New Yough football coach set on bringing winning mentality to program
Working at Lucky Lottery in Trafford has given Ben Hoffer a greater appreciation for the game of chance. There, anyone can scratch off a winner or prosper with a random combination of numbers. The new Yough football coach has his team in line to play the Powerball. Why not? The...
Bolstered by 5 WPIAL championship teams, Quaker Valley captures Class 4A Trib Cup
Mike Mastroianni was in a no lose situation in this year’s race for the Trib HSSN Cup in Class 4A. He is the athletic director and boys basketball coach at Quaker Valley while he lives in the Montour school district. Those two schools finished first and second, with Mastroianni’s Quakers...
Penn-Trafford’s Mia Smith takes 2022 Tribune-Review Westmoreland Softball Player of the Year honors
The evolution of Mia Smith’s high school softball career began in 2019 when she was a freshman. A closer two seasons ago when Penn-Trafford won a PIAA championship, Smith took over the lead role in the circle this season and shined. She led the Warriors (20-4) to a runner-up finish...
Norwin grad excited to don orange, green as new Yough athletic director
In his stops along a North Carolina-to-Pennsylvania path through high school sports, Bill Flow has worn a number of hats. He coached boys and girls basketball, football, golf and baseball. His new hat will have a “Y” on it for Yough, where he is set to oversee all sports as...
Westmoreland HS notebook: Special honor for Norwin’s Rosado Guindin
Norwin senior Sebastian Rosado Guindin knew he was in the running for a unique award, but he was a little taken aback when his name was called. “Yes, I was a surprised when I won,” he said. Rosado Guindin won the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Sports Most...
Westmoreland notebook: GCC, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland in PIAA softball playoffs
The PIAA softball playoff field is set and three local teams will begin play Monday. All three will have lengthy road trips. WPIAL Class 5A runner-up Penn-Trafford (18-3) will play at Twin Valley (17-8), the District 3 runner-up, at 4 p.m. In Class 3A, Southmoreland (14-4) visits Bald Eagle (10-5),...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for May 23, 2022: Rematches set for baseball playoffs
Welcome to Semifinals Monday in the 2022 WPIAL baseball playoffs. Unless your team is in classes 6A or 4A, then it’s Welcome to Quarterfinals Monday. Whether it’s the second or third round, the recurring theme is rematches. Of the 16 scheduled games, 11 are matchups between teams that faced each...
Westmoreland softball playoff capsules: Games of Monday, May 23, 2022
Class 4A quarterfinals 5-Montour (13-4) vs. 4-Yough (13-3) 3 p.m. at West Mifflin Winner plays: Winner of 8-Freeport (10-6) vs. 1-Beaver (16-0) on Wednesday in semifinals Players to watch: Mia Arndt, Montour; McKenzie Pritts, Yough Extra bases: Montour held off Knoch in the first round 11-9. The Spartans trailed 9-7...
Pritts powers Yough softball team past Blackhawk
The offensive production of McKenzie Pritts and the right arm of Emma Augustine helped lift Yough into the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals Wednesday. Pritts finished a triple shy of the cycle and drove in a team-high five runs, and Augustine finished with eight strikeouts and kept the opposition at bay...
Westmoreland County WPIAL baseball playoff preview capsules for May 19, 2022
Class 5A Quarterfinals 8-Penn-Trafford (14-6) vs. 1-Peters Township (19-1) 4:30 p.m. Thursday at West Mifflin Winner plays: Winner of Thomas Jefferson (14-6) vs. Chartiers Valley (10-11) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Dylan Grabowski, Penn-Trafford; Sam Miller, Penn-Trafford Extra bases: Penn-Trafford won its sixth one-run game...
Yough baseball team rallies from 6-0 deficit to edge Mt. Pleasant in 8 innings
Yough baseball coach Craig Spisak isn’t a fan of seeing his team try to play from behind. But this season, it has happened so often, he knows the Cougars aren’t fazed when facing an early deficit. That was the case on Tuesday as Yough spotted Mt. Pleasant a big lead...
Westmoreland WPIAL softball playoff capsules: Games for Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Class 6A Quarterfinals 8-Norwin (6-9) vs. 1-Hempfield (12-3) 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Penn-Trafford Winner plays: Winner of 5-Bethel Park (9-8) vs. 4-Seneca Valley (10-6), May 25 (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Angelina Pepe, Sr., Norwin; Margaret Howard, So., Hempfield Extra bases: Norwin overpowered No. 9 Baldwin in the first...
Westmoreland County WPIAL baseball playoff preview capsules for May 17, 2022
WPIAL baseball playoffs Capsule previews Class 5A First round 12-Thomas Jefferson (13-6) vs. 5-Latrobe (12-7) 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hempfield Winner plays: Winner of 13-Chartiers Valley (9-11) vs. 4-Mars (14-5) on Thursday in quarterfinals Players to watch: T.J. Bucy, Sr., Thomas Jefferson; Logan Short, Sr., Latrobe Last year’s finish: Thomas...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Area players to take part in upcoming Roundball games
Basketball season ended months ago, but the Roundball Classic will bring together some of the top talent from the WPIAL this week. The nine senior all-star games will be Thursday through Saturday at Geneva College in Beaver Falls. Area boys selected are Nick Crum and Noah Wright of Penn-Trafford, Michael...
WPIAL baseball seedings set up Westmoreland County clash in 1st round
When two second-place section teams received better seeds than his section-winning one, Yough baseball coach Craig Spisak didn’t kick up dust. After winning its second section title in four years, Yough was branded with a No. 5 seed in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A baseball playoffs, which...
Westmoreland baseball notebook: Franklin Regional playing well at right time
Franklin Regional won’t get the No. 1 seed like it did last year, but the Panthers have something most of the other teams in the WPIAL Class 5A playoff field don’t have: championship experience. The defending champions, who ran their winning streak to six with a 10-3 win over Kiski...
Westmoreland County softball notebook: Top-5 seeds at stake when WPIAL brackets are released
The WPIAL is scheduled to release playoff brackets at 4 p.m. Thursday virtually via the TribLive High School Sports Network. The rundown of local teams in the postseason looks like this: Hempfield (12-2) and Norwin (4-8) in Class 6A; Franklin Regional (13-5), Kiski Area (12-5), Penn-Trafford (13-2) and Latrobe (7-4)...
Yough softball rallies to stay in section title hunt; errors doom Belle Vernon
Trailing by a run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning Monday afternoon, the Yough softball team managed to rally without getting a single hit. The Cougars were down to their last strike on three occasions against Belle Vernon pitcher Talia Ross, yet they managed to plate...
What to watch for on Trib HSSN for Monday, May 9, 2022: Baseball, softball, tennis on tap
Welcome to the final week of the WPIAL baseball and softball regular season. With weather not an issue, several district baseball teams hope to join the long list of schools that have qualified for the 2022 WPIAL baseball playoffs with a victory Monday. *Kiski Area can clinch a playoff berth...
Westmoreland High School Athletes of the Week: Hempfield’s Liz Tapper, Yough’s James Shoman
Liz Tapper School: Hempfield Sport: Track and field Year: Junior Claim to fame: Tapper puts on a show when she throws the discus — and often other events, too. She holds the No. 1 distance in the event in the state (164 feet, 4 inches), a mark that also ranks...
Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Southmoreland takes giant leap into playoffs
Senior shortstop/pitcher Anthony Govern said this season was “playoffs or bust” for Southmoreland. He didn’t flinch when he said it. The Scotties have lived up to their long-time-coming goal of reaching the postseason, qualifying for the first time since 2008. The team was 6-6 overall and 5-5 in Section 4-3A...
Power surge on Cougar Mountain boosts Yough softball team
Yough plays its home games on Cougar Mountain in Sewickley Township. But softball coach Dutch Harvey is lobbying to rename his team’s home address. “It’s become Dinger City here,” Harvey said. Yough isn’t traditionally a leave-the-yard kind of team, but the Cougars are developing a reputation that says otherwise as...
Westmoreland County softball notebook: Ligonier Valley’s Griffin gets aggressive
The owner of a 21-strikeout perfect game and three no-hitters this season, Ligonier Valley senior pitcher Maddie Griffin has all the physical tools to dominate in the circle. She has proven that beyond a doubt over the last season-plus of WPIAL and PIAA softball. But the Youngstown State commit, who...
Yough tops Southmoreland to win section baseball crown outright
Yough relied on the strong pitching of James Shoman and timely hitting to down Southmoreland, 7-1, on Tuesday to clinch the Section 4-3A championship. With Monday’s 3-2 walk-off victory, the Cougars (8-5, 7-2) clinched a share of the section crown, but coach Craig Spisak’s team wanted it for themselves. “I...
Avonworth, Beaver stand atop Trib HSSN state softball rankings
One little slip is all it takes sometimes to lose your grip. That might be the feeling for nine softball teams that lost their spot this week in the Trib HSSN state softball rankings. With the district playoffs on the horizon, sometimes a loss may cost you a spot in...
