Bill Beckner stories, Page 55
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Franklin Regional pitcher opens with no-hitter
Narayan “NJ” Ramchandran opened the baseball season by closing down Chaminade Prep. The junior pitcher from Franklin Regional threw a no-hitter in the Panthers’ first game of the year, a 6-0 victory in Myrtle Beach, S.C., over a team from Missouri. The right-hander struck out eight and walked two across...
Westmoreland high school notes: Latrobe hockey heads to West Chester
Latrobe wants to hold off uniform turn-in day a little longer. The hockey team is playing in the USA Hockey National Championship tournament this week in West Chester. The event is Wednesday through Friday. Latrobe was set to open against the Valor Screaming Eagles on Wednesday and has games against...
Franklin Regional playoff run rekindles memories of ‘perfect storm’ 1997 team
Rob Greenleaf called it a “perfect storm,” his 1997 Franklin Regional boys basketball team that made the state finals in Hershey. “These guys truly liked each other,” the former Panthers coach and Franklin Regional alum said. “They did everything together. “I remember after we had a (youth) basketball camp, I...
Franklin Regional coach Reed comes full circle with state title game vs. Imhotep Charter
Franklin Regional ripped off the band-aid from its WPIAL boys basketball championship loss to Moon and promptly avenged the defeat with a 60-43 win over the Tigers in Monday’s PIAA Class 5A semifinals. Funny how those state playoffs work, serving as a platform to exorcise demons and reset. Panthers third-year...
Greensburg Central Catholic runs into Kennedy Catholic roadblock in PIAA semifinals again
Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball players came up the stairs at North Allegheny to start the second half wearing their team backpacks. The team was asked to leave their locker room early to free up space for a boys game to follow. Kennedy Catholic also sent the Centurions packing in...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Latrobe grad Landon Butler enters transfer portal
Landon Butler’s two brothers have experienced the NCAA transfer portal. Now, he will, too. Butler, a 6-foot-4 freshman, is leaving Montevallo, a Division II school in Alabama, after one season on the basketball team. A Latrobe graduate, Butler played in 28 games, starting seven, and averaged 3.8 points and 2.3...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls get long-awaited rematch with Kennedy Catholic
A red light turned to green when the buzzer sounded Friday night at Forest Hills. It finally was all right for Greensburg Central Catholic to talk about Kennedy Catholic. The Centurions girls basketball team had waited almost a year for a PIAA rematch, and they got it when they beat...
Westmoreland PIAA basketball playoff capsules: Games for Monday, March 18, 2024
PIAA basketball playoffs Boys Class 5A Semifinals Franklin Regional (26-3) vs. Moon (26-3) 7 p.m. Monday at AHN Arena, Peters Township District seeds: Franklin Regional 7-2; Moon 7-1 Winner plays: Winner of 12-2 Archbishop Ryan (20-9) vs. 12-1 Imhotep Charter (26-3) in championship, 8 p.m. Friday at Giant Center, Hershey...
Previewing the 2024 PIHL Penguins Cup championship games
PIHL playoffs Penguins Cup Class 3A Championship 2-North Allegheny (16-4-0-2-0) vs. 1-Pine-Richland (17-4-0-0-1) 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, UPMC Lemieux Complex, Cranberry Winner: Advances to the Pennsylvania Cup state championship to play winner of Flyers Cup. Players to watch: Evan Kerber, North Allegheny; Zachary Howard, Pine-Richland Ice chips: North Allegheny finished tied...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Greensburg Central Catholic’s Jayla Peterson, Greensburg Salem’s Tristan Gonzales
Jayla Peterson School: Greensburg Central Catholic Class: Sophomore Sport: Basketball Claim to fame: Peterson scored a playoff career-high 14 points to help WPIAL champion GCC hold off a comeback from West Middlesex and advance with a 54-45 win in the PIAA Class 2A second round. Peterson, one of the team’s...
Franklin Regional prepares for grudge match with Moon at PIAAs
Just press play, Jesse. As of Friday night, Franklin Regional boys basketball coach Jesse Reed had yet to watch the film of his team’s 53-48 loss to Moon in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game. It was too gut-wrenching a setback to relive. “Now, I guess I have to,” Reed...
Fort Cherry takes care of business vs. Jeannette, reaches PIAA semis
Emotions ran high during some tense moments Saturday in a PIAA Class 2A boys basketball quarterfinal, but Fort Cherry didn’t get caught up in the commotion. The Rangers were too immersed in their long-awaited run through the state tournament. Fort Cherry advanced to the semifinals for the first time since...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Hockey teams join madness
There has been plenty of March Madness around here — on the hardwood and now, on the ice. After five Westmoreland County teams played for WPIAL basketball championships earlier his month, three underdog hockey teams from the county have reached the finals of the PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs. Greensburg Salem...
Franklin Regional boys sprint past Shaler and into the PIAA semifinals
If Franklin Regional isn’t sprinting up and down the floor, there is a good chance it isn’t winning basketball games. Transition is the lifeblood of this Panthers team. A Panthers team that has two speeds: fast and turbo-fast. “That’s when our guys are at their best,” coach Jesse Reed said....
Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: Some Roundball Classic games to be televised
High school basketball suddenly will be a part of Memorial Day weekend. And fans will be able to post up on the couch to watch the top players in the district play on TV. The plan is for KDKA to televise some of the Roundball Classic all-star basketball games set...
Westmoreland high school basketball playoff preview capsules for March 16, 2024
Boys Class 2A Quarterfinals Jeannette (19-9) vs. Fort Cherry (22-6) 1 p.m. Saturday at AHN Arena, Peters Township District seeds: Jeannette 7-6; Fort Cherry 7-3 Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Aliquippa (23-5)/9-1 Redbank Valley (24-3) on Tuesday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Markus McGowan, Jeannette; Blake Sweder,...
Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: Norwin facing somewhat familiar foe
Familiarity is only going to take Norwin so far Friday night in the PIAA Class 6A girls basketball quarterfinals. At least that is Lady Knights coach Brian Brozeski’s take on his team’s next matchup. “We played them in the beginning of the year, but both teams look a lot different...
Jeannette boys team grows up just in time for PIAA upset
Jeannette has a bright future in boys basketball. That much is clear in a talented rotation oozing with athletes and acumen. But it looks like a budding crop of underclassmen would prefer to win now, thank you very much. “These guys compete,” Jayhawks coach Adrian Batts said. “They are young,...
Westmoreland high school basketball playoff preview capsules for March 15, 2024
PIAA basketball playoffs Boys Class 5A Quarterfinals Franklin Regional (25-3) vs. Shaler (25-3) 7:30 p.m. Friday at Gateway High School District seeds: Franklin Regional 7-2; Shaler 7-3 Winner plays: Winner of 7-6 Bethel Park (15-13)/7-1 Moon (25-3) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Cooper Rankin, Franklin...
Jeannette shocks rival Greensburg Central Catholic in PIAA 2nd round
The anatomy of this victory started with a game plan and a belief that anything was possible. Through exacting execution and a willful buy-in by a young group as unfazed by the pressure as it is naive to it, Jeannette did the unthinkable. The upstart Jayhawks pulled off a monumental...
Hempfield sets championship goals as Westmoreland County teams open softball season
Hempfield won its eighth WPIAL softball championship last season. The Spartans are not shying away from the expectation that comes with winning a ninth. The season opens Friday, and WPIAL and PIAA championships are the order of the day — each day of tireless, detail-oriented preparation gleaned from legendary coach...
Norwin takes punch from Chartiers Valley, rallies to reach PIAA 6A quarterfinals
Trailing by double figures for the first time all season could have sent Norwin into a downward spiral and shut down its hopes of winning a state championship. Instead, it charged up the Lady Knights and made their grand escape that much more impressive. WPIAL champion Norwin rallied from 11...
Westmoreland County baskeball notebook: Rivals Jeannette, GCC ready for another rematch
After Jeannette played at Greensburg Central Catholic late in the boys basketball regular season, Jayhawks coach Adrian Batts leaned in to the handshake line for a respectful exchange with GCC senior forward Franco Alvarez. “He said, ‘I’m not going to get to play you anymore,’ ” Batts said. “I told...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill’s Marc Marizzaldi earns 700th career win
What a way to close out a spring break trip. Seton Hill baseball brushed past Florida Southern, 3-1, to give longtime coach Marc Marizzaldi his 700th career win. Grad shortstop Owen Sabol (Norwin) had two hits, senior pitcher Aidan Layton earned the win and struck out eight and junior closer...
Westmoreland County high school basketball playoff preview capsule for March 13, 2024
PIAA basketball playoffs Boys Class 2A Second round Jeannette (18-9) vs. Greensburg Central Catholic (24-3) 7 p.m. Wednesday at Norwin District seeds: Jeannette 7-6; GCC 7-2 Winner plays: Winner of 7-3 Fort Cherry (21-6)/7-7 Serra Catholic (18-9) Saturday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Jace Powell, Jeannette; Liam...
