Bill Beckner stories, Page 120

A nearly washed-out week did not help to uncover more local qualifiers for the WPIAL playoffs. The deadline to finish section games is May 7, although the league may have to grant an extension with this week’s rash of postponements. The playoffs are supposed to start the week of May...

Spring sports teams at Seton Hill felt they had plenty to prove after their 2020 seasons were sawed short because of the pandemic. Many of them have used this year to take out pent up frustration, and it led to conference titles, national rankings and potentially pending success in the...

Justin Flack is finding his running rhythm out of the Waynesburg backfield, and this season could pave the way for more to come. Flack, a sophomore from Derry, was named to the All-Presidents Athletic Conference First Team as an all-purpose player. Flack led the PAC in rushing yards despite missing...

Baylor acrobatics and tumbling junior Hannah Chrisman (Norwin) won her second NCATA national championship, the second-seeded Bears’ sixth in a row, with a 279.790 to 276.465 victory over Azusa Pacific. Chrisman, a base/top performer, is the sister-in-law of Norwin alum Max McDowell, a minor league baseball player with the New...

Finally. The much-anticipated two-game baseball series between Hempfield and Norwin is set for Monday and Tuesday. The Section 2-6A series features Norwin (10-1, 6-1), ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL and No. 4 in the state, against the sneaky-good Spartans (10-5, 6-2), who are perched third in the WPIAL ranks....

Norwin had just lost to Hempfield, 10-5, to snap a four-game winning streak. It was the first Section 2-6A loss for the softball Knights, who vaulted to No. 2 in the Trib HSSN rankings. They quickly brushed off the defeat, learned from it and moved on rather abruptly. “We’ll use...

Like sunshine that finally peeked through a slate gray sky to warm up an otherwise wet and windy Friday afternoon, Hempfield shined when it mattered most. The Spartans rallied from a late two-run deficit to clip host Penn-Trafford, 7-6, in a nonsection baseball game in Harrison City, ending the Warriors’...

Roundball Classic organizer Allen Deep said he has received a number of inquiries about fan attendance at the all-star basketball event set for May 13, 14 and 15 at Geneva College. Deep said 450 fans will be allowed to attend each of the eight games. That would equate to about...

As Tyler Horvat pauses to admire his handiwork (if he actually does), the sophomore baseball player at Washington & Jefferson immediately shifts his attention to the now. “I think the season has gone well so far,” the pitcher and outfielder said. “I came into the year looking to improve on...

Hempfield might be down two key players, but the Spartans don’t seem too concerned about the sky falling any time soon. Junior Joey Fiedor and senior Michael Hosni were injured in the same game when the Spartans won at Bethel Park, 3-2, on April 16. Fiedor injured his right elbow,...

In between a pair of covid shutdowns — one that is going on now — the Derry baseball team discovered something about itself: It can flat-out score runs. Derry (5-3, 3-2) jumped right into Section 3-3A play, losing its first two-game series to Valley. But it was quick to rebound,...

Katie Armstrong said she “drew a blank” when she tried to remember the Greensburg Salem softball lineup and hitter’s tendencies when she and her Burrell teammates faced the Golden Lions for a second time. “Because it was so long ago,” she said. “As the game went on, though, I started...

The Tallman sisters, Jordan and Jenna, hope to take the Latrobe softball team to new heights this season, their last together as high school teammates. But they have been reaching for the sky for some time now — several months, in fact — as they seek to become certified pilots....

It would seem Hempfield has a lifetime pass in the WPIAL softball rankings, a permanent perch maybe, among the elite. When the Spartans, who have won five straight championships in the league’s largest classification, do not appear in the Class 6A top five, something must be off. The preseason No....

Westminster sophomore Sam Napper (Mt. Pleasant) helped the Titans capture the PAC men’s golf title. Napper finished tied for sixth place at the conference finals with a 36-hole score of 154 (75, 79) at Speidel Jones Course at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, W.Va. Napper was named to the All-PAC second...

Penn-Trafford alums are scattered across the college softball landscape, and the players are making an impact at various levels. Consider: The Warriors have impactful former players at the Division I, II, III and NAIA levels this season — more than any other area program. You could fill out a lineup...

Penn-Trafford announced its 2020-21 Warrior Football Hall of Fame class on Tuesday. The latest inductees are: • Tony Babeo (1992) • Jeff Filkovski (’86) • Jason Kacinko (2005) • Kevin Mullen (’05) • Jeremy Schropp (’94) • Dan Schneider (’64, Trafford High School) • Coach Eli Visnick (’93-09) • 1972...

Seton Hill baseball has an impressive record this season, but one of the Griffins’ wins was taken off the board Monday. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced that Mercyhurst played Saturday’s game against Seton Hill under protest and the Lakers’ objection to a reversed call was upheld by the league...

A young coach with enthusiasm to match, Rachel Frye inherits a girls volleyball program at Franklin Regional with a championship past — a very recent past. The Panthers won their first WPIAL title last fall and went on to place second in the PIAA in Class AAA. Ninth-year coach Mike...

Turner Price plays singles and doubles for the Pitt-Greensburg men’s tennis team. He also likes to double up on awards. Price, a junior from Penn-Trafford, repeated as the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the Year and earned all-conference first-team honors at No. 1 singles after a strong spring season....

With touch and toughness, Matt Metrosky gently plows through his spring schedule. With prowess and a been-there-before cast of mind, he serves and volleys, and chucks heavy objects through the air. A tennis match ends and a track and field meet begins for the mega senior from Greensburg Central Catholic...

You might call it unique that Seton Hill has two freshman pitchers who have been mowing down opposing lineups in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Or maybe unusual is the right word to describe the upsurge from the first-year arms. Griffins coach Jessica Strong is going another direction. “Lucky,” she...

When Kyle Martin is not coaching wrestlers on the Norwin varsity team, he is training others to become Olympians. Martin recently was selected by USA Wrestling, the governing body of wrestling for the World and Olympic Championships in the United States, to coach the United States team at the Junior...

Norwin boys volleyball seems to take two steps back every time it takes one forward. It’s like everyone is rotating counterclockwise. Since this season of adversity began March 26, the Knights had played in only one mini-tournament, one nonsection match and one section match three weeks into the campaign. Other...