Bill Beckner stories, Page 177

Once a slick-fielding shortstop with power at the plate, Warren Schaeffer continues to pass down his baseball knowledge to aspiring minor-leaguers — perhaps while climbing a different ladder to the big leagues. The former Greensburg Central Catholic star has been named manager of the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Class-AAA affiliate of...

Fast starts in basketball are like a big explosion in the first five minutes of a movie. While the scene engages the audience and might even pique their interest, it quickly is forgotten as the rest of the film plays out. Norwin’s boys basketball team has set the tone with...

Hempfield’s Sarah Liberatore is one of those high school basketball players who seems to have been playing forever. It’s easy to picture her in Spartans blue and white. The talented, 5-foot-10 guard has been a starter since her freshman season and has become a fixture in the rotation. Michelle Burns,...

Growing up around the travel softball circuit and coming up in the WPIAL, Kailey Larcinese heard about the intricacies of the recruiting process. But she has been dealing with them firsthand since she had a breakthrough sophomore season last spring pitching for Elizabeth Forward. “Everyone tells you, ‘You’ll just know...

Norwin used a pre-holiday trip south to work out some early kinks in its game. Not that the girls basketball team has many. The Lady Knights (3-2) played in the She Got Game Classic last weekend in Springfield, Va., and came home with a 1-1 record. After handling Frederick Douglass...

One of the best recruiting years for linemen in Westmoreland County reached its high point Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA Division I early signing period for college prospects. A number of brawny frontmen made their verbal commitments official as they signed national letters of intent to block and...

Robert “Poogie” Kennedy has one more semester left at Lackawanna before, conceivably, he embarks on the next chapter of his football career. The former Jeannette star who has shined as a safety at the junior college level continues to draw Division I interest. Lackawanna (10-1) finished runner-up in the NJCAA...

After a breakthrough redshirt junior season, Indiana State pitcher Collin Liberatore has been tabbed a second-team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball. The Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year, Liberatore (Greensburg Central Catholic) went 10-2 last season in 16 starts with a 2.96 ERA and 80 strikeouts. Opponents hit just...

Pressure — lots of it — came at Hempfield from all angles early in Monday night’s Section 2-6A girls basketball game. The badgering defense snarled the Spartans before they even got to the halfcourt line, and the duress-inducing strategy gave shine to No. 5 Mt. Lebanon, which piggybacked a career...

Andrew Mastovich made his mark in the Penn State Behrend men’s soccer program. The senior defender from Franklin Regional added another postseason accolade Wednesday when he was named to the All-Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III All-Star First Team. Mastovich, the AMCC Defensive Player of the Year, is a two-time...

Hempfield senior basketball player Sarah Liberatore wanted to surprise two of her AAU teammates and, as an extension, help out a friend of theirs who is battling cancer. Liberatore had her teammates purchase T-shirts to raise money for Lexi Ribstein, a Mt. Lebanon junior who has been diagnosed with Hodgkins...

An official visit to Albany over the weekend solidified Scott Houseman’s impressions of the football program and reassured him that it is the place for him. The big redshirt freshman lineman who plays at Lackawanna announced Monday night his commitment to Albany, which is coached by former Duquesne coach Greg...

Seton Hill junior Courtney Cecere pulled off a rare sweep in the PSAC West weekly basketball awards. The 5-foot-9 guard from Windber was named both the athlete and defensive player of the week in the division. Cecere’s performance against Salem was an impressive one and it swayed the voters: She...

Bowling Green freshman football player Anthony Johnson, who spent time at Jeannette before transferring to Cleveland Heights (Ohio) for his senior year of high school, announced he now plans to change colleges. Johnson said on Twitter that he will enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and that his “recruitment is now...

For the past month or so, Jackson Pruitt has been in contact with football coaches at Youngstown State. Those around the Jeannette senior knew something was up, that something had to be in the works. On Saturday, they found out what the back-and-forth was all about. Pruitt skipped Jeannette’s basketball...

Thirty-six players from the WPIAL were named to the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association All-State Teams. Two hail from Westmoreland County: Hempfield senior Mekayla Dedo and Franklin Regional junior Aly Kindelberger. Dedo, an outside hitter, made the Class AAAA team, and Kindelberger, a middle hitter, was a Class AAA selection. Both...

Junior Mary Smithnosky is a hit with Western Michigan. The Mt. Pleasant softball player, known for her hitting power, made a verbal commitment this week to the Broncos of the Mid-American Conference. Smithnosky not only was one of the Vikings’ top hitters (.494 average, 14 RBIs, 12 runs scored) last...

Greensburg Central Catholic senior Nate Ward not only was selected to play in the High School All-American Soccer Game last weekend in Winter Park, Fla., he also made the most of the trip by finding the back of the net. The Indiana recruit scored a goal for the East all-stars...

When the PIAA last week released a list of schools that plan to play up in classification for the 2020-21 and 2012-22 school years, one team stood out. Greensburg Salem was one of the 10 WPIAL schools among the “voluntary upgrades” for the next two-year cycle. The Golden Lions are...

Zach Rocco is an Army of one. Not in terms of his role on the Penn-Trafford basketball team this season — although he is the only returning starter and senior — but rather in the way he goes about his business. The way he deals with an always regimented, always...

North Allegheny made it a PIAA Class AAAA three-peat this season in girls volleyball, while North Catholic won its first Class A state title in the sport. The best teams in the state usually produce the best players and each school had multiple players selected to the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches...

Cole Graham was a late-bloomer in the recruiting game, but that did not stop the Hempfield football lineman from finding his way to a Division-I program. Graham, who saw an uptick in interest in recent weeks, announced Wednesday his commitment to play at St. Francis (Pa.). The Red Flash offered...