Jan 19, 2022 3 min read

Four people with local ties, including a former major leaguer, a current major college basketball official, a college football coordinator and a trailblazer for female athletes, were announced Wednesday as members of the 2022 induction class for the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

Selected to the 16-member class were Brian Simmons (Peters Township), Ron Tyburski (Monessen), Ruth Ann Burke (former Peters Township teacher and coach) and current California University football offensive coordinator Chad Salisbury.

Simmons won 10 varsity letters in four varsity sports at Peters Township and was named all-section in both basketball and baseball. He also competed in the WPIAL golf tournament.

Simmons’ best sport was baseball. A switch-hitting outfielder, Simmons went on to a standout career at the University of Michigan and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 35th round out of high school in 1992 and in the second round by the Chicago White Sox in 1995.

Simmons played 10 seasons of professional baseball, making his major league debut with the White Sox in 1998. His final season in the majors was 2001 with Toronto.

Tyburski was selected in the Officials category. A Monessen graduate, Tyburski is currently one of the nation’s top college basketball officials, working games in numerous conferences including ACC and Big Ten. He has officiated 14 WPIAL championship games (6 basketball, 5 baseball, 3 football) and three PIAA finals (2 basketball, 1 baseball).

Burke was chosen in the Contributor category. She helped form the league formerly known as the WPGAL, which gave high school girls the opportunity to compete in the 1960s. She was the first female member of the WPIAL Board of Control, serving on it and both the WPIAL and PIAA Steering Committees for girls sports.

Salisbury passed for more than 4,500 yards and 44 touchdowns at Frazier. He scored 1,700 points in basketball for the Commodores and batted .400 with 10 home runs in baseball. He was named all-stat5e in both football and baseball.

Salisbury played quarterback at New Mexico State and the University at Buffalo, and played eight seasons in the Arena Football League.

He recently completed his fifth year as California’s offensive coordinator after serving as quarterbacks coach for the Vulcans for eight seasons.

Others selected to the 2022 induction class were Dion Bentley (Penn Hills, track), Mallory Dietrich (Oakland Catholic, swimming), Bob Gorinski (Mt. Pleasant, football and baseball), Micah Mason (Highlands, basketball), Jason Nolf (Kittanning, wrestling), Brianne O’Rourke (Oakland Catholic, basketball), Robert Kalp (Hempfield, softball coach), Chuck Tursky (Kiski and Burrell, wrestling coach), Johnny Lujack (Connellsville, football), Sydney Willig (Courage Award, Norwin soccer), 1990 Aliquippa girls basketball team and the 2011 Mars girls soccer team.