Mt. Pleasant’s Pitzer, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Brewer win Driscoll awards

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 | 10:11 PM

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It takes a special person to find a way to mix academics and athletics.

Greensburg Central Catholic’s Corinn Brewer and Mt. Pleasant Dayton Pitzer did just that.

The seniors not only are outstanding athletes, they are exceptional students. That’s why they were chosen as the Judge John J. Driscoll Excellence Award winners at the 66th Annual Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete banquet Wednesday at Ferrante’s Lakeview.

Brewer and Pitzer were selected as this year’s winners by a committee of the 18 county school athletic directors. The committee selected 13 finalists, and from that group they picked the male and female winner.

The other finals were Penn-Trafford’s Cade Yacamelli and Gwendolyn Hershberger, Greensburg Salem’s Billy McChesney and Abigail Mankins, Derry’s Tiana Moracco, Southmoreland’s Grace Spadaro, Franklin Regional’s Anthony DiFalco, Belle Vernon’s Morgan Elizabeth Einodshofer, Ligonier Valley’s Maddie Griffin, Latrobe’s Tyler Lynch and Hempfield’s Katelyn Ross.

Last year’s winners were Haylie Brunson of Mt. Pleasant and Ian Oswalt of Burrell.

Pitzer was a three-time WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A wrestling champion. He had 100 career pins and a 4.0 GPA. He’ll attend Pitt.

“Winning this means a lot,” Pitzer said. “I’m so grateful. There were a lot of great people here. To be picked is special.”

Brewer is one of the top track and field athletes in the state. She carried a 4.36 GPA. She competes in numerous events and will pole vault and compete in the heptathlon at Notre Dame.

“I wasn’t expecting to win, but I knew I was going against a lot of good girls,” Brewer said. “I knew I had a good resume. I thought there was a chance I’d win. It’s very exciting to know that all my hard work paid off. And it’s being shown and seen.”

Mt. Lebanon football Bob Palko was the guest speaker. He spoke about how graduation is just the beginning to your next stage in life.

Palko started his high school coaching career at Jeannette.

Retired Jeannette football coach Roy Hall was honored as the Michael and John Ferrante Memorial Award for his contributions to high school athletics.

Hall said he was honored to be selected to this prestigious award following in the footsteps of past Jeannette coaches: the late Joe Mucci, Art Tragesser and Bob Murphy.

This is Judge Driscoll’s final year sponsoring the event. Michael Stewart will take over in 2023.

The banquet is sponsored by Ferrante’s Lakeview, Drs. Geoffrey and Greg Bisignani and Excela Health.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Mt. Pleasant