Bill Beckner stories, Page 80

Mackenzie Keenan has a number of nicknames. The sophomore softball player at Penn-Trafford has been called “Chuck” and “Chunk” for reasons that can’t altogether be explained around the clubhouse. “We always call her, ‘Line-drive Mack,’” Warriors coach Denny Little said. “Everything she hits is a frozen rope.” Keenan, pronounced ka-nan,...

Class 5A Quarterfinals Penn-Trafford (19-3) vs. Southern Lehigh (19-6) 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Norlo Park Softball Complex, Fayetteville Winner plays: Winner of Central Mountain (21-2)/Armstrong (21-4) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Extra bases: Penn-Trafford didn’t hit like it can in the first round, sending 14 pop-ups into the...

A steady stream of scholarship offers have followed Joe Enick since late March. More were likely to come this summer. But the football lineman from Penn-Trafford decided it was time to highlight his favorite one. Enick gave a verbal commitment to play at Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference. The...

DUBOIS — Greensburg Central Catholic’s defense was sharp behind junior pitcher Emma Henry all afternoon in the PIAA Class A softball playoff opener. But there was one ball they couldn’t catch, and it doomed the Centurions’ season. DuBois Central Catholic senior Emma Suplizio blasted a two-out, three-run homer in the...

With two years of eligibility left to give a team, Gio Vonne Sanders is set to live out his dream. The former Jeannette and St. Francis (Pa.) football standout announced he has made a verbal commitment to Western Michigan of the FCS Mid-American Conference. Sanders, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound defensive back,...

By the time the second week of August rolls around and summer starts to wind toward fall, Jake Biss will also be ready to change seasons — and uniforms. He will be on his way to The Netherlands to begin his professional basketball career. Biss, a former Latrobe and Shippensburg...

Bailey Parshall capped a career season in the pitching circle at Penn State with an All-American nod. The senior from Belle Vernon was selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American Third Team. She is just the fifth Penn State softball player to be named an All-American, and the first...

Class 5A First round Penn-Trafford (18-3) vs. Twin Valley (17-8) 4 p.m. Monday at Twin Valley Winner plays: Winner of Southern Lehigh (15-4)/Shippensburg (19-5) on Thursday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Extra bases: Penn-Trafford is the WPIAL runner-up after falling to Armstrong, 6-5, in the championship game. The Warriors rallied...

Using two pitchers wasn’t always in the cards for Southmoreland softball, especially come playoff time. But when sophomore Maddie Brown began to experience tightness in her back, coach Todd Bunner turned to senior Maddy Cyphert. Both girls saw time in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinal loss to Avonworth (3-0), then...

A mixture of stunned numbness and grace-in-defeat omitting from their faces, Penn-Trafford players and coaches posed for their runner-up photo but didn’t have to force smiles. There weren’t many tears shed. And there was even some giggling as people bunched up in rows and glared at cellphone cameras. “We’re not...

The PIAA softball playoff field is set and three local teams will begin play Monday. All three will have lengthy road trips. WPIAL Class 5A runner-up Penn-Trafford (18-3) will play at Twin Valley (17-8), the District 3 runner-up, at 4 p.m. In Class 3A, Southmoreland (14-4) visits Bald Eagle (10-5),...

A silver, heart-shaped locket dangles from a necklace Isabela Marquez is wearing. Every so often, it catches a shaft of sunlight coming through the window in a lonely Greensburg Central Catholic gymnasium as she talks about her late father. Her voice echoes. Sniffles and sighs are interrupted by little chuckles...

A nagging shoulder injury stunted his progress in his final collegiate wrestling season, but Michael Kemerer is moving on to his next venture in the sport. The former Iowa and Franklin Regional standout has joined the Spartan Combat RTC, a world-class training outfit in Ithaca, N.Y. Spartan Combat RTC specializes...

Norwin athletes once again made their mark in the WPIAL’s two largest classifications this spring. The Big 5/6 Conference, which covers Class 6A and 5A athletics, had its all-section banquet May 25 and announced its top players in baseball and softball. Section 2-6A baseball’s first team included seniors Jack Whalen...

Moments after the game ended, Armstrong fans lugged a giant boom-box radio onto Lilley Field and turned up the music, bobbing their heads to the thumping beat. Junior left fielder Jenna Clontz had just performed one of the program’s greatest hits. This was the “hoopla” Penn-Trafford coach Denny Little warned...

Offense could be on full blast when Penn-Trafford and Armstrong meet Friday ( game was postponed Thursday due to weather) in the WPIAL Class 5A softball championship. So could the volume coming from at least one of the dugouts. “If you think you’re going to see a shutout, you’re crazy,”...

Seneca Valley started partying like it was 1999 — and 1992, for that matter. The fourth-seeded Raiders upended No. 7 North Allegheny, 9-5, to win their first WPIAL softball championship since ‘99, and third overall, on Wednesday at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.). Freshman Lexie Hames and senior first baseman...

2-Penn-Trafford (18-2) vs. 1-Armstrong (19-4) 4:30 p.m. FRIDAY, Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) Coaches: Denny Little, Penn-Trafford; Doug Flanders, Armstrong Players to watch: Mia Smith, Penn-Trafford; Jenna Clontz, Armstrong On the air: Broadcast | Trib HSSN (triblive.com) Extra bases: Penn-Trafford is making its first appearance in the WPIAL finals. The Warriors...

All-state midfielder CeCe Scott of Peters Township won the second Kaitlyn “Moe” Rosensteel Scholarship. The winner was revealed Tuesday evening. Scott, a senior Duquesne commit, helped guide the Indians to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals. The scholarship is in the name of Rosensteel, the Ringgold standout and West Virginia Wesleyan...

They say it is hard to beat a team three times in a season. The way Southmoreland saw it, it was even harder to lose to one that many times. The Scotties built an early lead and then fended off several comeback attempts by section foe South Allegheny on Tuesday...

Maddy Rapp thought she might cause a scene when she walked through the metal detectors at Heinz Field in November when she watched her hometown Penn-Trafford Warriors play for a WPIAL football championship. Her fraternal twin sister, McKenzie, saw a similar outcome passing through the security arch. They were surprised...

Today’s game Third-place consolation Class 3A Southmoreland (13-4) vs. South Allegheny (13-4) 3 p.m. at Norwin Players to watch: Amarah McCutcheon, Southmoreland; Breena Komarnisky, South Allegheny On the air: Broadcast | Trib HSSN (triblive.com) Extra bases: It’s simple: The winner advances to the state tournament, and the loser turns in...

Westmoreland County athletes once again made their mark in the WPIAL’s two largest classifications this spring. The Big 5/6 Conference, which covers Class 6A and 5A athletics, had its all-section banquet Wednesday and announced its top players in baseball and softball. Section 2-6A baseball’s first team included senior infielder Joe...

Seton Hill grad student softball player Jenna Osikowicz is breathing rarefied air. The Hempfield alum became the first softball player from Seton Hill to be named a National FastPitch Coaches Association All-American. The outfielder was selected for the second team. Osikowicz already had been named the PSAC West Athlete of...

Emma Henry School: Greensburg Central Catholic Sport: Softball Year: Junior Claim to fame: Henry helped lead the Centurions to a 9-6 victory over Springdale in the WPIAL Class A third-place game to give GCC a PIAA playoff spot for the first time since 2012. She doubled, tripled and drove in...