Other Local category, Page 16

Hempfield East pitcher Connor Burkey missed part of the season with a hand injury. He recovered in time for the District 31 American Legion playoffs, which began Tuesday, and he didn’t miss a beat. Burkey pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts as Hempfield East defeated Young Township, 10-1, in...

When the District 31 American Legion season began, Bushy Run coach Scott Peyman set high goals for his squad. Despite getting off to a late start because of Penn-Trafford’s extended high school baseball season, which lasted for two games in the PIAA Class 5A playoffs, Bushy Run was able to...

Years of tossing batting practice to players on his Latrobe American Legion baseball teams has trained longtime coach Jason Bush to throw strikes. So, naturally, even at the ripe age of 51, Bush continues to play competitively — sort of, he mused — as a pitcher in the Latrobe-Derry Old...

The problem started in seemingly innocent fashion. A couple of pops in the arm while pitching, but there was little to no pain. Though Phil Fox didn’t think much of it, he decided to see a doctor shortly after. This, after all, could affect his baseball future. The examination and...

The Young Township American Legion baseball team expects to make a run to a top-four finish in District 31. Young Township (6-7-1) entered the week in seventh place as the regular season nears a conclusion. District 31 is made up of 10 teams in and around Westmoreland County, with only...

Dayonne Nunley majored in sports studies at Miami (Ohio) while performing as a standout cornerback for four seasons with the RedHawks football team. A decade later, the Gateway graduate is incorporating much of what he learned in his collegiate course of study and also during his training to become a...

Team USA Olympian Tom Scott was a featured instructor as Pennsylvania Shotokan Karate Club hosted the 21st annual USA Elite Training Camp June 9-11, at the Sheraton Hotel in Moon Township. This event routinely features history makers every year in the sport of karate, said Dustin Baldis, the camp director...

Ingomar Franklin Park Little League is set to host the District 4 tournament, the biggest tourney for the league in more than 10 years, according to league president Chris Greco. “It’s so cool,” he said. “Little League took a big hit with covid, and AAU baseball has also depleted the...

The American Legion District 31 baseball season seems like it just started, but the regular season will wrap up next week. Teams, most of them from Westmoreland County, will complete league play Thursday, and the playoffs likely will begin next weekend. The top eight out of 10 teams qualify. The...

Being involved in the new Aspinwall Tee Ball league was appealing for many reasons to community resident Steve Wein. Aspinwall’s Little League program had long folded and opportunities for younger kids to be involved in baseball meant traveling to different municipalities. Wein, who has three kids, liked the idea of...

Craig Patrick won two Stanley Cup titles in his 17 seasons as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was victorious again in the greater Pittsburgh area Wednesday night and was part of an event that helped the Robert Morris hockey programs. Team Patrick defeated Team Fuhr, 8-1, in...

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion who would win the final Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational on Wednesday. PGA rookie Eric Cole, 35, essentially wrapped this title Monday morning when he shot a 7-under-par 28 on the back nine of his first round and built a commanding lead at...

Eric Cole might play the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational during a winter snowstorm, if that was when tournament organizers scheduled it. So no way Cole would allow some inclement weather in Connecticut or rain in Fox Chapel to keep him from the tournament or from crafting a commanding lead...

For the 42 golfers playing in the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational this week at Pittsburgh Field Club, they are disappointed the late business and golf mogul’s family has decided to end the golf tournament this season. Fuhrer was a savvy businessman who began the tournament in 1985 and held...

Reese McGeary immersed herself in the sport of rowing six years ago, and the Point Breeze resident and rising junior at the Ellis School hasn’t left the water since. It is a comfort to her. It is, in a way, a home away from home. “My dad noticed that more...

Ricky Thornton Jr.’s breakout season continued with a win at the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway on Saturday night, but he had to earn it. Thornton had an epic battle with Hudson O’Neal, exchanging the lead several times before taking the lead for good on lap 75 and pulling away...

Mason Zeigler considers himself an “extreme hobbyist” when it comes to racing dirt late models. He doesn’t follow a series full-time, but when there’s a big check on the line anywhere in the Northeast or Midwest, his hauler is typically in the pits. “I guess we’re sort of like a...

Spencer Gratz, a North Hills Middle School student from Ross Township, won his third consecutive regional title at the American Tae Kwon Do Association Northeast District championships June 10 in Lancaster. A 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Gratz won the title in ATA creative weapons for 11-...

Rain has been part of the story for the majority of Firecracker 100 weekends, and this year hasn’t been different. But no matter how much Mother Nature has thrown the racetrack’s way, it has prevailed. After a rain delay of more than two hours Friday night, cars returned to the...

Jonathan Davenport has endured some heartbreaking results over the years at Lernerville Speedway, but he always has had an inspiration to win at the track. In 2011, Davenport helped spread his best friend Jamie “Peanut” Brown’s ashes around the top of the Buffalo Township speedway. On Friday, Davenport finally got...

Persistent rain forced a postponement of the Thursday portion of the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway to Friday. The rain started as an intermittent drizzle during heat races, but it became heavier prior to the scheduled twin 25 lap main events. Thursday’s features are scheduled to be run Friday starting...

Michael Norris still gets a surreal feeling when he looks for his position on the scoreboard. That’s because he no longer is searching for the familiar No. 72 from his family-owned team. Instead, he is looking for the No. 10. Norris, a Knoch grad, has combined his efforts with his...

There were no dramatic shots or amazing saves during the final round of the 120th annual West Penn Open on Wednesday at Edgewood Country Club. No, Beau Titsworth, who began the final round with a two-shot lead, played a steady final round and walked away with his second title after...

Tyler Dietz’s late model racing career started with a chance conversation. Already a well-established ace in the pro stock class, Dietz was approached by Dan Huston about a late model he had in his garage at Lernerville Speedway’s season finale weekend, the Steel City Stampede, in 2019. “Dan told me...