Bill Beckner stories, Page 179

Seven-time AMCC Baseball Coach of the Year Chase Rowe is leaving La Roche to take a minor league position with the Detroit Tigers. Rowe will be a hitting coach but the team or level at which he will coach has not been announced. The Knoch graduate announced the move on...

Seven seasons into his tenure at Seton Hill, women’s basketball coach Mark Katarski has reached a milestone. Katarski’s teams often come close to scoring 100 points. In Sunday’s 85-78 win over Frostburg State, the Griffins gave him 100 career victories. Katarski, who began guiding the Griffins in 2013-14, when they...

Brandon Stone believed he could not only play Division I basketball, but that he also could make an immediate impact when he arrived at a program. The 6-foot-11 freshman forward, who played at Southmoreland before finishing his prep career at The Christ School (N.C.), is playing right away at La...

A trio of Pitt-Greensburg players from the most successful women’s soccer team in program history received additional postseason accolades. Senior defender Tori Conroy and freshman forward Ashley Lucas were named to the United Soccer Coaches Association NCAA Division III All-Great Lakes Region second team, while sophomore midfielder Tiffany Michalek made...

It’s not that Brian Pritts undervalues offense. The girls basketball coach at Southmoreland appreciates high-percentage shots and sound ball movement. He wants his players to look to score. But Pritts’ clear focus heading into a new season is defense. He gets a gleam in his eye when he mentions that...

Player of the Year Justine Appolonia Sr., MF, Yough When Yough needed a goal, it knew where the ball should go. Of course, opponents knew who was getting the ball, too. But stopping Justine Appolonia was the challenge, and very few teams managed to even contain the Cougars’ all-time leading...

Player of the Year Nate Ward Sr., MF, Greensburg Central Catholic Nate Ward will, in all likelihood, be remembered as a star soccer player at Greensburg Central Catholic. Rightly so. He’s an all-timer to wear maroon and black. But think about all of the things he did over the course...

Depth on paper and depth on the court are different things. Southmoreland has the roster makeup of a team that will keep the substitutes moving in and out of games with rapidity. Expect to hear the buzzer a lot when the Scotties play if the depth comes to pass. Several...

Mt. Pleasant junior softball player Haylie Brunson announced last week she made a verbal commitment to play at Pitt. Brunson opened her recruitment during the spring after she initially committed to Louisiana-Lafayette as a freshman. Pitt offered a week ago. “I absolutely love the coaches,” Brunson said. “They really made...

When Buddy Valinsky coached at Allderdice, he became accustomed to a certain style of play, a product of many talented and athletic players who helped him win six straight City League titles. “We played above the rim,” said Valinsky, who takes over the Norwin boys program this season. “Here, they...

One town’s name keeps popping up on college basketball rosters all over the place, up and down the East Coast. From New England to Florida — and many stops in between — “Latrobe” is a common hometown among lists that also include jersey numbers, classes, heights and positions. Latrobe graduates,...

Mt. Pleasant junior softball player Haylie Brunson announced Wednesday night she has made a verbal commitment to play at Pitt. Brunson had opened her recruitment during the spring after she initially committed to Louisiana-Lafayette as a freshman. Pitt offered Sunday. She likes the prospect of playing closer to home. “I...

Arizona State redshirt senior 149-pounder Josh Maruca (Franklin Regional) earned a 5-4 decision over Penn State sophomore Jarod Verkleeren (Hempfield) as the No. 5 Sun Devils upset No. 1 Penn State, 19-18, to snap the Nittany Lions’ 60-dual match winning streak that dated to 2015. Bucknell: Sophomore Zach Hartman (Belle...

The Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association revealed its all-state selections Monday and the WPIAL made its presence known on the boys and girls teams. Twenty-four district players were chosen. Boys from the WPIAL to make the list are: senior forward Fletcher Amos of West Allegheny, Franklin Regional sophomore forward Anthony DiFalco,...

Anthony Harding teetered some when he was making his college decision coming out of Norwin. The soccer standout first chose Penn State before flipping to Pitt. Now he has found his way into the starting lineup for the Panthers (10-7-2). Harding made his starting debut as Pitt knocked off Lehigh,...

There are long-snappers who get little recognition — most of them — and then there are long-snappers like Michael Pifer. The Navy senior and Penn-Trafford alum, in his second season as the starting “LS” for the Midshipmen, is considered one of the best at his position in the country. The...

Norwin junior Jayden Walker is expected to miss the first month of basketball season as he recovers from surgery on his left labrum. Also a standout baseball player with a promising future as a left-handed pitcher, Walker had the surgery in June and plans to return in early January. “I...

Belle Vernon’s Cameron Guess made it all the way to No. 1 in the Kohl’s Kicking Camps national punter rankings last year for the Class of 2020. Pitt made it to No. 1 on the senior’s list of college choices. The strong-legged Guess announced recently his commitment to Pitt. He...

Robert Kennedy walked off the field at Clairton in the last regular-season game of his senior season feeling dejected and disappointed. He remembers the haunting glow on the scoreboard that read: Clairton 40, Jeannette 6. “I fully take responsibility for that loss,” Kennedy said. “I remember I threw two or...

Kason Harrell was released by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League on Nov. 6. Guess how many days since then the former Hempfield star sulked about his first shot at the pros? Better yet, guess how many days he did not pick up a basketball in...

Players have been named for the first East Suburban Sports Medicine Center WPIAL Girls Soccer Classic on Saturday at Franklin Regional’s Panther Stadium in Murrysville. The showcase event begins at 1 p.m. There could be one or two all-star games, depending on the turnout. The event is for All-WPIAL and...

IUP probably does not pile up an average of 477.4 yards across 11 games this season if not for the up-front blocking of players like Jeff Arnold. A senior lineman from Brashear, Arnold has played well enough to be considered for a national award. Arnold is one of eight finalists...

West Liberty senior safety Logan Deri (Norwin) finished his college career as one of only six players in West Liberty history to record 300 tackles. Deri had nine stops in his final college game, a 34-26 loss to Charleston. He finished with 301 tackles. “The milestone was great, but to...

Carolyn Appleby couldn’t help herself. During a water break this week at a Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball practice, she took a few pull-up jump shots and banked in a scoop-shot layup as players looked on. Make that, as her players looked on. Appleby, just 22 years old and barely...