Bill Beckner stories, Page 200

Saint Vincent senior Bobby Finn tied a school record when he hit three home runs in the second game of a baseball doubleheader Sunday against Chatham in a 20-3 victory. Finn finished 4 for 5 with six RBIs for the Bearcats (10-3, 3-0), who had 19 hits in the win....

IUP is headed back to the NCAA Division II Final Four. The Crimson Hawks women built a 10-point lead by halftime and cruised past Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 73-60, in the Elite Eight on Tuesday at Old Dominion in Columbus, Ohio. Carolyn Appleby (Greensburg Central Catholic) scored a team-high 17 points,...

Steve Sprague watched his son, Michael, wrestle his final college match Friday in Pittsburgh. About 30 minutes after the match ended, Steve Sprague suffered “a cardiac event” and died. Now friends are trying to raise money for the grief-stricken family with a GoFundMe page. Michael Sprague is a senior 149-pound...

Saint Vincent had a good week. The proof is in the accolades. A half-dozen Bearcats athletes from four sports were recognized by the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Two baseball players and two from the softball team were honored. Junior Jimmy Malone was named PAC Pitcher of the Week. He allowed seven...

Marc Bucci already was familiar with the men’s soccer program at Pitt-Greensburg, having served as an assistant coach in 2017. That made his transition to head coach of the Bobcats a little easier. Bucci will take over the program following the departure of Dan Keefe, who left to become an...

MONDAY Baseball: Teams will try to get in games as the WPIAL season dodges wet weather. A full slate of nonsection action includes Greensburg Central Catholic at Steel Valley, Burrell at Kiski Area, Greensburg Salem at North Hills, Indiana at Norwin, Monessen at Bentworth and Southmoreland at Mt. Pleasant. Softball:...

Ligonier Valley already has one football lineman who is drawing Division I attention in junior Michael Petrof. Now, it has two. Junior Christian Jablonski last week received his first offer, from Cornell. The school also offered Petrof, a 6-foot-2, 275-pound two-way tackle who who already had offers from Fordham, Yale,...

Opening day of spring sports in the WPIAL was greeted with, sigh, a dose of snow and cold. Meanwhile, a Tsunami hit in Rostraver. Belle Vernon’s football team was continuing to get ready for the fall with its new training tool. The Leopards added ew technology to their weight-lifting program,...

The IUP women’s basketball team will be seeking a second straight trip to the NCAA Division II Final Four. The Crimson Hawks (29-3), seeded third in the Elite Eight (national quarterfinals) will meet No. 6 Azusa Pacific (28-5) at noon on Tuesday at Ohio Dominican’s Alumni Hall in Columbus as...

Marc Bucci already was familiar with the men’s soccer program at Pitt-Greensburg, having served as an assistant coach in 2017. That made his transition to head coach a little easier. Bucci will take over the program following the departure of Dan Keefe, who left to become an assistant at Lincoln...

Sal Frelick did not play high school baseball in Westmoreland County, but the fast-rising star at Boston College has plenty of fans watching his progress from afar. Frelick, a freshman outfielder, still has family and friends in the Greensburg area, and he continues to impress. Frelick, who was named the...

Seton Hill is mourning the loss of a man who gave four decades worth of commitment to the university and Griffins athletics. John Fogle, a former women’s soccer coach and athletic director on “The Hill,” died Tuesday. Fogle was a member of the school’s inaugural hall of fame class in...

Mikayla Bisignani has proven she can balance academics and athletics at the college level, throwing the discus and swimming in overlapping seasons at Johns Hopkins, all while maintaining a perfect grade-point average. The Greensburg Central Catholic graduate was lauded for her efforts Tuesday night when she was announced as the...

Dom Giallonardo could be in for a “Wild” night. The Mt. Pleasant senior who is inspiring more people each day with his comeback story of how he beat cancer twice, was invited to be a special guest at a Washington Wild Things baseball game in the summer. After the team...

Southmoreland baseball will be “governed” differently from now on. Al Govern begins his first year as the Scotties’ head coach and is embarking on one of those everybody-buys-in, culture-changing projects. His passion for the venture alone could be what ignites a change in a down-in-the-dumps program. “It needs a change,”...

Tournament MVP Kaitlyn Slagus and her teammates are going to the Big Dance. Slagus, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, scored a game-high 23 points to power the top-seeded Bucknell women’s basketball team to a 66-54 victory over No. 2 American in the Patriot League championship game Sunday in Lewisburg. Bucknell (28-5)...

Latrobe is rallying around one of its own. Friends of Scott Munchinski have started a GoFundMe page to help pay for medical costs and other expenses as he battles Acute Myeloid Leukemia. In the fight with you @ScottMunch73 You got this. Munchinski Family Jason Thomas (@ramblerjay) March 19, 2019...

Stranded but still enjoying the ride, the state softball champions didn’t let a broken down bus dampen their trip to the state capitol. Hempfield, the only three-peat state champions in the PIAA’s largest classification, were stuck on the Turnpike for just more than two hours Monday evening after their school...

Tommy Pellis looks comfortable in the batter’s box at Seton Hill, like he belonged there all along. That’s not to say the junior third baseman did not fit in at Penn, but his transfer closer to home has him swingly freely and producing for the Griffins. Pellis was named the...

Tournament MVP Kaitlyn Slagus and her teammates are going to the Big Dance. Slagus, a 6-foot-2 senior forward from Belle Vernon, scored a game-high 23 points to power the top-seeded Bucknell women’s basketball team to a 66-54 victory over No. 2 American in the Patriot League championship game Sunday in...

IUP will try to win a regional title and advance in the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament. The third-seeded Crimson Hawks (28-3), though, will have to get past their nemesis, another local program, to win the Atlantic Region title and move into the national quarterfinals. (26-5) for the third...

PIAA basketball playoffs Boys Class A Semifinals Monessen (18-9) vs. Vincentian (19-8) 7 p.m. Monday at Mt. Lebanon Winner plays: Winner of Sankota Freedom Academy (16-10)/Lourdes Regional (24-4) 2 p.m. Thursday in championship at Giant Center, Hershey Coaches: Dan Bosnic, Monessen; Tim Tyree, Monessen Players to watch: Elijahwa Price, 6-4,...

Highlights of the week ahead in Westmoreland County high school sports: MONDAY Boys basketball: Monessen (18-9) will try to continue its magical run through the state tournament. The Greyhounds, the last remaining county team in the PIAA playoffs, will take on Vincentian (19-8) in the Class A semifinals, also known...