Jun 8, 2019 6 min read

The basepaths have taken Brian Simmons through many accomplishments in baseball. Now, it has landed him in the hall of fame.

Simmons will be one of the honorees at the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame banquet.

The banquet will be held Friday, June 14 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Meadow Lands. Ticket prices are $45 each. Tables of 10 are $450. The ceremony starts at 6 p.m.

Make checks payable to P.S.H.O.F. Mail checks to PSHOF, PO Box 921, Washington, PA, 15301 or go to wash-greenesportshall.org and purchase your tickets through Paypal.

Joining Simmons in the class are Jeff Casper (Trinity), Emily Briggs (Chartiers-Houston), Mike Deegan (Trinity), Drew Headlee (Waynesburg), George Linck (Washington), Blanca D’Hoedt (Trinity), Sarah Riske (Peters Township), Patrick Sadler (Trinity), Jim Morris (South Hills Catholic), Penny Starkey (Abington H.S., Philadelphia), Joe Marconi (Special Honoree) and the 1973-74 Jefferson-Morgan football team (Team of Yesteryear).

The follow is a brief bio on a portion of the athletes.

Brian Simmons

n Peters Township High School

n University of Michigan

Simmons played in three Major League Baseball seasons with the Chicago White Sox (1998 and 1999) and the Toronto Blue Jays (2001). He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1992 in the 35th round but opted to attend the University of Michigan on a baseball scholarship. As a Wolverine, he was named to the Mizuno Honorable Mention Freshman Team in 1993. He was a member of the Big 10 Conference All-Tournament team in 1994. He is fourth all-time in triples at Michigan with 12 and ranks 20th all-time home runs with 20.

Simmons was selected by the White Sox in the second round of the 1995 draft. In September 1998, while playing for Chicago against Kansas City, he hit home runs from both sides of the plate to establish an MLB record for fewest at bats required to turn such a feat in an MLB career.

Leg injuries forced him out of the majors. He ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2000 and an ankle injury to the same foot while playing at Class AAA in the San Francisco Giants’ organization in 2002. He played two more minor-league seasons before his career ended.

Sarah Riske McGlamery

n Peters Township High School

n Vanderbilt University

Riske was a two-time PIAA girls singles champion in 1998 and 1999 for Peters Township high School. She won a National Under 18 Grass Court Championship.

Riske was a four-time All-American at Vanderbilt University and was part of a team at Vanderbilt that finished second in the nation during her sophomore year. She was an outstanding singles and doubles player for the Commodores. During her senior season, she was ranked No. 1 in doubles and in the top 10 in singles in the nation.

Her professional record was 71-60, compiled mainly from 2003-2005 in the International Tennis Federation. Riske’s best professional season was 28-21 in 2004.

Patrick Sadler

n Trinity High School

n Gulf Coast Community College/California U. Pa.

While at Trinity, Sadler was a four-year starter, playing catcher, shortstop and pitcher. He was a two-year letterman in basketball and two-time Pennsylvania High School preseason All-American nominee. He helped Trinity to its first PIAA playoff game in 2000 and the school’s first state playoff game victory over State College.

Sadler was the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Athlete of the Week in April, 2000 and in 2001 was USA today’s top 50 players in the country honorable mention. He was ranked the 83rd best player in the country in high school by Baseball America in 2001.

At California University, Sadler was a 2004 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference second-team catcher and started all 51 games. In 2005, he was PSAC West All-Star first-team utility player and started 48 of 50 games. He had a career batting average of .346 and helped the Vulcans to the school’s first PSAC championship.

Sadler was signed as a free agent by Ohio Valley as a catcher-first baseman in 2005 and selected in the dispersal draft in 2006 by the Washington Wild Things as a pitcher. He had a pro record of 7-3 with a 4.23 ERA and three saves.

Penny Starkey

n Abington Senior High School (Philadelphia)

n University of Pittsburgh

Starkey was a long-time physical education teacher and coach for Washington High School. She started and pioneered female athletics at Washington High School. In the spring of 1974, she inaugurated girl’s track at Wash High and in the fall of ’74 she started and coached girls’ volleyball and basketball at the school.

Starkey coached volleyball and track for five years and basketball for two years. She resumed coaching volleyball in the fall of 1985 and in 1988 hired Nancy Gaul as her assistant. They coached together for 11 years and in that span, Wash High won 10 section championships. She finished with a 19-year record of 168-65.

Starkey coached track under Don Clendaniel and Guy Montecalvo and the girls team from 1974-78 finished as runner-up in the WPIAL team championships. She ended her career in 2004 as track coordinator.

Starkey also coached tennis in 1984 and was an umpire with ASA softball from 1988-1997, serving as vice president for several years in the local chapter.

Joe Marconi

n Special Honoree

A native of Fredericktown, Marconi was a powerful running back who enjoyed a long, successful career in the NFL. He ranks high on the list of great West Virginia University football players. Marconi was the No. 1 draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1956 and rushed for 298 yards and seven touchdowns during his rookie season. The following season, he rushed 104 times for a career-best 481 yards and scored three TDs.

After totaling 1,769 yards and 21 TDs for the Rams, Marconi was traded to the Chicago Bears before the 1962 season. He played five seasons with the Bears, with his best year as a professional coming in 1963, when he rushed for 446 yards and two touchdowns while helping Chicago to the NFL title. For his efforts, he was selected to play in the 1964 Pro Bowl, the crowning achievement in his 11-year professional career.

Marconi played two more years, 1965 and 1966, but injuries and age kept him out of a lot of the action. He rushed for 2,771 career yards and caught 136 passes for 1,326 yards while accounting for 39 total TDs in the NFL.

At WVU, Marconi rushed for 998 career yards on 181 carries. He also scored 18 TDs. He was a member of the 1954 Sugar Bowl team. Marconi an All-Southern Conference back, helped WVU to a 31-7 record during his four years, including a 30-game winning streak in the Southern Conference.

He was selected to play in the College Football All-Star Game and the Blue-Gray Game after his senior year.