WPIAL baseball players flock to Youngstown summer league

From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Youngstown Class B league held to its intention to be a place for scholastic-age players, including numerous from the WPIAL, to go this summer.

Veterans of the league and newcomers have made the most of the season since early last month, when leagues throughout the region were permitted to resume.

“I and my team have had a really good season,” said recent Latrobe graduate Donny Shimko, a first-year league member who plays for the Eagle Wear franchise in the 18U division.

“The league is really competitive. It’s been very beneficial for me and for a lot of the players from the WPIAL and Western Pa. area.”

Shimko, a Westminster commit, batted .321 with five doubles and 10 RBIs through 17 regular-season games. Eagle Wear, 10-7-1, begins the 18U playoffs Wednesday with a best-of-three quarterfinal-round series.

The six-team playoffs are expected to conclude Aug. 1.

The league follows an MLB format where 10 franchises have teams at three levels: 18U, 16U and 14U.

At the 18U level, 90 players from the WPIAL, including those from schools such as Plum, Fox Chapel, Burrell, Latrobe, Norwin, Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford, are spread out over 10 teams, and many from the WPIAL also populate the rosters in the two younger divisions.

“When the shutdown came down, we sat and waited,” said league secretary Tim Joyce, who said the rosters were filling up even before the pandemic started.

“We were having meetings once a month. We started talking again in late May and early June. The owner of the park where we play, Bob Cene Jr., and his family talked with league president Scott Ruark, and they waited for the safety guidelines to come out concerning what we could do. We decided to go ahead with those guidelines in place. In the end, like many leagues that are playing this summer, we wanted to make sure it was about the kids and giving them a place to play baseball and compete.”

For safety reasons, the league’s busy schedule is contained on three fields at Bob Cene Park in Struthers, just five miles outside of Youngstown.

“We try to make sure everyone is following the guidelines as much as possible,” Joyce said.

“Sometimes, the competitive juices get flowing, and it’s important to remember what we’re doing for safety. Every so often, we have to remind the players of that.”

Each franchise in the league attracts its own players, Joyce said. Past players have come from other states such as Maryland and West Virginia and as far away as Puerto Rico.

“Everyone wants the best players available,” Joyce said. “The coaches and others in the franchise will go wherever they feel they can get those players. There are no boundary restrictions. A lot of times, it’s word of mouth between coaches, players and other lines of communication. There is an incredible amount of talent in PA, including the Pittsburgh area.”

Thomas Koch, a rising senior at Fox Chapel, hopes to make waves with his Creekside Fitness teammates as they begin their playoff run Saturday in the semifinals.

The California native, in the league for the first time, said he is happy for the opportunity to play for a team that owns the most players from the WPIAL (19).

“There’s a lot of great players in this league,” said Koch, who will play for the Pittsburgh Spikes in the fall.

“I am just happy to be playing and getting at-bats that count. I’ve had good at-bats, but I just have been unlucky at times. I’ve hit the ball hard. If I line out to center field, I’m not mad.”

Several players in the league are set to play at Division I schools.

“The level of competition and the amount of games available, it definitely was an opportunity I couldn’t let pass by,” said second-year Youngstown player Brandon Gelpi, a Monroeville resident and Pittsburgh Central Catholic graduate who will play at Division I Illinois-Chicago.

Gelpi, who also competes in the Pittsburgh-based All-American Baseball Collegiate League, is a member of the Astro Falcons 18U. The team also starts its playoff run in the semifinals Saturday.

“Leagues like Youngstown Class B embody every aspect of the game of baseball, and it really prepares you for the next level,” he said.