Author: Beaver County Radio

Steelers begin life after Brown, draft WR Diontae Johnson

Steelers begin life after Brown, draft WR Diontae Johnson
OkBy WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers expect third-round picks Diontae Johnson and Justin Layne to get their hands on the ball. That’s where the similarities in their job descriptions end.
The Steelers began the process of reloading following the high-profile departure of star wide receiver Antonio Brown by taking Johnson with the 66th overall selection in the NFL draft on Friday night then took aim at a secondary in serious need of a ballhawk or two by grabbing Layne with the 83rd pick.
Johnson understands the parallels he shares with Brown. Both are 5-foot-10. Both are around 180 pounds. Both played collegiately in the Mid-American Conference. Both posted 40-yard dash times that didn’t exactly dazzle pro scouts.
Yet Johnson — selected with a pick the Steelers acquired when they sent Brown to Oakland in March — knows that’s where the parallels end. Brown is a great player. The three-year letterman at Toledo is eager to write his own story.
“At the end of the day, I can only be me,” Johnson said. “Do what I do best.”
Namely, attack defenses in a way that renders his lack of breakaway speed — at least according to the stopwatch — meaningless. The player who ran a so-so 4.53-second, 40-yard dash won over the Steelers’ coaching staff with his ability to win one-on-one battles at the line of scrimmage.
Head coach Mike Tomlin noticed Johnson first then sent wide receivers coach Darry Drake to do some digging. What Drake found turned him into Johnson’s biggest advocate in the team’s draft war room.
“He’s a tremendously gifted young man,” Drake said. “The most natural catcher that I’ve seen in a while. … He doesn’t have great timed speed but he plays the game fast. He’s really, really good against the press and this is a press league. DBs walk up to your face and try to fingerprint you. He gets off bumps, gets in and out of his breaks as well as anybody I’ve seen in a long time.”
Johnson caught 43 passes for 663 yards and seven touchdowns for the Rockets as a redshirt junior last season and was named the MAC’s Special Teams Player of the Year after returning a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns. He’ll likely get a chance at special teams too, where Brown first distinguished himself after being taken in the sixth round out of Central Michigan in 2010 before developing into one of the top receivers in the league.
Brown’s record-setting run in Pittsburgh ended with an ugly divorce in the offseason, with the Steelers sending him to the Raiders. They used one of the picks they acquired from Oakland to grab a player that joins a room that will have a decidedly different feel with the prolific but also high-maintenance Brown out west.
This is the third straight season the Steelers have taken a wide receiver in the top three rounds of the draft. They selected JuJu Smith-Schuster in the second round in 2017 and James Washington in the second round last year. Pittsburgh signed former Jacksonville Jaguar Donte Moncrief to a two-year deal in March and also have Ryan Switzer and Eli Rogers in the mix.
Drake likes Johnson’s versatility and expects the Steelers will move him around instead of just sticking him in the slot. Drake also isn’t worried about Johnson’s 40-time. The coach who counts Larry Fitzgerald among his former pupils doesn’t believe the stopwatch tells the whole story.
“We want that guy, that blazer but normally with that package of that dynamic speed, very seldom do you get the total package,” Drake said. “This guy has the ability to be a total package guy.”
Pittsburgh is hoping to one day say the same about Layne, who arrived at Michigan State as a wide receiver before moving to cornerback during his freshman season to help address a spate of injuries at the position. At 6-2 and 192 pounds he has the size to be a potential difference maker on the outside for a secondary that picked off just five passes in 2018.
“He’s competitive, he’s not afraid to throw it up in there,” Steelers defensive backs coach Teryl Austin said. “He’s got a lot of good things to work with.”
Even if Layne didn’t always get a chance to show it. He picked off just three passes during his career with the Spartans, though his 15 pass breakups in 2018 ranked among the top 10 in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Layne called the move from offense to defense “nothing major.” Last he checked, the game is still the game.
“I’ve been playing both ways my whole life,” said Layne, who went to Benedictine High School in Cleveland, the alma mater of late Hall of Fame Steelers coach Chuck Noll. “I’m a football player today. I expected to go in the second round but it’s all good. They’re going to feel me.”
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Bucs lose Sixth straight game 6-2.

Dodgers homer in record 33 straight home games, beat Pirates
By DOUG PADILLA Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cody Bellinger’s one mighty swing of the bat was loaded with historical significance.
Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the first inning and the Dodgers set a major league record with homers in 33 consecutive home games in a 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
Bellinger’s blast was noteworthy for other reasons, too. He moved into a tie for the major league lead for home runs with the Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich at 13 and set the major league record for total bases in the months of March-April with 88. He also set a Dodgers’ record for home runs in March-April, moving past Matt Kemp.
With his total-base mark, he moved past former teammate Chase Utley, who had 85 total bases before the start of May in the 2008 season as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Utley, who now works in baseball operations for the Dodgers, was on hand before Friday’s game.
“It feels pretty cool,” Bellinger said about passing Utley’s mark. “I honestly didn’t know until he told me at the game today. So hopefully he is here (Saturday) so we can talk about it.”
So it was Utley that informed him that a record-breaking night could be ahead?
“No, they told me in the dugout after it happened,” Bellinger said.
With home runs in their first 14 home games this season, the Dodgers also matched this year’s Milwaukee Brewers and the 1962 New York Mets for most consecutive home games with a home run to open a season.
Josh Bell hit a home run for the Pirates, who were otherwise held in check by Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu. The Pirates lost a season-worst sixth consecutive game, a skid that followed a five-game winning streak.
“Like I always say, it’s pretty comfortable pitching at home, especially knowing how my teammates will help me in terms of putting up runs early,” Ryu said through an interpreter. “That has led to successful results. And seeing that consecutive (home-run streak) definitely builds my confidence.”
Ryu (3-1) struck out 10 and gave up two runs over seven innings in his second start since returning from the injured list due to a strained left groin. It was the first time the left-hander reached double-digits in strikeouts since July 13, 2014.
“He pitched us basically as we anticipated because he had good stuff, he mixed his pitches well,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He kept the ball away, he kept the ball down, the cutter played in tight. We had early opportunities we weren’t able to get traction with and that hurt us.”
Pirates starter Chris Archer (1-2) gave up six runs on six hits over four innings, the most earned runs he has allowed in an outing since Aug. 26 of last season at Milwaukee. Heading into the game, Pirates starters had given up 11 home runs, the fewest in baseball.
Bellinger’s home run in the first was his eighth at Dodger Stadium this season. Austin Barnes added a solo shot in the second inning, his third of the season.
“If I had my slider working like it normally is working, then I’m able to (put away hitters),” Archer said. “Tonight, I didn’t. I left a change-up up to Bellinger, which, you know, it happens. Anything that dude sees right now, he’s smashing. But other than that, most of the damage was on sliders that I left over the plate or fastballs that I didn’t locate well enough.”
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Adam Frazier and Melky Cabrera each singled four pitches into the game and Frazier scored when Gregory Polanco grounded into a double play. The Pirates fell to 12-6 when scoring first.
NO WALKING ZONE
Friday’s outing was Ryu’s third in five tries in which he did not walk a batter. He has given only two free passes in 27 1/3 innings this season.
Both of Ryu’s walks this year were on borderline pitches, and he has not walked a batter at home since Aug. 26 of last season. In that stretch, he has struck out 58 batters over 56 innings.
Pinpoint control has always been a priority for the lefty. He’s executing that plan well of late.
“I guess it all goes back to how I was taught going back to elementary school,” Ryu said. “People around me told me how it’s better to give up a homer than a base on balls. Unfortunately, that led to consecutive games of me giving up homers right now. That is the downside, but at least I don’t have anybody that gets on base for free. It’s just the nature of how I attack hitters.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: Outfielder Corey Dickerson, who has been out since April 4 because of a shoulder strain, is set to join Triple-A Indianapolis at Charlotte for a minor league rehab assignment.
Dodgers: Catcher Russell Martin, who has been out since April 10 with a back injury, participated in a simulated game at Dodger Stadium and is expected to be in the starting lineup Sunday, manager Dave Roberts said. . Right-hander Tony Cingrani, who hasn’t pitched this season because of shoulder soreness, threw on the side and could be headed on a rehab assignment next week, according to Roberts.
UP NEXT
Joe Musgrove (1-1, 1.59 ERA), who has left each of his last two starts with a lead in the seventh inning, will take the mound Saturday at Los Angeles. Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 2.77) will make his third start of the season Saturday, after delivering a quality start at Milwaukee on Sunday despite four walks.
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NRA No Longer The Player It Once Was In Presidential Politics

Washington, D.C. (AP) – The National Rifle Association is no longer the dominant force it was when it played a pivotal role in President Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. Three years later, it’s limping toward the next election divided and diminished. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will headline the NRA’s annual convention in Indianapolis on Friday.

Amish Population In PA’s Lancaster County Continues To Grow Each Year

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities. The U.S. Census Bureau says the county added about 2,500 people in 2018. LNP reports that about 1,000 of them were Amish. Elizabethtown College researchers say Lancaster County’s Amish population reached 33,143 in 2018, up 3.2% from the previous year.

Kickoff Support Event For Sen. Bernie Sanders To Be Held In Ambridge Tomorrow

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS’ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN WILL HOLD AN ORGANIZING KICK-OFF EVENT IN AMBRIDGE TOMORROW. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS A PREVIEW. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

Aliquippa Council Adopts Restore PA Resolution

ALIQUIPPA COUNCIL HAS ADOPTED THE ‘RESTORE PA’ RESOLUTION. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS MORE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

American Lung Association Gives Pittsburgh Failing Grade For Air Quality

The American Lung Association is again giving Pittsburgh a failing grade for air quality.  In their annual report, the Lung Association ranked Pittsburgh as having the seventh worst year-round particle pollution and more unhealthy days of high ozone compared to last year.  Pittsburgh went the wrong way when it comes to particle pollution compared to last year while most other cities showed their best progress in that area.

Heritage Valley Sewickley To Host Walk With A Doc Saturday At Quake Valley

HERITAGE VALLEY HEALTH SYSTEM WILL HOST A WALK WITH A DOC EVENT AT 9:00 TOMORROW MORNING ON THE TRACK AT QUAKER VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL. THE WALK WITH A DOC PROGRAM BRING DOCTORS AND PATIENTS TOGETHER TO WALK AND BE MORE ACTIVE. HERITAGE VALLEY WILL HOST AT LEAST FOUR MORE WALK WITH A DOC EVENTS THROUGHOUT ALLEGHENY AND BEAVER COUNTIES. THEY ARE:

MAY 7TH AT SEWICKLEY VALLEY YMCA

MAY 9TH AT THE BEAVER COUNTY YMCA

MAY 22ND AT THE BEAVER VALLEY MALL

JUNE 13TH AT THE BEAVER COUNTY YMCA.

WALKS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO ANYONE.

Beaver County Charity Planning To Give Thousands Of Bikes To Kids

A Beaver County charity is planning to give one-thousand bikes to kids in Beaver County. Communicycle, a group that repairs and distributes bicycles to kids in the area, is making that commitment for this summer. So far, volunteers from local churches and businesses have been volunteering time fixing up some old bikes for distribution.

Saturday Is National Drug Take-Back Day

Western Pennsylvanians can get rid of unwanted prescription drugs this weekend. The annual National Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at dozens of police stations and other locations. Organizers say the event will keep opioids and other drugs out of abusers’ hands. You can search for a drop-off site at DEATakeBack.com.