Cunningham takes over Yellow Jackets’ baseball
Perry Cunningham has been around the Presidents’ Athletic Conference long enough to know that two baseball programs have dominated the past decade.
Cunningham was a long-time assistant coach and director of baseball strength and conditioning for Waynesburg University under his friend Mike Humiston until Tuesday, June 22. The University announced in a press release that Cunningham will succeed Humiston.
It is part of Cunningham’s charge now as the new head coach of the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets baseball team to find a way to escape from the stranglehold Washington & Jefferson College and Thomas More have held on the PAC baseball championship since 2011.
Thomas More has since left the conference. W&J still stands strong.
The two programs have won every PAC baseball championship contested since 2011. The Presidents have won six titles – the last two (2019 and 2021) and three of the past four. In all, W&J has won six of the last 12 PAC championships contested and Thomas More won five. Westminster won in 2012.
According to the press release, Humiston “will step away from the dugout to turn his full attention to his duties as Waynesburg’s director of the department of public safety” after 16 years as coach.
Waynesburg was 9-17 in the PAC this past season, tying for seventh place, and finishing 12-20 overall. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 PAC season was cancelled and this past season, PAC teams played only conference opponents.
The last time the Yellow Jackets won a PAC championship was 1998, when they were led by Adam Jack, Waynesburg’s athletic director. Jack was named PAC Player of the Year that season. The Yellow Jackets also won titles from 1993-1995.
“When you’re an assistant coach for the time I have been, I think you have or developed ideas about things you might do differently,” Cunningham said. “As I get settled in here and more focused, I will continue to explore things to help us find the success we wanted that has eluded us the last decade or so.
“Mike gave me full autonomy in coaching and working with the pitchers and doing things as I saw fit. I’ll have to be in on the offensive and defensive sides now. Bringing in some different opinions and philosophies can help us.”
Cunningham confirmed that assistant coach Bill Stough, and volunteer coach Anthony DeFilippo will return. Cunningham said DeFilippo’s role will change, as he will become recruiting coordinator.
Cunningham had a successful stint in the independent Frontier Baseball League.
After spending 2003 in the Northeast League as a member of the Allentown Ambassadors, Cunningham was signed by the Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints of the Frontier League. From 2004 to 2007, he enjoyed one of the finest pitching careers by a Frontier League pitcher.
The Steubenville, Ohio native compiled a career record of 37-21, with a career 3.54 ERA over 497 2/3 innings and 78 starts. At the time of his retirement from baseball, Cunningham ranked second in league history in wins (37), starts (76) and innings pitched.
Cunningham was a three-time All-West Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Conference (WVIAC) selection while competing at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, W.Va. As a senior, he was named WVIAC Pitcher of the Year and D&E’s College Male Athlete of the Year.
Cunningham’s coaching career began in 2004 as a volunteer assistant at D&E. The following season, he coached at Liberty High School in Bealeton, Va, before coming to Waynesburg for the 2008 campaign.
Cunningham helped advance the career of pitcher Mason Miller, who transferred from Waynesburg to pitch at NCAA Division I Gardner-Webb University this season and appears to be in line to be drafted within the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft next month.
“We are very fortunate to have a coach like Perry Cunningham positioned to lead the baseball program,” Jack said. “As impressive as Perry’s baseball playing and coaching resume is, I am most excited about his mentoring of student-athletes, as he will foster an atmosphere of growth and excellence for years to come.”
Cunningham graduated from D&E with a degree in exercise science and added an MBA from Waynesburg in 2009. He is a 1999 graduate of Steubenville High School Ohio, and currently resides in Waynesburg with his wife Pam and their sons Cooper and Cade.
“Baseball has always been a part of my life,” Cunningham said. “Once my playing days concluded, I didn’t know if I’d still be around baseball. But when we moved to Waynesburg, Coach Humiston welcomed me into the program.
“When you’ve been involved with the game for as long as I have, I think you always want to know how you’d handle being the head coach. I’m excited to add some of my own touches to the program.”