George Guido: Alle-Kiski Valley loses 2 Sports Hall of Fame legends last week

By: George Guido
Sunday, March 13, 2022 | 1:39 PM

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On June 17, 1983, Riverview baseball coach Bill Beebe had a decision to make.

Pitch the same person who threw the previous day in the PIAA championship game or take the cautious approach with a fresh arm.

For Beebe, the decision was easy.

“It’s not worth ruining a kid’s arm over one game,” Beebe said.

There were no pitching limitations at the time. A pitcher theoretically could pitch every inning of every game. Beebe would have none of that.

Instead, Ed Rayburg, who had a 12-1 record that season, didn’t pitch. Bob Shoop got the starting nod.

Schuylkill Haven used the same pitcher who threw the previous day in the semifinals. He tired under the 90-degree heat, and Riverview became the first Alle-Kiski Valley baseball team to win a PIAA title.

Beebe, who had a long association with coaching and teaching at Oakmont High School and, later, Riverview, died March 6. He was 78.

“Coach Beebe and all of my coaches at the time had a profound effect on me,” said Shoop, now defensive coordinator at South Florida in the American Athletic Conference. “Coach (Chuck) Wagner, coach (Jack) Schmitt all made better people, collectively, of our players.”

Beebe was an outstanding baseball player while growing up in Oil City. He played in the 1961 American Legion all-star game. Sharing outfield duties with him was Joe Namath. People forget what a great baseball player Namath was, though he was on his way to play football at Alabama under coach Bear Bryant shortly after the all-star game.

Beebe was inducted in the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, Shoop in 2010.

“Coach Beebe stuck with his routine that season and got us on the path to win it,” Shoop said.

Beebe is survived by his wife of 33 years, Roseanne, along with children Karen and Bill and stepchildren Albert, Dean and Dana.

Funeral arrangements were made by English Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Inc., of Oakmont.

The family suggests memorial contributions be made in Bill’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org.

Jarosinski dies

Another local hall of famer died last Tuesday.

Rob “Bull” Jarosinski, linebacker on the 1981 Freeport WPIAL runner-up and later at Clarion, died Tuesday after battling cancer.

While with the Yellowjackets, he was a two-time Allegheny Conference selectee and played for the last of legendary coach Don Earley’s five WPIAL finalists at Freeport. He went on to Clarion, where he was a three-year starter and a member of the Golden Eagles 1983 PSAC championship team.

After a brief teaching and coaching stint, he became a funeral director for 31 years, most recently with Thompson-Miller Funeral Home of Butler, which also handled his arrangements.

A celebration of life service will be held at a later date.

Jarosinski was inducted into the Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.