Pincavitch out as Waynesburg baseball coach
The email did not contain much detail, but it shook Kevin Pincavitch. All he could think as he slowly read each word was: why?
The 44-year-old longtime high school coach did not have much time for anger or doubts. Despite leading Waynesburg High School’s varsity baseball team to the WPIAL playoffs this spring, Pincavitch was told by athletic director Russ Moore to attend a school board meeting Tuesday night, where he could plead his case for retaining his job.
Several parents and one player spoke on Pincavitch’s behalf before he approached the board Tuesday night. Flanked by 10 of his players, Pincavitch’s eyes swelled with tears and he had trouble mustering the first sentence. The message was concise, yet clear: the program had improved under his leadership and he was more than qualified to continue his duties moving forward.
After an hour-long executive session, the Central Greene School Board voted to open the position of varsity head baseball coach effective immediately. Under Pincavitch, the Raiders went 30-34 and advanced to the WPIAL playoffs in two of his four years. Two of those seasons were spent in Class AAA.
At question was an incident brought to the board’s attention in which a player was allegedly the subject of a joke.
Attempts to reach Moore and board president Andrew Corfont for comment were unsuccessful, but Superintendent Brian Uplinger said there there were several factors that were considered.
“That did play a role and it wasn’t the only thing,” Uplinger said. “There were some people who came forward indicating their distrust in him as a coach. He certainly has the opportunity to apply for the position once it’s ready to post. That wasn’t the only thing. There’s more to it than Kevin thinks.”
Pincavitch feels that is wrong.
“I don’t know where the distrust would come from,” he said.
“The biggest problem at Waynesburg is I don’t play favorites as a coach. There is no pecking order where a senior plays over a freshman and that upset some people.”
Pinkavitch was invited to reapply for the position.
“Every parent besides one has approached me and basically said, ‘Are you kidding me?,'” Pincavitch said. “My kids are awesome. They always did what I asked. I owe it to them to reapply. To take them from where they were to where they are now, I must have been doing something right.”
I’ve done everything right for four years.”
Pincavitch described the incident in question to the board at Tuesday night. Pincavitch explained that a senior player entered the team’s dugout wearing a larger-than-normal protective cup. Pincavitch made a comment that the cup looked more like a teapot. The joke drew laughs and stuck throughout the season. On senior recognition, Pinkavitch asked the boy’s parents if they could play the song, “I’m a little teapot,” when he was introduced.
The parents agreed and, according to Pinkavitch, it drew laughs from the crowd, including the player and his family. Pincavitch said another player’s family had an issue with the situation and brought it to the attention of the school board.
“The song wasn’t making fun of anyone,” Pincavitch said. “The kid enjoyed it, his family enjoyed it, everyone enjoyed it. I 100 percent did nothing wrong.”
The Raiders are arguably the top returning team in Section 2-AA. After playing two seasons in Class AAA against programs with much larger enrollments, Waynesburg returned to Class AA in 2015 and finished in second place in the section before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
The Raiders succeeded despite losing seven starters from 2014, and returned just two pitchers with varsity experience. Waynesburg will have all but four players back next spring.
“We had the program trending upward, but it looks like I won’t be there to see it through,” Pincavitch said. “I told the board how I felt, but I think they already had their story set straight. I’m going to apply, but with a situation like that, it’s probably not going to happen.”
Pincavitch, a Mapletown graduate, played four seasons of collegiate baseball at California University, where he finished his career as one of the program’s career strikeout leaders. He was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 and advanced as high as Class AA San Antonio.
He was released after the 1997 season and spent several years in independent leagues as a player and coach. He had coaching stints with the Adirondak (New York) and Bangor (Maine) Lumberjacks, and spent 2005 as the pitching coach for the Wild Things. Pincavitch went on to coach several different sports at Mapletown before being hired at Waynesburg in 2011.
Pincavitch said if there are other issues involved, he’s not aware of them.
“I’ve never done anything in my career to hurt any of these kids or any other kid I’ve coached,” Pincavitch said. “For them to question my integrity is beyond me. I was never called by my athletic director or superintendent about the situation. I was notified by email. They went straight to the school board and opened my job.”
Staff writer Chelsea Dicks contributed to this story