Other Local category, Page 68
Peters Township’s Alison Riske ousts top-seeded Ash Barty at Wimbledon
Alison Riske has a new “biggest win of her career.” The Peters Township native defeated top-seeded and world No. 1 Ash Barty, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, in a fourth-round match at Wimbledon, propelling her to the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in her career. Riske didn’t overpower Barty,...
Hempfield East wins District 31 regular season, eyes playoff run
As Hempfield East manager Scott Smith sees it, a new season starts Monday. Smith and his team hopes the new season is a repeat performance of 2018. That’s when Hempfield East won the District 31 American legion title, the Region 7 tournament and played in the state tournament for only...
Legion teams prep for playoffs after condensed regular season
Weather issues and other scheduling variables over the past month-and-a-half altered the original District 31 American Legion game plan, and that made for a compacted stretch run to the playoffs. Teams playing two games in one day on the weekend was commonplace. Kiski Valley and Young Township concluded the regular...
Legion baseball teams adapting to athletes and their busy summers
Since 1925, American Legion baseball has been a staple in small communities all across the country. In Western Pennsylvania alone, 34 teams currently play in two different regions, and over the course of the next few weeks a majority of those teams will compete for spots in regional and state...
Fox Chapel golfers turn in solid performances at WPGA Amateur
The Fox Chapel golf program has been known to produce talented golfers, and over the past week a few of them got to test themselves at Oakmont Country Club for the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association Amateur Championship. Michael Marisco (2016 grad), Andrew Friend (’18), Gregor Meyer (’19) and Scott Bitar...
John Hughes, Roberta Groner capture titles at annual Brentwood Firecracker 5K
Two things that can be counted on to take place on the morning of the Fourth of July holiday are: 1) the Brentwood Firecracker 5K Run and 2) that it will be hot and humid. It was more of the same in 2019 at the 5K race Thursday that annually...
Pine-Richland’s Caroline Vidic helps club soccer team reach nationals
For the third consecutive season, the Northern Steel Soccer Club’s 2004 Girls Fire team won the Great Lakes Alliance league championship, clinching an automatic berth for the National Premier Leagues Finals from July 11-15 in Commerce City, Colo. The 2004 Girls Fire is composed of local players 15 and under....
Plum Junior Legion confident entering playoffs
Plum’s Junior Legion baseball team prepped for the playoffs in fine fashion. The Junior Mustangs blanked Riverview, 16-0, and Lower Burrell, 9-0, last week to end the Westmoreland County Youth Legion regular season with a 14-2 record. Plum and Monroeville finished with identical records atop the North Division, but Monroeville...
Monroeville Junior Legion chasing league championship
The Monroeville Junior Legion baseball program hopes to end the summer season batting .500. Monroeville won its first Westmoreland County Youth Legion championship last year in the program’s third year of existence. Another title this summer will make it two in four years. “It was a highly successful season, and...
JJ Matijevic returns to baseball, says he learned lesson during suspension
Humbled and motivated by mistakes, slugger JJ Matijevic is back in the swing of things. Matijevic, a minor leaguer with the Houston Astros, recently returned from a 50-game suspension for violating league rules pertaining to the use of banned drugs. The former Norwin and Arizona star twice failed a test...
Yough Legion surging toward district playoffs
The 18-game District 31 Legion baseball season is coming to a dramatic conclusion this week … weather permitting. And like nearly every other season, the seeding for the postseason bracket will be determined in the last few regular-season games. “There’s a lot of parity in the league,” said Yough Legion...
U.S. Senior Open experience memorable for Oakmont’s Sean Knapp
Sean Knapp missed the cut at last weekend’s U.S. Senior Open at Notre Dame’s Warren Gold Course in South Bend, Ind. While the ending to his second straight appearance in the tournament and fourth overall wasn’t what he hoped for, the opportunity again to share the course with the world’s...
Connor Schmidt captures WPGA Amateur at Oakmont
Connor Schmidt got his revenge at Oakmont Country Club on Wednesday but needed some help to do so. A year ago, Schmidt lost a five-hole playoff to Tyrone pro Jimmy Gillam at the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Open Championship at Oakmont. Schmidt, 21, played three solid rounds at the 119th...
Steady Jackson has 2-shot lead at WPGA Amateur Championship
If Palmer Jackson wants to capture the 119th Western Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Amateur Championship on Wednesday, he knows he has to play better than his first two rounds. The Murrysville native and future Notre Dame golfer shot a 1-under-par 70 on Tuesday at Oakmont Country Club and is even through...
Norwin, Serra Catholic grads help Bethany baseball get back to playoffs
Ryan Anselmino and Noah Rady grew up playing backyard football and Wiffle ball together. They went off to play college baseball together and have been roommates for the past three years. They also traveled home for the holidays with one another. So it is only fitting Bethany junior standouts Ryan...
Monroeville Legion team leans on pitching staff
Gateway coach Mark Wardzinski has taken over Monroeville’s Legion team this summer. There are familiar faces at every position as every member of the club competed for the Gators this spring or have ties to the high school program. After an 8-2 start, Gateway’s varsity team advanced to the WPIAL...
Chartiers Valley U-16 travel teams reap varsity benefits
With the summer in full swing in Western Pennsylvania, the Chartiers Valley Baseball Association is back in action. The under-16 league features several teams with players from Chartiers Valley and Carlynton. The Chartiers Valley 2 squad is off to a 3-2 start and battling on top of the South Division....
Penn Hills youth track club builds skills, community
With their program’s 30th year looming, Chuck and Becci Carter continue to be gratified by assisting and developing youth athletes through the Penn Hills Eagles Track Club. This year, the Penn Hills Eagles Track Club consists of 90 athletes. The team includes members of the Penn Hills community and also...
Pair of Aquinas fencers stay sharp in class
For their skills in their sport and their commitment in the classroom, Aquinas Academy fencers Harry Hardman and Steven Giacobbe have both been distinguished as members of the 2019 USA Fencing All-Academic Teams. Hardman, a recent graduate, was named to the All-Academic first team, which requires a 3.85 GPA or...
Elbow injury forces Knapp out of WPGA Amateur
When Sean Knapp woke up Monday morning, his left elbow didn’t feel right. He took anti-inflammatory medication and used ice to try to ease the discomfort. When he arrived at Oakmont Country Club of the 119th Annual Western Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Amateur Champion, he tried to hit shots on the...
Westmoreland County trio to play in elite youth hockey tournament
Murrysville youth hockey standouts Anthony and Alex Sargo couldn’t help but drift off and daydream while watching the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft a few weeks ago about hearing their names called some day. The twin brothers are on the same path many professional hockey players have travelled....
Knapp looks to defend WPGA Amateur title
So how did Oakmont native Sean Knapp spend his Sunday as he prepared to defend his title at the West Open Amateur? By playing against some talented friends at Hannastown Golf Club in Greensburg. The hotly contested match included Latrobe’s Brady Pevarnik, Pittsburgh’s Rick Stimmel, Ligonier’s David Brown, Greensburg’s Kevin...
Kiski Valley Legion still searching for consistency on offense as playoffs near
In baseball, it takes being solid in all three phases of the game to make a serious run at a championship. Playoffs are where weaknesses are exposed. The Kiski Valley District 31 Legion team is set with pitching, but the hitting has been inconsistent and the defense has been suspect...
North Huntingdon native Austen Swankler signs with OHL’s Erie Otters
North Huntingdon native Austen Swankler will be playing much closer to home next season. The 17-year-old winger signed with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters on Friday. Swankler spent last season in the United States Hockey League, starting in Waterloo, Iowa, before being traded to Sioux Falls, S.D. He had...
Greensburg’s Rocco Mediate advances in U.S. Senior Open; Knapp, Cooper do not
Rocco Mediate will playing this weekend. That’s because the Greensburg native made the cut at the USGA U.S. Senior Open on Friday at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf course in South Bend, Ind. Mediate shot a 1-under par 69 and is 1-over for the tournament. He is tied for 53rd. Two...
