Trib HSSN baseball team of the week for April 17, 2025

By: Don Rebel
Friday, April 18, 2025 | 12:24 AM

Trib HSSN baseball team of the week – Waynesburg Central Raiders

Coach: Perry Cunningham (first season)

Record: Waynesburg Central is alone in first place in Section 4-3A with a record of 6-0, 10-1 overall.

#Earned: Waynesburg Central has been good enough to qualify for the WPIAL baseball playoffs in each of the last four years, but the Raiders have yet to win a postseason game this decade. Under first-year coach Perry Cunningham, who spent the last three years as head coach of the Waynesburg University baseball program, the hope is a great start this spring will lead to a long run come playoff time. The Raiders swept two Section 4-3A series coming into this week against Brownsville and Washington, but faced their toughest test in two games against 2023 and 2024 WPIAL 2A champion Seton LaSalle. On Monday at Brookline Community Center Field, Waynesburg Central held a slim 2-1 lead through six innings. However, the Raiders turned a nail-biter into a laugher by scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to win convincingly, 10-2. The next day at Meadowlark Park in Waynesburg, The Rebels plated one run in the top of the first and had the bases loaded with one out but could not add to their lead. Seton LaSalle scored single runs in each of the first three winnings, but each time Waynesburg Central answered — with a run in the first, three in the second and three more in the third. The Raiders kept adding and pulled away to sweep the big series, 14-5. The week ended with the first loss of the season as Waynesburg Central fell to Class 4A No. 2 Belle Vernon, 8-5.

Standout performers: Like most really good high school teams, Waynesburg Central has enjoyed great success on the mound and in the batter’s box. On Monday, senior Tyler Groves continued his sensational season, pitching 6⅔ innings, allowing two earned runs, six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. On offense for the Raiders, senior Alex VanSickle was 2 for 4 with a double and home run, a run scored and two RBIs. Senior Jake Stephenson also had two hits and two RBIs while senior Ethan Kiger and juniors C.J. Corwin and Austin Surber also contributed two hits. On Tuesday, Waynesburg Central pounded out 11 hits with Stephenson leading the way with four hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Kiger and Groves each had two hits while the trio of Kiger, Corwin and sophomore Grant Pack each drove in three runs. On the hill, the combo of Surber and VanSickle combined for seven innings pitched, allowing three earned runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts. In the loss to Belle Vernon, senior Derek Turcheck was 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. VanSickle was 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored.

Last year: A year ago, Waynesburg Central also began the season red hot, winning its first 11 games, including sweeps of Section 4-3A series against Greensburg Salem, Yough, Brownsville and Southmoreland. However, the Raiders dropped three straight games, including a section series against Mt. Pleasant and a nonsection contest at Trinity. In the team’s final section series, Waynesburg Central swept McGuffey to finish in second place at 10-2 in the section, one game behind Mt. Pleasant. The Raiders were slotted as the No. 6 seed in the 2024 WPIAL 3A playoffs and were eliminated in the first round by perennial district power Neshannock, 6-1, to finish the season with a record of 13-4.

Remember when: Long-time Waynesburg Central fans last year got a chance to celebrate the 25th anniversary of arguably the school’s most successful athletic season. The Raiders and their fans had a lot to party about in 1999 as Waynesburg Central won WPIAL gold in both baseball and football that year. In the spring of ’99, the Raiders baseball team defeated Brownsville in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game at Three Rivers Stadium, 7-5. Waynesburg Central then defeated Northern Cambria, Brookville and Brownsville again to reach the PIAA Class 2A championship game, where it fell to Palmyra, 7-2. In the fall of that same year, the Raiders defeated South Park, Center and Brownsville to reach the district Class 2A football championship game at Three Rivers Stadium, where they crushed rival Washington, 30-3. It still is the only championship in both sports for the Greene County high school.

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Tags: Waynesburg