Bill Beckner stories, Page 116

Besides winning, Mt. Pleasant and Ligonier Valley had something else in common in their PIAA softball playoff openers Monday. Both teams had to shuffle their defenses. WPIAL Class 3A champion Mt. Pleasant (18-3) was dealt a surprise in warmups when senior star and leading hitter Haylie Brunson dislocated her finger...

Brody Jackson will miss his players and his former program. What he won’t miss are the long nights, the solo recruiting trips and the frequent drives from here to Ohio. Jackson’s life had been in transit for too long and it was time for a change. He resigned as the...

West Allegheny kept loading the bases against Franklin Regional in the teams’ PIAA first-round playoff game. Sooner or later, it was going to swing momentum in the Indians’ favor. Something was going to give. It did a lot more than that. Jamming the bags not only minimized their plight but...

Maddie Uschock is rebooting her college softball career. The former Hempfield ace is leaving Dominican, a Division II program in Orangeburg, N.Y., and will transfer to Shippensburg. Uschock, who just completed her junior year, said she needed a change. “Despite really loving my friends, teammates and professors, the environment wasn’t...

The old “look to your left, look to your right,” stock phrase often used on the first day of college could pertain to the U.S. Open qualifier going on Monday in Columbus, Ohio. Every time Palmer Jackson and Jason Li look around they see PGA stars. Jackson and Li, once...

PIAA softball playoffs Monday’s games Class 2A First round Ligonier Valley (19-2) vs. Sharpsville (14-6) 3 p.m. at Slippery Rock University Coaches: Mark Zimmerman, Ligonier Valley; Mark Piccirilli, Sharpsville Players to watch: Bella Vargulish, sr., Ligonier Valley; Breanna Hanley, so., P, Sharpsville Winner plays: Winner of Chestnut Ridge (17-6)/Shenango (16-5)...

Mt. Pleasant won its second WPIAL softball title with a relentless, rapid-fire offensive attack. Frozen ropes and gap shots. Doubles off the wall. The Vikings touched all the bases. “We practiced hitting off tees to get ready for (Ellwood City pitcher Julia Nardone),” Vikings senior third baseman Haylie Brunson said....

Westmoreland County was well represented on the Big 5/6 Conference all-section baseball and softball teams. The Big 5/6 recognizes team and individual accomplishments in the WPIAL’s two largest classifications. In baseball, WPIAL Class 5A champion Franklin Regional dominated the Section 1 team with five first-team selections: seniors Louie Kegerreis (SS),...

Postseason runs that were expected to last a lot longer ended rather abruptly in the WPIAL semifinals for the Norwin baseball and softball teams. The baseball Knights were roughed up by rival Hempfield, 12-2, while the softball team fell to Canon-McMillan, 7-4. Both were No. 2 seeds. Neither team qualified...

All his life, Jay Clayton celebrated Jeannette athletics. You might say he put the Jay in Jayhawks. Now, Jeannette athletics are celebrating him. Clayton, a longtime Jayhawks fan, died in April at age 84. In lieu of flowers, Clayton wanted donations to be made directly to the Jeannette athletic department....

Another week, another Division I football offer for Penn-Trafford’s Cade Yacamelli. Actually, the rising senior running back and defensive back added two more scholarship offers this week, but one stands out among all of the others. Wisconsin of the Big Ten offered him after he attended a Badgers’ prospect camp....

Mark Zimmerman said the chip Ligonier Valley softball had resting firmly on its collective shoulder is all but gone. “That’s been knocked off a little bit,” the veteran coach said. “That can be a good thing, too. This is the start of a new run. Now it’s all about the...

One of the premier two-way utility talents in Division III baseball, sophomore Tyler Horvat seemed to have an impact in every one of Washington & Jefferson’s 37 wins this season. The Penn-Trafford product was honored for his contributions by being named to the D3Baseball.Com All-America First Team. Horvat, an outfielder...

“Mad dog” doesn’t like to hear about games being meaningless. Even though both teams already had clinched PIAA playoff berths, Maddie Griffin, Ligonier Valley’s junior ace pitcher, treated Tuesday’s WPIAL third-place game at Norwin with respect. The game still had the full attention of the WPIAL’s no-hit queen. “The expectation...

Kansas State junior slugger Zach Kokoska (Latrobe) is among the top home run hitters in NCAA Division I baseball. He also was one of the top players in the Big 12 Tournament. After he helped the Wildcats (34-23) reach the semifinals, Kokoska was named to the all-tournament team. In five...

Catcher Lexis Shawley received an unsolicited compliment from an umpire after a recent playoff game. It made the Mt. Pleasant senior grin. “He said he liked the way I was framing my pitches,” Shawley said. “He said it probably helped us get a few strikes.” The proficiency also had something...

Softball Class 3A 1-Mt. Pleasant (16-3) vs. 11-Ellwood City (14-4) 2:15 p.m. Wednesday at Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) Road to the finals • Mt. Pleasant — Mt. Pleasant has yet to yield a run in the postseason, beating Derry, 6-0, and Avonworth, 8-0. Pitcher Mary Smithnosky is 2-0 with 23...

WPIAL softball playoffs Class 2A 3rd place game Ligonier Valley (18-2) vs. Frazier (16-4) 4 p.m. Tuesday at Norwin Coaches: Mark Zimmerman, Ligonier Valley; Don Hartman, Frazier Players to watch: Maddie Griffin, Jr., P, Ligonier Valley; Madison Bednar, So., P, Frazier What’s at stake: Both teams have qualified for the...

Dinner time at the Zilli house used to turn into a competition, which confirms a couple of things. One, Christian Zilli learned how to win at a young age. And, two, Christian Zilli eats his vegetables. “It’s not OK to lose in our household,” said Zilli, a Hempfield senior shortstop...

Louie Kegerreis is seeing the baseball better than he has all year, but he isn’t just laser-focused on incoming pitches. The Franklin Regional senior wants to do his part to win a championship. His relentless preparation and team-first mentality is a pleasant bonus to Panthers coach Bobby Saddler, who could...

Tommy Pellis could land with a major league organization with the draft looming. The Seton Hill grad student outfielder will have plenty of awards on his resume for the scouts. Pellis’ latest honor in an All-American nod from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. His career season earned him a...

1-Franklin Regional (18-1) vs. 2-Bethel Park (18-3) 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park, Washington Road to the finals • Franklin Regional — The biggest test for the Panthers came in the quarterfinals. They were locked in a 5-5 tie with Mars when the game was delayed a day because...

1-North Allegheny (19-3) vs. 3-Hempfield (15-7) 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park, Washington Road to the finals • Hempfield — The Spartans will make their WPIAL finals debut after handling No. 2 Norwin in the semifinals. Seton Hill commit Christian Zilli had three hits, including a pair of two-run...

Bill Flow called the Jeannette girls basketball program “a sleeping giant.” While the road back to relevance in the WPIAL appears long for Jeannette, the program’s new coach thinks with the proper encouragement and nurturing, it can turn a corner. A Norwin graduate, Flow is bringing extensive experience and waves...