Bill Beckner stories, Page 70

When pitcher Kevin Vaupel was selected in the 16th round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, he joined a list of Seton Hill alumni who have found their way into pro baseball. Vaupel, a South Park alum who was taken by the Miami Marlins with the 473rd pick, is the...

American Legion District 31 baseball playoffs Championship 1-Bushy Run (18-3-1) vs. 3-Latrobe (21-5) 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Penn-Trafford High School, Harrison City Coaches: Scott Peyman, Bushy Run; Jason Bush, Latrobe Players to watch: Carmen Metcalfe, Penn-Trafford; Erik Batista, Latrobe Scouting report: The district final comes down to a pair of teams...

Championship-winning coach Derek Cuthbert has returned to lead another Westmoreland County school’s soccer team. Cuthbert, who guided the Penn-Trafford girls to a WPIAL Class 3A title in 2003 when he was the district coach of the year, was named the girls coach at Greensburg Central Catholic. Cuthbert, who hails from...

The 2023 Norwin Athletic Hall of Fame class reached into the recent past to reconnect with some girls soccer greatness. The 2015, ’16, and ’17 girls soccer teams, and 2018 alum Emily Harrigan, a goal-scoring standout during that time, headline the list of inductees. Norwin won WPIAL titles in 2015...

A few years out of college but perhaps as sharp as she has ever been, Bridget (Guy) Williams continues to compete at a high level of track and field. The former Hempfield and Virginia standout is headed to a world-championship event after another strong finish in the pole vault. Williams...

Haylie Brunson has only played two years of college softball, but in a way, you could say her career has come full circle. The former Mt. Pleasant standout and Trib Westmoreland player of the year announced she is leaving Pitt to play at the school where she first committed: Penn...

Ben Suchko played soccer at Hempfield, and he remembers another local program having a reputation at that time. “Penn-Trafford was a juggernaut,” he said. “They were bruisers.” Now the first-year coach at Penn-Trafford, Suchko thinks that luster has worn off, and something needs to change to restore it. “P-T has...

Bushy Run baseball coaches said they requested a morning start time for Saturday’s semifinal opener because several players were going to a wedding in the afternoon. With a late rally in its first extra-inning game of the season, Bushy Run left visiting Hempfield East at the altar. Brody Hoffman homered...

Belle Vernon won a WPIAL Class 4A softball championship, and the Leopards did so with a potent lineup that produced extra-base hits by the boatloads. Three of the team’s top hitters were recognized with all-state recognition. Maren Metikosh (first team, outfield), Alexa Daniels (second team, outfield) and Lauren VanDivner (second...

If there is a web video on how to be a better defensive back, Jackson Pons has probably watched it, rewound it and watched it again. He has seen them all. The Norwin senior’s attention has shifted strongly to the defensive side of the football as he gets set for...

A pair of recent graduates who will have the same major in college left a lasting mark on the Franklin Regional soccer programs. They were recognized with a note of thanks. Jake Kimmich and Mauriana Dorsch were the recipients of this year’s $500 scholarships given annually to graduating senior soccer...

With Young Township on his bumper during a tenuous sixth inning, Grayson Willis thought back to previous bases-loaded jams he walked away from without a scratch. The first man out of the Hempfield East bullpen did it again Thursday in a series-deciding playoff game, keeping things status quo on the...

His college career had not even begun, and it was headed for an open-ended finish. Anthony Govern, a three-sport athlete coming out of Southmoreland, though, saw his plans take a hairpin turn after they first came to a screeching halt. Suddenly, his future is clear, and his focus has returned....

Allegheny College rising senior Jake Boord is putting his name into the transfer portal after his stellar track and field career ends with the Gators. A Hempfield graduate and two-time NCAA Division III championships qualifier, Boord is laying the groundwork for a post-grad year at a new college home. He...

With his brother, Dwight Moore Jr., standing pat and clenching his teeth about 30 feet away under the basket, Zion Moore took three casual dribbles toward him, jump-hopped and went straight up. Fully extended, he soared over his brother and threw down a one-handed slam dunk that sent the spotty...

Expectations can change, even for someone as talented as Lily King. “I went in expecting to swim the 50(-yard freestyle) and came out with a 200(-yard freestyle) time I never thought I’d be able to get,” said King, a rising junior swimmer at Mt. Pleasant. “I learned to really trust...

Trading skates for court shoes, Alex Thomas still is faster than many of his opponents and can sling an orange ball past goaltenders with the same zip as a hockey puck. The rising senior at Norwin is playing ball hockey this summer and doing so at a high level. Thomas...

A half-dozen girls soccer players from Franklin Regional qualified to play in a national tournament July 7-11, in Wichita, Kan. The Allegheny Force FC 2007 team worked its way through the youth national series, advancing past local and regional play and winning the coveted U.S. Soccer President’s Cup. Franklin Regional...

Mary Smithnosky knew something was wrong. These weren’t the usual aches and pains from being an athlete. It wasn’t normal for discomfort to come and go so readily. Off and on from the time she was 13, she had spells where her hands or legs would tingle and go numb...

The American Legion District 31 baseball season seems like it just started, but the regular season will wrap up next week. Teams, most of them from Westmoreland County, will complete league play Thursday, and the playoffs likely will begin next weekend. The top eight out of 10 teams qualify. The...

Belle Vernon’s Viva Kreis already gained national attention when she won the $10,000 Heisman High School Scholarship Award last December. Now the recent graduate is being recognized by ESPN. Kreis is an honorable mention for the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award, which for the second time will be part...

Encouragement from family and friends is one thing. But when Mike Krzyzewski gives you his blessing, you go for it. Annie Malkowiak took a leap of faith when she applied to be the next boys basketball coach at Mt. Pleasant. When she accepted the position, her phone “blew up” with...

When she started coaching, Annie Malkowiak was young and brash. Admittedly, she shouted and pushed back, thinking the game was more about her than the team. “I was an idiot,” she said. “I was very passionate, but I was an idiot. I was 21. I didn’t use my energy for...

Mt. Pleasant’s boys basketball team will have a female head coach next season. Annie Malkowiak was approved unanimously for the position during Wednesday night’s school board meeting. She becomes the first woman to coach a varsity boys basketball team in Westmoreland County. Malkowiak is the second woman to currently coach...

Growing up and attending Aquinas Academy in Greensburg, Ryan Kanner discovered there was a certain aura around Greensburg Central Catholic. Aquinas serves as the elementary school to GCC, so students have a tendency to look up to the high school athletes. “I was around the high school a decent amount...