Other Local category, Page 28
International component of Freeport baseball event back with presence of French team
The Freeport International Baseball Invitational is back this week, and dozens of games over the next five days are scheduled on fields throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley. A highlight of the 28th annual event is a team from France, which will play a series of games as part of a tour...
West Point Little League set to host state tournament beginning Tuesday
The final arrangements have been made, and now it’s time to play baseball at the West Point Little League Complex in Hempfield. Eight teams from across the state have convened in Westmoreland County for the start of the Pennsylvania Little League 8-10 state championship. Action gets underway at 10 a.m....
Norwin grad JJ Matijevic performing in ‘big situations’ for Houston Astros
It wasn’t majestic, like one of his second-deck home runs, and it didn’t find a gap. But JJ Matijevic’s hard-hit grounder did enough to score the winning run for the Houston Astros, who continued their mastery of the visiting New York Yankees last Thursday with a 3-2 win. Matijevic, pinch-hitting...
Haymaker Hammerheads claim 5th straight title at Monroeville Invitational
Temperatures already were making their way through the mid 70s as the first morning race went off at the annual Monroeville Invitational swim meet July 16 at Garden City Swim Club. More than 200 swimmers ages 5 to 18 from four area clubs — Haymaker, Gateway Heights, Park and Garden...
Shaler teen following goaltending dreams
Mental toughness isn’t something Gino Texter will have to seek out. Hockey has provided the 15-year-old Shaler native with plenty of challenges. Five times Texter tried out to be a goaltender with the Pens’ Elite program. Every attempt ended without an invitation. Texter instead found a home with the Cleveland...
Ambridge-based trainer Tom Yankello set to join Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame
Tom Yankello has been one of boxing’s top trainers for decades. His resume speaks for itself: He has been in the corner of four world champions, two world title contenders and 16 amatuer world title holders. Yankello will be inducted into this year’s Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame at 4...
Vince Ciattei wins Liberty Mile for 2nd year in row
Nearly perfect weather conditions greeted runners and spectators alike Friday evening as the 11th Fleet Feet Liberty Mile showcased quick-pace competition in Downtown Pittsburgh’s only evening road race. More than 1,300 runners of all abilities, ages 2 to 85, including a group of 20 elite pro-milers, were challenged to run...
Latrobe grad Pevarnik looks to keep momentum going at Pa. Amateur
Brady Pevarnik is coming off the biggest victory of his career after winning the 122nd Western Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Amateur Championship on Tuesday at Butler Country Club. Pevarnik, a senior at Bowling Green and a 2019 Latrobe graduate, shot a 3-under-par, 217. Now he hopes to keep that momentum going...
Pittsburgh youths set to compete at 2022 JCC Maccabi Games
Twin brothers Eli and Zachary Coffey are set to travel across the country, heading to San Diego to compete in the 2022 Jewish Community Center Maccabi Games. The 40th annual Maccabi Games, returning after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic, will take place July 31 to Aug. 5. Both...
Penn Township ready to defend Junior Legion regional, state titles
Penn Township is the returning Pennsylvania Youth American Legion Western Regional and state champion. It opens defense of the Western Regional at 5 p.m. Friday at the White Township Complex in Indiana against Indiana County champion Brookville. Pool play format will be played Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the top...
Field of a dozen set for Adios eliminations at the Meadows
A dozen 3-year-old male pacers, including Pepsi North American Cup champion Pebble Beach, will compete Saturday in a pair of eliminations as part of the 56th Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. Pebble Beach, who will run in competition for the first time...
Squirrel Hill’s Jennifer Bigham, one of nation’s top masters runners, ready for Liberty Mile
Former Ohio State runner and Winchester Thurston assistant coach Jennifer Bigham of Squirrel Hill has trained diligently for her next big race, Friday’s Fleet Feet Liberty Mile in Pittsburgh. Bigham turned 40, becoming a masters runner, and she recently won the USA Masters Half Marathon and the USA Masters One...
Latrobe alum Jared Kollar signs with San Diego Padres
Feeling he had more to prove as a college pitcher, Jared Kollar took advantage of a fifth year of eligibility and played last season at Rutgers. What did he prove? That he might have major-league talent. The crafty right-hander out of Latrobe and Seton Hill was signed Tuesday night to...
Latrobe grad Brady Pevarnik back in business with West Penn Amateur victory
Brady Pevarnik was sort of in a slump the past few seasons. Once an up-and-coming player alongside the likes of Palmer Jackson and Mark Goetz, Pevarnik’s game had slipped a little. A broken right wrist suffered while playing pick-up basketball sidelined him for more than a year and a half....
Bushy Run comes up short in Region 7 final
The Bushy Run American Legion baseball team needed to win two games Tuesday if it hoped to qualify for the state tournament at Boyertown on Saturday. The day started well as Bushy Run used two big innings — a three-run first inning and a four-run eighth inning — to defeat...
A-K Valley baseball standouts get taste of college game with Butler Blue Sox
The Butler Blue Sox field one of the youngest teams in the Tri-State Summer Collegiate League at Pullman Park. Despite their youth, the Blue Sox are picking up steam and swinging hot sticks as the season progresses. Valley News Dispatch Baseball Player of the Year Justin Brannagan, who graduated from...
West Point Little League gears up to host state 8-9-10 tournament
When West Point Little League president Tom Rennie inquired about hotel availability in the last week of July for the Pennsylvania State Little League 8-9-10 tournament, which is being hosted by the league, he got a chuckle from management. That’s because Pittsburgh Steelers training camp at Latrobe starts on the...
Brady Pevarnik, Darin Kowalski share West Penn Amateur lead after 2 rounds
Latrobe graduate Brady Pevarnik used a strong first round and shares the lead with South Hills Country Club Darin Kowalski at the 122nd Western Pennsylvania Golf Association Amateur tournament at Butler. The duo shot an even-par 140 for two rounds, both played Monday. The field was cut to the low...
Latrobe, Bushy Run Legion teams lose, will meet in semis
District 31 American Legion champion Latrobe and third-place finisher Bushy Run advanced to the Pennsylvania Region 7 semifinals Tuesday despite losing their first games. Latrobe split its two games, defeating host Bedford, 2-1, and falling to Beech Creek, 8-6, on a walk-off grand slam by Ty Houtz. Pool A was...
From success at Penn State to 1st pro tournament, Greensburg native climbing tennis ladder
When Loren Byers was 17, he won the USTA National Level 3 Tennis Championship in Arizona. The win helped Byers gain recognition across the country, and he eventually climbed the national ranks. “The person I beat in my last match was pretty high ranked, so that helped out my ranking,”...
New Kensington gym sends 5 young female boxers to nationals
Not a lot of gyms can say they are taking five female boxers to a national tournament, but Sanctuary Boxing Club in New Kensington accomplished that feat. Rich Cantolina, a professional boxer and the coach of Sanctuary Boxing, sees the potential in his gym and in his boxers. “These girls...
Freeport ballplayers stick together on successful team in Butler County league
In an era when community baseball teams often are fragmented, Freeport has kept together enough homegrown players to form a competitive team. Freeport’s entry in the Butler County Area Baseball League is getting set for next week’s double-elimination playoff to determine a league champion. Freeport has a 9-6 record this...
Hoffman walk-off grand slam rallies Bushy Run past Young Township
Brody Hoffman hit a grand slam on a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Bushy Run walked off with a 7-5 victory against Young Township on Sunday in the Pennsylvania American Legion Region 7 tournament at Bedford. Hoffman’s blast highlighted a five-run seventh...
Penn Township Junior Legion baseball looks to defend regional, state titles
The Penn Township Junior Legion baseball team had its eye on another Westmoreland County Youth Legion title July 10. Murrysville, especially Owen Sinclair, spoiled that celebration. Sinclair hit three home runs and drove in six runs to lead Murrysville to a 7-2 victory in the championship game at the Penn...
Bushy Run, Latrobe pick up wins in Region 7 Legion tournament
Gavin Good’s three-run double with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning rallied Bushy Run to an 8-5 victory against St. Michael on Saturday in the Pennsylvania American Legion Region 7 tournament at Everett High School. Bushy Run, the third-seeded team from District 31, rallied from a 5-0...
