Jerry DiPaola stories, Page 150
Pitt football lands 3-star RB recruit Henry Parrish Jr.
The Pitt football team landed its ninth recruit for the Class of 2020 when three-star running back Henry Parrish Jr. made a verbal commitment Wednesday, according to his Twitter account. When Parrish enrolls next year, he will be the fourth Florida running back on the roster, joining current junior A.J....
Mitch Keller returns to Triple-A to make room for Trevor Williams
The return of Trevor Williams to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting rotation Wednesday means the end — for now — of Mitch Keller’s time with the team. Williams was reinstated from the 10-day injured list after being out since May 16 with a right side strain. He will start Wednesday against...
6 months before signing day, 3 ex-Penn State commits still looking
An eagerness to commit before playing a down of football as a high school senior may have caused three four-star Penn State recruits to de-commit this month. OT Grant Toutant will start his Official Visit to Ohio State this weekend• 6’7” 320lbs• former Penn State Commit pic.twitter.com/suhqSePidf— Buckeye Edits (@BuckeyeEdits15)...
Mitch Keller improves in PNC Park debut, but Pirates lose to Tigers
The Pittsburgh Pirates committed a pair of errors in one inning, leading to two unearned runs by the Detroit Tigers. They left eight runners on base after the fourth inning, and they managed only one hit in 10 tries with teammates in scoring position. Under those circumstances, no one should...
Pirates’ Hurdle likes juggling five outfielders
Clint Hurdle has five outfielders on his roster, which is one more than he usually needs. It’s a nice problem — and it could come in handy at trade deadline time — but the Pittsburgh Pirates manager said he solves it by “feel” and “conversation.” But there are constants that...
Ex-Pirate Jordy Mercer nostalgic on return to PNC Park with Tigers
It rains a lot in Taloga, Okla., these days. Which means the grass is green, the wheat crop is strong and, thankfully, the wildfires that plagued the tiny town (population, 310) last spring have not returned. The only bad news is Taloga’s favorite son isn’t playing baseball. Jordy Mercer, who...
Pirates notebook: Healthy arms could give team a needed boost
Trevor Williams will return to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting rotation Wednesday night, and he does so as part of the reconstruction of the pitching staff. The Pirates crossed Chris Stratton off the injured list Tuesday. Williams comes off Wednesday. Meanwhile, Jordan Lyles pitched a simulated game before the team met...
Pitt, Penn State women’s hoops to meet in ACC/Big Ten Challenge
The Pitt and Penn State women’s basketball teams will play Dec. 5 at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It will be the first time they’ve met in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Penn State leads the all-time series 29-13, including victories in the...
Pirates sign four more draft choices
The Pittsburgh Pirates have 29 of their 42 draft choices under contract after four, including sixth-round outfielder Will Matthiessen of Stanford, agreed to terms Monday. Matthiessen, 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, hit .322, with 12 home runs and 52 RBIs in 57 games for Stanford this season. .@willmatthiessen is headed to the...
Georgia cornerback Hunter Sellers commits to Pitt, fifth verbal in two days from class of 2020
Pat Narduzzi received his fifth commitment in two days Monday night when cornerback Hunter Sellers announced his plans to enroll next year. Sellers, a rising senior at Woodward Academy in College Park, Ga., was part of a group of more than 20 prospects who visited Pitt’s campus over the weekend....
For reeling Pirates, upcoming schedule only makes things tougher
The most troubling thought that followed the Pittsburgh Pirates home from their 2-8 road trip wasn’t a pitching staff that seems to be in various stages of disarray and ineffectiveness. Hard to believe, but there is worse news than a 5.12 team ERA (27th in MLB) and 1.45 WHIP (26th),...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi adds 5 rising seniors during recruiting weekend
Pitt’s big recruiting weekend started Saturday with the first of five of these tweets, signaling Pat Narduzzi had received a verbal commitment from a coveted prospect. PITT IS IT!!! #H2P #2ManyLights0n pic.twitter.com/g5nzT7DsRT— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) June 16, 2019 By Sunday night, there had been plenty of tweets from Narduzzi’s account,...
Pitt’s Kenny Pickett invited to Manning family quarterback camp
When Archie Manning is asked how much contact his famous sons have with campers and counselers at the Manning Passing Academy, he is quick with an answer. “Every minute for 24 years,” he said Monday. Or, every minute for as long as the camp has been in existence. That’s what...
Georgia cornerback Tee Denson joins Pitt’s Class of 2020
When one of Pitt’s graduate assistants heard a scream coming from coach Pat Narduzzi’s office Sunday morning, he walked in to see if something was wrong. Actually, it was good news. Cornerback Tee Denson of Atlanta told Narduzzi he planned to enroll at Pitt next year. “He was just really...
Pitt lands outside linebacker Kamara of Akron, N.J. athlete DeShields, Florida DE Belgrave
Pitt landed a versatile safety/outside linebacker for its Class of 2020 on Sunday when Bangally Kamara of Akron East High School tweeted his intentions to enroll next year. He is one of five prospects to verbally commit to Pat Narduzzi this weekend, according to the coach’s Pat Signal tweets. Only...
Pirates’ Neal Huntington said pitching staff ‘getting healthy’
Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said his team, which has lost eight of its past nine games, is in the middle of a “tough stretch, but we’re getting healthy.” Speaking Sunday on his radio show on KDKA-FM, he said pitchers Trevor Williams, Chris Stratton and Jordan Lyles, who are...
Pitt gets 6 on list of top 100 football players in the ACC
Inching closer to the start of the college football season, I came across some interesting reading that sheds what appears to be a clear light on the best players on Pitt’s team. Jim Johnson (not that one, but the editor of southernpigskin.com) ranked the top 100 players in the ACC,...
Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi improves to No. 42 in Sporting News’ ranking of college football coaches
The college football off-season has only about a month left, which makes it time for Sporting News’ annual ranking of the coaches, 1-130. Not surprisingly, the top 25 is the exclusive domain of the Power 5, led by the Big Ten with seven coaches, followed by the SEC with six,...
Pitt adds 6-9 grad transfer Eric Hamilton
Jeff Capel added an important piece to his front line Thursday when grad transfer Eric Hamilton, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound power forward, announced on his Twitter account his plans to enroll this season. #ShockerNation ??#UNCG ??#ZooEra it’s our time NOW ???? #BetOnYourself pic.twitter.com/OMzEUYKD6t— Eric Hamilton (@iAM_EH25) June 6, 2019 Hamilton, who...
Pirates’ Corey Dickerson waiting for his chance to be a hero again
In the “Toy Story” movie series, Buzz Lightyear is often the hero. Corey Dickerson borrowed that persona Thursday when the Pittsburgh Pirates players and staff dressed as superheroes for the trip to Milwaukee. When he arrives, he hopes to get off the injury list he has been on since April...
Chris Archer leads Pirates to victory against BravesVideo
The baseball left Freddie Freeman’s bat at 106.3 mph, and Chris Archer immediately knew. When it landed 405 feet from home plate in the shrubbery beyond PNC Park’s center-field fence, Archer put his hands on his knees and bowed his head. It bothered him because it could have been avoided....
Rookie Davis says ‘let chips fall’ in 1st start Friday for the Pirates
The pain in Rookie Davis’ hip was intense and it wouldn’t go away. But the competitor inside him said, “Keep working. That’s who you are.” Finally, an imaging of the area in question revealed a torn labrum and bone spurs. Davis had surgery to repair the problem after the 2017...
Pirates broadcaster Steve Blass: ‘I don’t have to defend myself’
Steve Blass didn’t have much to say publicly about the controversy over remarks he made regarding Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. during a telecast of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ game Tuesday night at PNC Park. But he did want to make something clear to those who have known him during...
Pitt AD Heather Lyke hopes tailgaters someday can set up tents outside Heinz Field
Heather Lyke has a vision, and in her mind, it’s more than a dream. One of these days, Pitt’s athletic director hopes to be driving to her team’s football game, and as she turns toward Heinz Field, she can’t see the parking lots. But that’s a good thing because all...
ACC Network expected to increase exposure, revenue for its members including Pitt
Heather Lyke likes the exposure the ACC Network will give Pitt athletics when it launches Aug. 22. “It’s a national network,” Pitt’s athletic director said Wednesday while meeting with a small group of reporters. “So your brand goes across the country. It gives us the chance to tell the stories...
