Paul Schofield stories, Page 78

There are a lot of similarities between the Ligonier Valley and Line Mountain softball teams. In many ways, they mirror one another. Both are making their first trip to the PIAA championship game and seeking their first state title. Both have dominating pitchers and, recently, the offenses have come up...

PIAA softball preview Class 2A Championship Ligonier Valley (22-2) vs. Line Mountain (22-3) 11 a.m. Thursday, Beard Field, Nittany Lion Softball Park, Penn State, University Park Coaches: Mark Zimmerman, Ligonier Valley; Butch Fessler, Line Mountain Players to watch: Kailey Johnston, Sr., 1B, Ligonier Valley; Kya Matter, Sr., P, Line Mountain...

When Mark Zimmerman became the Ligonier Valley softball coach 22 years ago, the program wasn’t very good. And it took Zimmerman almost nine years before the team became a consistent winner in District 6. “The 2008 team got us going,” Zimmerman said. “We won our first Heritage Conference title. They...

It was a historic day for the West Virginia golf team. That’s because senior and Greensburg native Mark Goetz became the school’s first All-American golfer. Goetz, who just missed qualifying for the NCAA Division I championship, was named an honorable mention All-American by Golfweek. “This is a big moment, not...

Palmer Jackson and Mark Goetz enter the 68th Sunnehanna Amateur on a roll. Now can two of the top golfers in Western Pennsylvania compete against some of the best golfers across the country, including returning champion Preston Summerhays? The four-day tournament begins Wednesday at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown. Jackson...

SLIPPERY ROCK – No no-hitter. No shutout. No problem. It was just another Ligonier Valley softball victory behind another strong pitching performance from Maddie Griffin. The junior allowed two hits, including her second home run of the season, but the Rams’ offense pounded out 12 hits in a 6-1 victory...

Golf fans around the area couldn’t ask for a better week of competition. Monday is the start of the Tri-State Section PGA Open, which will be held at Wildwood Golf Club in Allison Park. Pros and amateurs will compete over two days. Oakmont Country Club pro Devin Gee is the...

Bushy Run’s American Legion baseball team stayed unbeaten in District 31 after winning four games last week. The wins improved their record to 6-0 overall. Bushy Run defeated Kiski Valley, 5-2; Mt. Pleasant, 14-0; Young Township, 11-1; and Latrobe, 4-3. They were scheduled to play five games the past week...

Nicholas Turowski hopes to have his driver’s licenses in a year. But the 15-year-old Penn-Trafford freshman is already a good driver — of the golf ball and not a vehicle, yet. If Turowski wants to become one of the top young golfers in the WPIAL and beyond, he knows it...

Westmoreland County Community College freshman Tommy Kegerreis was named an ABCA/Rawlings All-American. Kegerreis earned third-team honors for NJCAA Division III teams. He helped WCCA win the Region XX title and advance to the Mid-Atlantic regional. Kegerreis, a Franklin Regional grad, batted .453 with seven home runs, 11 doubles, 29 RBIs...

One of the state’s top wrestlers plans to stay close to home for his college career. Mt. Pleasant junior Dayton Pitzer, a two-time WPIAL and PIAA champion, announced on Instagram Friday he was committing to Pitt. Pitzer joins a 2022 Pitt recruiting class that includes Hempfield junior Briar Priest, a...

WINGATE — Sure, it’s not the way the Hempfield baseball team wanted to see its season end. But the Spartans’ season was historic, and the future remains bright. Spring-Ford, the District 1 fifth-place team, used a seven-run second inning and defeated Hempfield, 10-1, in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals at...

Every high school athletic team faced some sort of adversity this year. It varied from the coronavirus to injuries to wild weather. Hempfield baseball had its share of injuries to key players. But the Spartans battled through those problems and are in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals for the second...

There won’t be any Western Pennsylvania golfers in the 121st U.S. Open this month. There were 11 players with local ties that played in Monday’s U.S. Open Sectionals across the country and their efforts came up short. The players competed at five sites for the chance to participate in the...

Some teams would have collapsed if faced with adversity before a big game. Mt. Pleasant used it as a rallying cry. When Vikings senior third baseman Haylie Brunson dislocated her finger on her throwing hand in pregame warm-ups, it stunned her teammates and forced her coach, also her dad, Chris...

The annual Westmoreland 3-man scramble was held May 29, and, despite tough weather conditions, the trio of Arnie Cutrell, Ron DeNunzio and David DeNunzio shot a 14-under-par 58 at the Madison Club to win the title. An eagle on No. 18 proved to be the difference. The trio edged Brian...

Tim Buzzard and his Hempfield Area baseball team are starting to get used to extended seasons. This is the third time in eight seasons the Spartans have qualified for the PIAA playoffs, and their hope the journey takes them two more weeks and ends with a trip to State College....

PIAA baseball playoffs Monday’s games Class 6A 7-2 Hempfield (15-8) vs. 10-1 McDowell (14-6) 1 p.m. at Mercyhurst University Coaches: Tim Buzzard, Hempfield; Mark Soboleski, McDowell Winner plays: Winner of 3-1 Wilson (22-2)/1-5 Spring-Ford (18-3) game, Thursday at a site and time to be determined in the quarterfinals Players to...

Bushy Run American Legion opened the season with two come-from-behind victories. They defeated Hempfield East, 4-1, on June 1 and downed West Hempfield, 6-4, on June 2. The weekend tournament at Latrobe they were in was postponed because of inclement weather. “Any time you start the season 2-0, you can’t...

The Penn-Trafford boys volleyball team’s appearance in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs ended June 1 after a first-round loss against District 3 runner-up Northeastern. The Warriors dropped a 3-0 decision by scores of 25-20, 25-22 and 25-22. Penn-Trafford reached the PIAA tournament by defeating rival Hempfield in the WPIAL consolation...

This isn’t the Franklin Regional baseball team’s first foray into the PIAA playoffs. The 2019 team, which some of the current players were part of, reached the quarterfinals before losing to Lampeter-Strasburg. The Panthers are 3-4 all-time in the PIAA playoffs, 3-1 in the opening round. The 2019 team defeated...

Derry is looking for a new wrestling coach after Mike Weinell resigned Thursday. Weinell coached at Derry for 19 years, the last 11 as the head coach. During that span he coached eight state champions, two as an assistant, as well as 10 PIAA finalists, and his team made the...

Will the third time be the charm for Seton Hill baseball coach Marc Marizzaldi? He sure hopes so. Seton Hill qualified for the College World Series for the third time, the second time in NCAA Division II, by winning the Atlantic Regional on May 30. The Griffins made the NAIA...

Shenango senior Gabe Yanssens accused Seton LaSalle players of talking too much smack on social media before Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 2A baseball championship game. He figured the best way to shut them up was to beat them, and that’s what Yanssens did. His two-run, two-out single in the top of...

Andrew Muraco took it personally when Bethel Park coach Pat Zehnder decided to intentionally walk Louie Kegerreis with a runner on second base in the bottom of the seventh inning to get to him in the WPIAL Class 5A championship. So the Franklin Regional senior made Bethel Park pay. He...