May 8, 2015 4 min read

A baseball team cannot win by allowing opponents to score easy runs. That was the message Waynesburg head coach Kevin Pincavitch delivered to his team following a 7-3 loss to Washington last month. It was the Raiders third consecutive loss and sent them to the bottom of the Section 2-AA standings.

They committed three errors and had just five hits. Waynesburg looked like a team that lost seven starters from last spring and was relying on two freshmen at key spots in the lineup.

The Raiders (10-4) responded by winning nine of their next 10 games to clinch the program’s first playoff appearance since 2012. They learned their fate Friday afternoon when the WPIAL released playoff pairings.

Waynesburg, which received the 14th seed, will open the Class AA playoffs against third-seeded Neshannock (12-5), which shared the Section 5 title, Wednesday at Burkett Field (4:30 p.m.). The Lancers have won four WPIAL titles since 2001, including back-to-back in 2011 and 2012.

“I’m ecstatic. To lose seven starters from last year and have seven guys step in, those guys did a phenomenal job,” Pincavitch said.

The Raiders entered the season with just two pitchers with varsity experience, but two underclassmen helped them develop arguably the top pitching staff in the section.

Freshmen Brandon Turcheck and Trey Rohanna have paired with sophomore Hunter Robinson and senior Joel Rohanna to allow fewer than two runs six times this season. Junior Terry Victor, a right-hander with a strong cutter, has not walked a batter in 14 innings.

Pincavitch is not concerned about playoff seeding. He is confident strong pitching can help Waynesburg build on a current five-game winning streak.

“Those seedings don’t matter at all. The whole key is to score more runs than the other team,” Pincavitch said. “The rest doesn’t matter. The goal was to get into the playoffs and see what happens. I think we can beat anybody right now.”

The Raiders are joined in the Class AA playoffs by Wash High (9-5), which will face fourth-seeded Riverside (14-3) Wednesday at North Allegheny (4 p.m.). The Prexies lost two out of their last three games and the program is looking for its first playoff victory since 2005, a first-round win over Laurel.

Canon-McMillan (13-6), which received the seventh seed after finishing second in Section 5, will open the Class AAAA playoffs Wednesday against Shaler (15-4) at North Allegheny (6:30 p.m.). The Big Macs have lost two straight games after a six-game winning streak.

The defending WPIAL Class A champion, California (17-1), received the top seed and a first-round bye after winning the 25th section title in program history.

“We did expect to get the top seed after Greensburg Central Catholic lost a few games toward the end of the season, but it’s always nice to get that first-round bye,” California head coach Nick Damico said. “We’re just looking to play good baseball and we can’t look ahead.”

The Trojans are averaging more than 12 runs per game behind senior center fielder Aaron Previsky and junior shortstop Louden Conte. They will face the winner of the game between Western Beaver and Brentwood at a date, site and time to be determined.

Expecting to not play its first game until late next week, California treated Thursday’s non-section game against Connellsville as a playoff game. The Trojans defeated the Class AAAA opponent, 6-4, and gained momentum entering the postseason.

“We are just looking to play a perfect game and we’re not there yet,” Damico said. “We are happy and excited to see who we will play.”

Also in Class A, Bentworth (14-4) will face fifth-seeded Serra Catholic (14-5) Tuesday at North Allegheny (6:30 p.m.) and Carmichaels (12-3) plays No. 7 Sewickley Academy (8-6) at Boyce Mayview Park in Upper St. Clair (2 p.m.).