Penn Hills baseball works from ground up

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 17, 2018 | 12:18 AM

Penn Hills athletic director Stephanie Strauss stressed the importance of rejuvenating the secondary sports at Penn Hills when she was hired in May.

Strauss believes the baseball program has taken a step in the right direction with the hiring of Jerry Cammuso as coach.

Cammuso, who has been coaching AAU baseball for more than two decades, takes over after Brian Randolph had to step down because of personal reasons.

Randolph coached the Indians to a 2-31 overall record and didn't win a section game in two seasons.

“I was really impressed with his baseball IQ and his ability to teach the mechanics and strategy to our players. I believe he's the one who will take the baseball program to the next level quickly,” Strauss said.

Cammuso, who was named coach in early January, recently coached the Gators Baseball Club for PA Diamond Kings and is looking to restore the sense of community at Penn Hills.

Cammuso isn't reflecting on what went wrong recently and is moving forward with high expectations.

“Our goal is to get into the playoffs,” Cammuso said. “Once we get into the playoffs, who knows what happens?”

With more excitement and interest in Penn Hills baseball, he is hoping for a strong turnout for tryouts March 5.

The Indians will have some familiar faces returning this season, including senior pitcher/infielder Anthony Tucci, senior catcher Tim Hoolahan and sophomore pitcher/infielder Cole Yeager.

As Cammuso is focusing on implementing the groundwork for his program at the high school level, he also understands work needs to be done at the ground floor: community baseball.

With that in mind, Cammuso and the high school baseball program will be hosting a free youth Winter Skills Camp at Fralic Athletic Center for kids from ages 6 to 12 on Saturday.

The camp will be split into two sessions: Kids from ages 6 to 10 will work with Indians coaching staff and players from 10 a.m. to noon, and kids from ages 11 to 14 will participate from 12:15-2:15 p.m.

The campers will learn basic baseball skills such as pitching, base running and hitting, as well as learning how to be a leader.

Participants have to show up 15 minutes before their session to register.

“We're trying to bring back baseball into our community. Our numbers are low. The kids can try out to see if they like baseball,” Penn Hills Baseball Booster President Theresa Sciulli said.

“They get to meet the high school coaches, and hopefully we get better numbers for the community program.”

Cammuso understands the tough task ahead and is willing to put in the extra work to make Penn Hills baseball a strong and sustainable program for years to come.

“When you only have almost only one team for every age group where a lot communities have 10, 11 or 12 teams for each age group, that's not a good sign for the feeding system for the high school,” Cammuso said. “I need to go back down to the roots and build it back up.”

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

Tags: Penn Hills