Former Waynesburg assistant baseball coach Perry Cunningham got a new title this offseason. 

Cunningham was hired as the new head coach for the baseball team, replacing the former man in charge in Mike Humiston. 

Cunningham had spent the previous 14 seasons as an assistant/pitching coach for the Yellow Jackets.

He is now the longest-tenured coach at Waynesburg University.

Even though this team is extremely familiar to Cunningham, a new position means new adjustments. 

“I’m responsible for the entire roster, and then there’s all the organizational things,” Cunningham said in an interview on WCTV. “Not something that I’ve done before, but something I’m adjusting to.”

The first action of Cunningham’s head coaching career came during spring break in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The team went 2-4 during the week. Cunningham evaluated his team based on its play, not the record.

“I think we have a lot more talent than 2-4,” Cunningham said. “We [went] to Florida trying to figure out some different things about our roster and situations and ultimately, we were able to accomplish that goal.”

The Jackets this season will rely on a young core of underclassmen. 

Nolan Vertullo, Mike Bell, and Justin Clevenger return for their sophomore seasons and will continue to see regular playing time. 

Going even younger, Waynesburg saw a lot of versatility from freshmen Alec Englemore and Aidan Williams. Both of the Shaler High School products saw time in the outfield and on the mound.

“Those younger guys stuck out to us as a coaching staff for a reason,” Cunningham explained. “I expect to see those guys as pretty big contributors in the lineup moving forward.”

Baseball runs deep in the blood of Perry Cunningham. At Davis and Elkins College, Cunningham was named the conference’s Pitcher of the Year and the school’s Male Athlete of the Year in his senior season. 

He also played professionally for the Ohio Paints in the Frontier League from 2004 to 2007. During that stretch, he finished 2nd all-time in league wins (37), starts (76) and innings pitched (497.2).

Cunningham brings experience with him in his first season as the new leader of this team. With a good mesh of young talent and veteran players, he sees his team as moving in the right direction.

“Our expectations are to just keep growing,” Cunningham expressed. “We just want to win, make the postseason tournament and we’ll see what happens from there.”