Walter Jones
Walter D. "Wally" Jones � one of the top all-around athletes to come out of the Mercer County area in the late 1940s and early 1950s � is the 2018 posthumous inductee to the Mercer County Hall of Fame.
At Sharon High School, he was a standout in football, basketball and baseball. During his baseball career for the Tigers, they lost a tough 5-4 decision to Crafton in the WPIAL Championship game. He pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against New Brighton in the WPIAL playoffs opener.
In his legendary football career at Sharon, he once drop-kicked a field goal from the 12-yard line to give the Tigers a 9-6 win over Stowe. He went on to play halfback in football at Northwestern University, before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh.
He was MVP of the N.Y. Military Academy football team in 1949 and signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But he quit the Steelers because he had two years of military training to uphold. He still played football in the service.
Wally was also an outstanding independent baseball player, as a member of the Stambaugh Merchants, Westinghouse and Youngstown Manufacturers teams. He umpired Little League baseball and coached his own Optimist Football Team for 3 years.