Other Local category, Page 58
Local teams come together to celebrate women’s sports
There was a celebration of women’s sports Thursday night. Pittsburgh’s women’s sports teams gathered at the Thelma Lovette YMCA in the Hill District for the second annual Girls and Women Sports Event. The event’s aim was to celebrate women in sports and inspire female athletes in Pittsburgh to realize the...
Chartiers Valley grad Christian Kuntz gets new football life as XFL long snapper
The XFL is back, and it will look different this time. The original league lasted only one season in 2001, marred by spotty play, poor TV ratings and outlandish sideshows more associated with co-founder Vince McMahon’s primary endeavor, the WWE. The latest incarnation of the XFL — the season runs...
Norwin alum Tommy Shirley joins Washington Wild Things
A former WPIAL Most Valuable Player from Norwin is joining the Washington Wild Things. Left-handed pitcher Tommy Shirley, a former Houston Astros draft pick with Triple-A minor league experience, was acquired by the local Frontier League team from the New York Boulders. “We are excited to give Tommy the opportunity...
Wild Things to host Frontier League All-Star Game
The top talent in the Frontier League will again be descending upon Washington, Pa. For the third time, the Washington Wild Things will host the Frontier League’s All-Star Game. The 2020 independent baseball league event is scheduled for July 15 at Wild Things Park. “The Frontier League is extremely pleased...
Pittsburgh Open to welcome some of world’s top squash players this week
Since he was a young boy, Chatham University freshman Abdul Malik Khan has had a dream of being one of the top squash players in the world. The 20-year-old Pakistani will get to face some of them in the Pittsburgh Open this week at the Rivers Club in Downtown Pittsburgh....
Plum native Oravitz finding his way through junior hockey ranks with college on horizon
In his first full season playing junior hockey, Plum native Cole Oravitz has learned keeping a positive mindset is important to success. Oravitz transferred from the USHL’s Madison Capitols to the Minnesota Magicians of the NAHL and dealt with a nagging wrist injury for two months. He worked through the...
McCauley, Corley, Dumm headline Mon Valley Hall of Fame class
Yough graduate Ben McCauley is one of six inductees in the the 2020 Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame class. The class will be inducted at the 27th annual banquet June 19 at St. Spyridon Hellenic Center in Monessen. The banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. Others inducted are Mon Valley...
Distinct WPIAL flavor to Shippensburg men’s basketball teamVideo
Shippensburg handed No. 9 IUP its only loss of the season. The Raiders did the same to No. 8 West Chester. Knocking off elite programs is nothing new for the emerging men’s basketball program, not since Latrobe native Chris Fite became coach seven years ago. He has transformed Shippensburg from...
McKeesport’s Swin Cash named finalist for Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
Former McKeesport basketball standout Swin Cash-Canal, who went on to star in college at Connecticut, in the WNBA and for Team USA in the Olympics, is one of 12 finalists for induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The list of finalists, announced Thursday evening during the ESPN broadcast...
Bishop Canevin grad Shamyjha Price making progress at UMass LowellVideo
Clueless. That was among the words UMass Lowell women’s basketball coach Tom Garrick used to describe freshman Shamyjha Price. But wait … Price, unprompted, used the same word to describe herself. Garrick wasn’t insulting the Bishop Canevin grad. Price wasn’t down on herself, nor resorting to self-deprecating humor. The term...
Ex-Franklin Regional star Nick Novak scores 55 in debut for semi-pro team
Nick Novak is back in the states with a new house, a baby on the way and a basketball motor that won’t slow down. The former Franklin Regional star, who has been around the globe and back playing professionally for the last seven years, is playing this season for the...
Top 10 Westmoreland County sports moments of 2019
As the sun sets on another year in local sports, it’s time to look back on the best stories of 2019 in Westmoreland County. There were championships, comebacks, program rebirths and coveted recruits. The final year in the second decade of the 2000s featured repeat winners and playoff newcomers and...
Navy long-snapper, Penn-Trafford grad Michael Pifer garners attention, honors former POW
There’s something about being a long-snapper that just fits for Michael Pifer. The precision. The repetition. The search for perfection with every special teams snap. An added perk is anonymity. That is, until a mistake is made. “There’s so much repetition, but you’re trying to find little flaws and correct...
Jeannette grad ‘Showboat’ Robinson back on Basketball Hall of Fame ballot
For the third straight year, Lamont “Showboat” Robinson is on the ballot for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Jeannette graduate is known for having a pivotal role in comedy basketball when he played for three Harlem teams: the Globetrotters, Roadkings and Clowns. Among the list of candidates...
Defending champ Stanford, Wisconsin reach NCAA volleyball finals
Kathryn Plummer had 26 kills and defending champion Stanford swept Minnesota, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22, on Thursday night to reach the NCAA women’s volleyball final. Stanford (29-4) will face Wisconsin on Saturday night, seeking its third title in four years and ninth overall. The Cardinal also beat the Gophers (27-6) in...
Greensburg Central alum Warren Schaeffer hired to manage Triple-A baseball team
Once a slick-fielding shortstop with power at the plate, Warren Schaeffer continues to pass down his baseball knowledge to aspiring minor-leaguers — perhaps while climbing a different ladder to the big leagues. The former Greensburg Central Catholic star has been named manager of the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Class-AAA affiliate of...
Valley alum Zach Clarke wins powerlifting gold at Pennsylvania Special Olympics
At the beginning of November, Valley grad Zach Clarke traveled to Villanova University to compete in the Pennsylvania Special Olympics championships and came home with more than enough gold to go around. Clarke won the overall gold in powerlifting and also won gold in the squat and bench press with...
Lernerville Speedway joins virtual ranks on iRacing
Lernerville Speedway has a virtual twin on the most popular sim-racing platform in the world. On Tuesday, iRacing released Lernerville on its platform, giving fans around the world an opportunity to drive on the track without getting behind the wheel of a race car. The Buffalo Township speedway has been...
Franklin Regional grad Todd Summers catching on with Villanova football
His first reception for Franklin Regional went for a touchdown. So did his first two at Villanova. Todd Summers knows a few things about making a strong initial impression, but those events pale in comparison to what first-year Villanova offensive coordinator Chris Boden thought when he first saw the redshirt...
Buzz around esports squad at Robert Morris University brings energy drink deal
College-level esports finally may be getting a little respect. They haven’t signed any deals to replace college football on Saturday afternoon TV. And it’s not exactly Gatorade, but the Robert Morris University esports team has a new corporate partnership deal with Mountain Dew AMP Game Fuel, an energy drink especially...
Monroeville Marlins swim team taking large contingent to Pitt Christmas meet
The Monroeville Marlins swimming team expects to up its number of entries at the Pitt Christmas Meet on Dec. 12-15 at Trees Pool. Kathy Bernardi, an administrative coach with the USA Swimming club based at Gateway, said six members will try to qualify individually or add events at a meet...
Irwin 11-year-old makes U.S. youth national team in futsal
Wrapped in a black-and-gold blanket with a tablet in his lap and a black Pittsburgh Riverhounds jacket on, 11-year-old Ty George of Irwin was exhausted on his plane ride home from Kansas City. So much so he spent most of a 3½-hour trip curled up in a deep sleep. This...
Hempfield alum Kason Harrell headed to Ireland to play professional basketball
Kason Harrell was released by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA G League on Nov. 6. Guess how many days since then the former Hempfield star sulked about his first shot at the pros? Better yet, guess how many days he did not pick up a basketball in...
Riverhounds’ Greenspan named USL Championship Defender of the Year
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds had one of the best defenses in the USL Championship this year, and Joe Greenspan was at the center of it. On Tuesday, Greenspan was awarded for his efforts and was named the USL Championship Defender of the Year. The Westfield, N.J. native was crucial to Pittsburgh’s...
Hempfield grad Katie Miller receives postseason honor
Another successful summer on the amateur golf circuit earned Katie Miller more postseason recognition. For the second time in three years, the Hempfield and North Carolina alum was named to the Global Golf Post All-Am Team. She was added to the publication’s Mid-Amateur Team. Miller, a Jeannette native, made the...
