provide them the support that they need to do so....
No. 1 Hempfield fends off challenge from hard-hitting Penn-Trafford
With the scoreboard on the fritz, a temporary display panel was used Thursday at Hempfield’s Robert D. Kalp Field. That was the least of the home team’s problems, however, as Penn-Trafford dealt the Spartans their first bout of adversity this season. The Warriors, though, couldn’t deal them their first loss....
Rosters revealed for Roundball Classic all-star games
Rosters are out for the annual Roundball Classic basketball games, set for May 22-26 at North Allegheny. Top senior players from the WPIAL, City League and District 10 were selected to play in the all-star weekend, which ties a bow around another season in Western Pennsylvania. In addition, there will...
In 1st meet of season, Derry junior fires off state’s best javelin throw
After winning a WPIAL Class 2A championship and finishing second in the state last year in the javelin, Derry junior Sophia Mazzoni brought high expectations into this track and field season. She didn’t waste any time showing just how motivated — and prepared — she is to continue her upward...
Westmoreland County high school baseball notebook: Latrobe heads west for opener
Tradition never graduates, as the saying goes. That is certainly true with the Latrobe baseball program. The Wildcats opened the season the way they usually do, by making their annual trek to Ohio for a pair of games. Only instead of playing against Upper Arlington, a team coached by Latrobe...
Penn-Trafford baseball avenges tight loss to Fox Chapel by walking it off in rematch
One walk-off win deserves another. Wearing the frustration of a tight loss from two days earlier, Penn-Trafford’s Eric Biroscak led a last-inning rally in a rematch with No.5-ranked Fox Chapel. The senior right fielder delivered a clutch, two-run single in the seventh Wednesday to lift the Warriors to a rousing...
Westmoreland softball notes: Hempfield receives championship rings
Last season had a nice ring to it for Hempfield. The softball team won its eighth WPIAL championship — its sixth title in eight years — and finished as the PIAA runner-up. Before this season began, the team was awarded its championship rings during a small presentation at Spartan Stadium....
Hempfield softball starts fast with season-opening shutout of North Allegheny
Like a bear just out of hibernation, the Hempfield softball team took a big yawn, stretched out its limbs and delivered a shutout in its season opener. After having their first two nonsection games postponed, the defending WPIAL champions had to begin the year with a Class 6A section game...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Sophomore makes history in Pitt-Greensburg baseball’s home opener
Homer rhymes with Domer. Pitt-Greensburg sophomore baseball player James Domer launched a game-winning home run, and earned his first pitching win, as the Bobcats outslugged Chatham, 15-13, in their home opener. In a performance to beat the band, Domer went 6 for 6 with two homers, two doubles, five runs...
