Mental preparedness the key for Waynesburg baseball
Waynesburg Central’s Trey Rohanna (11) is congratulated on his home run by teammate Luke Robinson (12) during a first round WPIAL Class AAA playoff game at Boyce/Mayview Recreation Complex in Upper St. Clair.
Waynesburg Luke Robinson (12) looks on as teammate Trey Rohanna (11) tries to tag South Side Beaver’s Jake McDougal (10) at second base during a first round WPIAL Class AAA playoff game at Boyce/Mayview Recreation Complex in Upper St. Clair.
South Side Beaver’s Nate Statler slides home in front of Waynesburg catcher Tyler Rush during a first round WPIAL Class AAA playoff game at Boyce/Mayview Recreation Complex in Upper St. Clair.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Waynesburg's Hunter Robinson's hit got two runs for Waynesburg in the fifth inning on Saturday, April 5 against Washington.
Entering the WPIAL playoffs last season as the No. 5 seed in Class AAA, the Waynesburg baseball team was poised to make some noise.
Waynesburg went 12-4 in the regular season, including 9-3 in Section 3, and the Raiders had one of the best pitchers in the WPIAL in Hunter Robinson, who is now the No. 2 starting pitcher at California University.
Despite Robinson taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning in the Raiders’ first-round game against No. 12-seeded South Side Beaver, Waynesburg lost the game 4-1 because of costly physical and mental errors in the first inning.
Now, with the 2018 season approaching, new head coach Jamie Moore said the Robinson-less Raiders are focusing on doing “the little things right” to avoid situations like that of last season’s first-round playoff loss.
“I’ve been preaching to pay attention to detail (and) always know the situation,” said Moore, a former assistant who took over the program after Scott VanSickle resigned. “The mental part of the game is huge, so we’ve been talking to them a lot about that. We want to make sure that we’re in the game mentally.”
Headlining the Raiders’ departures from last season is Robinson, who put up video game-like numbers on the mound. The 5-11 righty posted a 0.51 ERA with 80 strikeouts and 25 hits allowed in 55 innings. Robinson also hit and played the outfield last season, logging a .444 on-base percentage.
“It’s never easy to replace someone like Hunter,” Moore said. “He was very valuable to our team. However, we do have a lot of depth this year. We have a big class of juniors, and we have a lot of kids who can throw and throw well. It’s going to be a combination (replacing him). I see a lot of different players stepping up and being in different roles to help make up for that loss.”
Waynesburg also graduated Ryan Braun, Branden Sanders and Dalton Riggenbach. Riggenbach, who played outfield and pitched, was the only other regular starter the Raiders lost from last season.
To lead the offense in 2018, Moore said seniors Brandon Turcheck and Trey Rohanna will need to be key contributors at the plate. Turcheck, who will pitch and play second base after returning from elbow surgery last summer, got on base at a .453 clip last season with only one strikeout in 64 plate appearances. Rohanna, who also pitches and plays shortstop, was the team’s best offensive player last season, posting a .420/.532/.720 slash line.
“They’ve both been starters since their freshman years,” Moore said. “They’re both big contributors and are great leaders. I am definitely expecting big things from them.”
Joining Turcheck and Rohanna in the senior class is catcher Tyler Rush, who hit .333 in 11 games last season.
Moore said Turcheck and sophomore Luke Robinson, Hunter Robinson’s younger brother, are set to lead the pitching staff. Last season, Turcheck logged the second-most innings for the Raiders, striking out 22 batters in 16 2/3 innings with a 3.36 ERA.
“He’s a bulldog on the mound,” Moore said. “He’s highly competitive. He works the corners, has a nice breaking ball and he can go the distance.”
Luke Robinson, who pitches and plays third base, was one of Waynesburg’s best all-around players last season. The freshman struck out 18 batters for a 3.00 ERA while leading the team with a .469 batting average.
Moore said it’s important for Luke Robinson to be himself, rather than try to be like his older brother.
“Luke has a style all of his own,” Moore said. “His arm slot will change, and that makes it a little difficult on batters. He has good velocity and a good breaking ball.”
Moore added that Rohanna, who allowed only one earned run in 13 1/3 innings last season, will lead the Raiders’ bullpen.
The Raiders have extra motivation, Moore said, with the assumption that the team will take a step back without Hunter Robinson.
“That’s part of our motivation this year – the fact that some people are saying that,” Moore said. “I believe, with the guys we have and the way we’ve played the last few years, we’re still heading in the right direction. I feel like our team this year wants to do their part. We have an unselfish team.”
Waynesburg’s first game is today at 4 p.m. at West Greene.