Bill Beckner stories, Page 62

WPIAL Class 4A softball championship 4-Belle Vernon (17-4) vs. 2-Montour (15-3) Noon Wednesday at Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) On the air: Trib HSSN (video) How they got here: After a first-round bye, Belle Vernon defeated No. 5 West Mifflin, 2-1, in the quarterfinals and No. 1 Elizabeth Forward, 10-1, in...

Maybe it was his late father Norm’s influence, the way he was raised in the game that made him this way. Or perhaps he has planted and cultivated his own, personal culture over his two decades as Latrobe’s baseball coach. Whatever the case, Matt Basciano has another winner on his...

WPIAL Class 2A softball consolation game Greensburg Central Catholic (13-3) vs. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (14-4) 2 p.m. Tuesday at Gateway Winner: Advances to the PIAA playoffs. The loser is finished for the season. Players to watch: Isabella Marquez, Greensburg Central Catholic; Leann Walzer, Our Lady of the...

WPIAL Class 4A baseball championship 5-Latrobe (17-6) vs. 14-Hopewell (11-11) 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wild Things Park, Washington On the air: Trib HSSN (video) How they got here: Latrobe defeated No. 12 Kiski Area, 7-6, in the first round, No. 4 Chartiers Valley, 4-2, in the quarterfinals and No. 1 Montour,...

Jake Boord became the first All-American in the Allegheny College men’s track and field program in a decade. The Hempfield graduate and Gators junior finished fourth in the javelin at the NCAA Division III Championships in Pittsford, N.Y. The two-time national qualifier improved over his 12th-place finish from last season...

With the Hempfield, Belle Vernon and Southmoreland softball teams, along with the Latrobe baseball team, reaching the WPIAL finals, a local streak continues. Westmoreland has had a baseball or softball team in the championships every season since 2014, which means every season since the beginning of six classes. (There was...

Maren Metikosh School: Belle Vernon Sport: Softball Class: Senior Claim to fame: Metikosh helped Belle Vernon upset the top-seeded team in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals and reach the championship for the first time in five years. The outfielder belted a grand slam, one of three Leopards’ homers, in a...

Bella Brozeski overcame hurdles, literally, to capture a WPIAL championship. She was the lone district champion from Norwin. The senior ran to victory in the 300-meter hurdles at the WPIAL 3A finals at Slippery Rock with a winning time of 45.56 seconds. Sophomore Nick Puskar took home a silver medal...

Latrobe senior Sofia DeCerb, one of the WPIAL’s top goalkeepers the past few years, was the recipient of the Kaitlyn “Moe” Rosensteel Scholarship, presented to a WPIAL female soccer player “who will be advancing into college to further her academic excellence while still playing the game she loves.” DeCerb, a...

When Hempfield fell behind by four runs early under the weight of three Norwin home runs, pitcher Riley Miller had a short but succinct talk with her catcher, Ella Berkebile. She had that look in her eye. Enough was enough. “I told her, ‘Those are the last runs they’re getting,’”...

Unshakable and driven, Latrobe pushed on in the WPIAL baseball playoffs with another upset. Down went No. 1. Here comes No. 5. Determined to make believers of the seeding committee, Latrobe came out swinging, loosening its grip on a sizable lead before finally holding off top-seeded Montour, 10-7, in a...

When he wasn’t seeing playing time right away at Coastal Carolina, Andrew Muraco began to take inventory on his college baseball future. The former Franklin Regional star redshirted his first year and started browsing for another opportunity. It didn’t have to be at a Division I program, but it had...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 6A Semifinals 3-Norwin (14-5) vs. 2-Hempfield (16-3) 2 p.m. Wednesday at Gateway Winner plays: Winner of 5-Pine-Richland (7-14)/1-Seneca Valley (16-1) in championship (time, date TBD) at PennWest University, California Players to watch: Madie Kessler, Norwin; Riley Miller, Hempfield Extra bases: Norwin returns to the semifinals for...

When he left Penn-Trafford to begin a college golf career, Cade Patterson never could have imagined he would have his name etched in a program’s record book. Patterson, a sophomore at Washington & Jefferson, made school history when he carded the best finish by a Presidents’ player at the NCAA...

Dante Basciano was a bat boy on the 2017 Latrobe baseball team that won WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A titles. A wide-eyed tyke no longer, the Wildcats’ senior sees similarities between the current team and that historic one. “It’s the camaraderie and the way we are together,” he said. “You...

In the first game, Hempfield gambled, and it backfired as Norwin cranked a couple of home runs. In the rematch, the Lady Spartans exacted revenge with a throwback kind of win: Pitching and defense ruled the day. So what can fans expect in Round 3 when No. 2 seed Hempfield...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 3A Semifinals 2-Southmoreland (16-2) vs. 3-Waynesburg (16-3) 3 p.m. Tuesday at Peterswood Park, Venetia Winner plays: Winner of 4-Burrell (13-5)/1-Avonworth (19-1) in championship (date, time TBD) at Cal (Pa.) Players to watch: Taylor Doppelheuer, Southmoreland; Kendall Lemley, Waynesburg Extra bases: It’s a matchup of former section...

Zach Kokoska is burning up the Northwest League as he makes inroads to his dream of playing in the majors. The former Latrobe and Kansas State baseball star has been on an offensive tear of late, hitting safely in 14 of his last 18 games for the High-Class A Spokane...

One of the most versatile players in all of Division III baseball, Tyler Horvat has been the ultimate dual-threat player for Washington & Jefferson. The senior pitcher and outfielder earned two major awards from the Presidents’ Athletic Conference because of the respect he demands. The Penn-Trafford alum was named player...

The Big 56 Conference, a website that recognizes accomplishments of teams and athletes in the WPIAL’s largest classification, announced its all-section teams. Local first-team players picked in Class 6A Section 2 baseball included junior Keegan Carr and senior Justin Weaver of Norwin and junior Carson Shuglie of Hempfield. Class 5A...

Jumpin’ Jack Flash continues to make his mark at Seton Hill. And he’s only a freshman. Jack Whalen made a outstanding, over-the-shoulder catch in Saturday’s Atlantic Region elimination game against East Stroudsburg and the play was the No. 1 highlight on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10. The center fielder out of...

Makayla Etling School: Southmoreland Sport: Softball Class: Sophomore Claim to fame: Etling helped lead the Scotties to an amazing comeback in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals. She went 4 for 5 with two triples and a two-run homer that came in the team’s seven-run seventh inning of a 15-14 win...

The third annual Tre Cunningham Memorial Basketball Tournament will return to Jeannette on June 22-24. But this year’s event, presented by the Jeannette Educational Foundation, will feature much more than the usual boys high school varsity games. Organizers plan to add 3-point and slam dunk contests. The slam dunk contest...

The positive comments from opposing coaches lets Norwin girls lacrosse coach Courtney Kloos know she and her team are doing something right. That and the fact the Lady Knights (4-11) returned to the WPIAL postseason. “Despite some heavy competition in the section, our team refuses to give up,” Kloos said....

Track and field teams like the Norwin girls do not compete for championships by simply showing up and stretching. No, it is a year-round commitment to training and a special discipline that helps the Lady Knights improve their times and distances and keep the program among the WPIAL’s elite. “The...