Westmoreland high school notebook: Late Jeannette star enters national hall of fame

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, June 21, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Posthumously, the late Zach Washington became the fifth former Jeannette standout to be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.

Washington’s children, Zach Washington Jr. and Laurie Washington, spoke on behalf of their father last weekend at a ceremony at Umstattd Hall in Canton, Ohio.

Washington was 80 when he died in 2010.

There were 34 inductees in the hall’s third class, which also included longtime Upper St. Clair coach Jim Render and former Steel Valley and NFL quarterback Charlie Batch.

Other big-name players to be enshrined included Ray Lewis, Warren Moon, Jim Thorpe, Richard Dent and Michael Vick.

Washington, a former big-play quarterback and running back who earned all-conference accolades, joins former Jeannette luminaries in coach Joe Mucci, quarterbacks Dick Hoak and Terrelle Pryor and late running back John Crowell.

The national hall was founded by Lamont “Showboat” Robinson, a Jeannette graduate and former comedy basketball player with the Harlem Globetrotters, Harlem Road Kings and other teams.

“It was a packed house,” Lamont Robinson said. “We had people from all over the globe.”

Render and Batch attended the ceremony, along with many of the other inductees who received their red blazers.

Tre magnifique

Jeannette will continue to honor one of its top three-sport athletes with a basketball tournament that is becoming a local summer staple.

The fifth annual Tre Cunningham Memorial Basketball Tournament will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Jeannette elementary and high school gymnasiums.

The boys varsity tournament will feature 10 teams: returning WPIAL 2A champion Jeannette, Westmont Hilltop, Imani Christian, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Norwin, Indiana, Geibel and WPIAL 4A champion Belle Vernon.

Jeannette and Belle Vernon will play each other at 7 p.m. Friday.

Hempfield will be led by first-year coach Austin Butler, the former Latrobe standout.

Indiana and Imani Christian are new to the event, which tips at 6 p.m. Thursday at the high school.

After pool play Thursday and Friday, teams will play a single-elimination tournament Saturday with play beginning at 9 a.m.

The team champion receives the annual championship chain, and the most valuable player gets a $1,000 scholarship.

Proceeds benefit the Jeannette Educational Foundation and the Tre Cunningham Memorial Scholarship.

Lind all-state

Belle Vernon senior pitcher Parker Lind was named to the Pennsylvania State Baseball Coaches Association Class 4A all-state first team.

A Kent State commit, Lind went 9-1 this season with a 0.70 ERA and 115 strikeouts and 28 walks in 59 2/3 innings.

Recruiting

A few local football players are garnering interest from Division III schools.

The three players are rising seniors.

Hempfield quarterback Dom Detruf has an offer to play at Baldwin-Wallace, Greensburg Central Catholic receiver and defensive back Jerry Davis received an offer to play at Marietta, and Shenandoah offered former Mt. Pleasant running back/linebacker Brody Hutter.

Hutter transferred to River Valley. He also has an offer from Baldwin-Wallace.

• Jayla Peterson, a rising senior basketball standout at Greensburg Central Catholic, was offered to play at Division III Washington & Jefferson.

• Westmoreland County Community College landed another standout player from Serra Catholic in Owen Dumbroski, a utility player who pitched and played in the middle infield for the WPIAL champion Eagles.

WCCC also recently received a commitment from standout pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette, Mt. Pleasant