A step up
Improved Raiders earned section title, won playoff game
A year ago, Waynesburg Central蘑菇视频 baseball team let a section title slip away with a couple late-season losses to Mount Pleasant then fell in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.
Despite a 13-4 overall record, the Raiders felt unfulfilled.
Waynesburg broke through on two fronts in 2025, winning the Section 4-3A championship and securing a playoff victory under first-year coach Perry Cunningham. The Raiders fell short of their ultimate goal of winning a WPIAL championship but nonetheless wound up with a 16-4 record in taking a step up from last year.
鈥淲hen you start off the season in March you set some different goals for your team and certainly there were a variety of those that we did achieve but ultimately we did fall short of a few of them as well,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 make our season a failure by any stretch of the imagination. That蘑菇视频 what I told our kids at the end of the season. We can still look back and be proud of going 16-4 overall and going 11-1 in the section to win the section title outright and winning a playoff game.鈥�
Waynesburg reaped the rewards when the All-Section 4-3A team was released.
Senior Alex VanSickle was named Player of the Year and was voted to the First Team along with teammates Tyler Groves, Austin Surber and Derek Turcheck.
The Raiders put two more players on the second team in Jake Stephenson and CJ Corwin.
VanSickle, who was named to the team as an infielder, played shortstop and also pitched on occasion. He batted .567 with three home runs, 20 RBIs, 10 doubles, four triples, 30 runs and 12 stolen bases.
鈥淭hat award speaks for itself,鈥� Cunningham said of VanSickle蘑菇视频 Player of the Year honor. 鈥淚t was well deserved. I think being that it was voted on by the other coaches that each played two games against him is a testament to the success that he had within our section. There were plenty of at bats where he came up in a big situation and he got the job done.鈥�
Groves, a senior picked as a utility player, was 9-1 on the mound for Waynesburg with a 1.76 ERA. He had 69 strikeouts with 23 walks in 51 鈪� innings and batted fourth in the lineup.
鈥淭yler was a true ace,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淲hen you put him out there you always knew what you were going to get. He threw a one-hitter against Washington and there was always a chance he was going to throw a shutout or have a 10-strikeout game. His pitching overshadowed his hitting numbers but he was a good offensive player who hit close to .400 and was valuable defensively, too, as a center fielder.鈥�
Surber, a junior, was named to the team as pitcher but did just about everything for the Raiders. He was 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA on the mound with 45 strikeouts and 23 walks in 30 鈪� innings.
鈥淎ustin was our Swiss Army knife,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淗e played some games at second base, some at shortstop, he finished the season playing third when he didn鈥檛 pitch. He caught a game for us due to injury early in the season.
鈥淏ut his recognition was for what he did on the mound. He started some games during the back half of our season but during the first half we used him to throw at the end of games, the last two or three innings. I know as a former pitcher those last couple outs, they鈥檙e not built the same and he did the job in closing some games out for us.鈥�
Turcheck, a senior who batted .442 with 19 RBIs and 11 stolen bases, was named to the team as an infielder.
鈥淒erek was a very consistent hitter,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淓very day we knew what we were going to get. He certainly had his fair share of big his for us as well and he蘑菇视频 another one who wreaked some havoc on the base paths.鈥�
Stephenson, a senior who hit .441 with 17 RBIs and 11 stolen bases, made the Second Team as an outfielder.
鈥淭he thing about Jake is didn鈥檛 play baseball since he was a freshman,鈥� Cunningham pointed out. 鈥淗e played in 19 of our 20 games. With the athleticism he possesses you can see why he蘑菇视频 going to wrestle at Fairmont State. He蘑菇视频 just a really good athlete, one of the fastest kids I鈥檝e ever seen on a baseball field. And he was very Instinctual for some who hadn鈥檛 played baseball for a couple years, he could read the game.鈥�
Corwin, a junior, made the Second Team as a utility player. He batted .357 and had an ERA of 1.37.
鈥淐J contributed offensively but had a little more value as a pitcher,鈥� Cunningham said. 鈥淭here were some games where he had to come in and finish for us. He always did what we asked him, which was throw strikes, pitch to contact and let your team work behind you. CJ did that just about as well as anybody on our team.鈥�
Cunningham feels the 2025 squad helped set the bar for next year蘑菇视频 team to strive for.
鈥淐ertainly, with our seniors, we鈥檙e going to have a lot of big holes we have to fill, but at the time I think they set the tone, set the example and provided the leadership for this season and beyond,鈥� Cunningham said.
鈥淣ow, hopefully, our underclassmen have an understanding of what it蘑菇视频 going to take and what the expectations are going to be moving forward.鈥�