Aug 17, 2020 3 min read

It wasn’t easy but Jamie Moore made sure some of his Wayneburg Central baseball players got on the diamond this summer.

After missing the high school season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moore fielded a squad in the Western Pennsylvania Baseball League and then had the coronavirus strike again with a positive test in the Central Greene School District, prompting the coach to suspend his team’s schedule temporarily.

Added to that was a roster that was in flux for most of the WPSBL season and a finale that was suspended one day by lightning. Waynesburg lost its playoff opener, 17-3, to Baldwin at Boyce Mayview Park in a game that began July 27 and finished July 28.

Through it all, Moore saw a silver lining.

“We were a bit short-handed,” Moore said of the playoff loss. “We had some kids out due to vacation and some who were back from vacation but, with COVID restrictions, they had to be cleared and so couldn’t play. We actually had a couple Pony League kids come up and play, which is good for them.

“I was grateful for the opportunity. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Geno Sedlak. He and a couple other umpires really got things rolling with this summer league. I was happy the boys got to get out and play.”

Moore felt the league provided good experience for his players and a last hurrah for seniors.

“A couple of our seniors did play on the team,” Moore said. “Justin Goodman played most of the season but went on vacation the last week. Trevor Stephenson has been working at his job although he played on senior night.

“Most of our kids came out and played at one point or another. They weren’t there every game but they were there some of the time. We had one boy from Jefferson-Morgan, Bryce Bedilion, who played with us the whole time.”

Moore has a couple college recruits returning next season who played in the WPSBL as well.

“Lincoln Pack was a freshman who is a WVU verbal commit, a very talented player, middle infielder, very strong at the plate,” Moore said. “He got to play some games for us and did really well. He’s been playing in Morgantown for several years and has had some exposure.

“We had several juniors playing for us who are looking to make an impact next year in high school. Tyler Switalski played travel ball but played some games for us, too. He just recently committed to Gardner-Webb. Logan Higgins is another one. Matt Ankrom was a sophomore who caught a lot of the games for us.”

Moore is ready to turn the page and prepare for what he hopes will be a more normal 2021 season.

“At least the kids got playing time of some kind, which we weren’t sure was going to happen back in the spring with the virus,” Moore said. “Hopefully, everything will be a go next year.”