Bill Beckner stories, Page 80
Latrobe baseball gets refocused for season’s stretch run
Won at a time. Like four bases form a diamond, those four words form the motto of the Latrobe baseball team, which has thrust itself into a another postseason conversation after winning back-to-back section titles. The playoff seeds and matchups will come out in a week, and Latrobe will try...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Playoff picture coming into focus
With a week to play in the regular season, the Westmoreland County baseball playoff field is just about set. The WPIAL will announce seedings and opening-round pairings next Friday, and games could start the following Monday. All games will be played at neutral sites. The championships will be May 30-31...
Westmoreland County softball notebook: Southmoreland captures elusive section title
Southmoreland has been a playoff regular in recent seasons, and the Scotties won a WPIAL championship in 2018. But, strangely, something has eluded the Scotties softball team for the past two decades: a section title. That changed this season as the team secured at least a tie for the Section...
Close games sharpen Greensburg Central Catholic softball for battles ahead
It’s funny how a regular-season schedule can sometimes balance itself out. Greensburg Central Catholic softball went from winning games that barely lasted four innings to winning some that could have gone to extra innings. It has brought a sense of equilibrium to the third-ranked team in WPIAL Class 2A. A...
Minor league baseball update: Matijevic drives in 8 runs; Kokoska on a tear
While JJ Matijevic is waiting for his next call-up to the Houston Astros, the former Norwin star is giving Sugar Land Space Cowboys fans their money’s worth. Matijevic, back in Triple-A after seeing action in 32 games last season and earning a World Series ring with Houston as a member...
Key players from school’s backyard helping Seton Hill baseball to brilliant season
Seton Hill baseball has a 26-game winning streak in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, a .979 team fielding percentage, a 3.20 team ERA and a No. 16 ranking in the country. While impressive on a national scale, it is unlikely any of it happens without a local pool of recruits....
IUP baseball team faces sanctions for too many games
Because IUP was on the threshold of surpassing the 50-game limit for the regular season, the Crimson Hawks’ baseball program is facing sanctions from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The PSAC announced Tuesday that IUP, which “failed to monitor its permissible NCAA contest limitations,” will forfeit a game and face...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill men’s lacrosse clinches conference crown
Seton Hill celebrated under the lights in Ohio. Now its postseason future looks bright. The men’s lacrosse team clinched the Great Midwest Conference regular season title with a 13-5 victory Wednesday night at Walsh. Senior Peyton Gensler led the offense with a hat trick and an assist, while senior midfielder...
Westmoreland high school notebook: GCC’s Gribble lands Navy offer
Three NCAA Division I college offers and only one year of high school basketball. So goes life for Erica Gribble, the standout freshman at Greensburg Central Catholic who added a third offer over the weekend in the United States Naval Academy. The backcourt standout’s previous offers, which came before she...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Hempfield grad Jacob Boord claims 3rd conference title
His trademark cowboy hat perched atop his head, Allegheny junior Jacob Boord stood proudly at the top of the medal stand. The Hempfield product won his third conference javelin title at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships. Boord’s clinching throw sailed 207 feet, 7 inches and set a facility record. 2023...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Jeannette’s Grace Stein, Greensburg Salem’s Aaron Tressler
Grace Stein School: Jeannette Class: Freshman Sport: Softball Claim to fame: Stein has burst onto the scene in her first year of varsity softball, leading upstart Jeannette back to playoff contention. She was dominant in three recent run-ruled outings, in the pitching circle and at the plate. She tossed a...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Softball field to be named for beloved Jeannette employee
Jeannette athletic director Adrian Batts thought the softball field behind the high school needed more than bleachers and well-manicured grass for an up-and-coming program. It needed a name, too. Jeannette this week will name the field after a longtime and well-regarded district employee, Dana Hall, who died in 2020 from...
Norwin notebook: Northeastern commit Shaw shines at Butler Invitational
Hannah Shaw collected the only victory for Norwin at the 58th Butler Invitational April 21 at Bernardi Stadium in Butler. Shaw, a Northeastern commit, soared 11 feet, 7 inches to win the pole vault title, one of many top-10 finishes for the Knights. Trey Huha finished third in the 200-meter...
Westmoreland baseball, softball teams crank up use of walk-up music
If he strikes out or has a rough inning pitching, Ryan Orosz can reset quickly with the press of a button. When the announcer calls out his name for his next at-bat and hits play to start his walk-up song, the good times can begin again. “Whenever I hear my...
Westmoreland baseball notebook: Yough inches closer to 2nd straight section title
Yough secured a WPIAL playoff berth after an 11-1, run-ruled victory over Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday on Cougar Mountain. The Cougars moved to 11-3 overall and 8-0 in Section 4-3A with their fourth straight win. It also marked their fourth two-game sweep of the season in the section. Other county...
Belle Vernon football team honored at state Capitol
A perk of winning a state championship in Pennsylvania is the recognition that comes with it from the state government. Pro teams that win titles go to the White House. PA teams head to Harrisburg. The Belle Vernon football team was honored Wednesday with a trip to the state Capitol,...
Make no mistake, Franklin Regional softball team shuts down Latrobe
Backlit by an error-free performance from her defense, senior pitcher Carli Ramchandran put together one of the better outings of her career against a strong lineup. It led to a 4-1 victory over Latrobe that was crisp, sound and necessary for the Franklin Regional softball team. Ramchandran threw a two-hitter...
Westmoreland County softball notebook: Greensburg Salem battling through injuries
Greensburg Salem had to play two recent softball games with only 11 players because of a rash of injuries. The Golden Lions (6-7, 3-5) have dealt with a concussion, a jaw issue and an upper-body injury as a result of a hit batter, all in recent games. Still, they remained...
Franklin Regional freshman Luke Williams commits to play baseball at Virginia
Luke Williams hits the baseball and makes plays in the field with a maturity beyond his years. His coach, Bobby Saddler, called him “the real deal.” The Franklin Regional shortstop is only a freshman, but he already has his sights on a Division I playing career. Williams announced Wednesday a...
It’s a whole new ballgame when coaches switch from baseball to softball
It was like a strange but lucid dream. The field was closing in. The dimensions were shrinking. The fence was so close, he felt like he could reach out and touch it. And that high-pitched yelling in the dugout: What was that all about? Tommy Quealy wasn’t hallucinating. He was...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill softball peaking at right time
Seton Hill looks to be playing some of its best softball late in the season. The Griffins ran their winning streak to nine with a doubleheader sweep of Pitt-Johnstown on Thursday to move to 24-12 overall and 17-5 in the PSAC West. Junior Brooke Cleland (Penn-Trafford) went 2 for 4...
Top-ranked Armstrong routs Latrobe
Latrobe softball players stayed as positive as they could, for as long as they could, still believing they could stage a rally as a cold wind whipped across the field. “We’re not done, yet,” the girls repeated in the dugout. “We got this.” Coach Bob Kovalcin loved his team’s teeth-chattering...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill among nation’s best in the field
If defense wins championships, it might be a good time for Seton Hill to start shopping ring-fitters. The Griffins baseball team has a dragnet defense that is keeping opposing offenses off the field and smothering rallies. Through 37 games, Seton Hill was ranked sixth in the country in NCAA Division...
Norwin junior Pons makes Miami (Ohio) his football choice
Norwin’s Jackson Pons will continue his football career at Ben Roethlisberger’s alma mater. Only he will be playing on the defensive side of the ball. Pons announced Sunday his commitment to Miami (Ohio) of the Mid-American Conference, where he will line up at safety. The stress of the recruiting game...
Franklin Regional grad Auston Kranick making strides in professional soccer
Playing in front of his team’s home fans last year in the U.S. Open Cup, Auston Kranick sought reaffirmation and comfort in his surroundings. Was this really happening? Had his lifelong dream of playing professional soccer actually come true? The Flower City Football Club player took in the scenery and...
