Baldwin must suspend its baseball coach three games for violating a PIAA rule about open gyms or the team won’t be eligible for the playoffs this season, the WPIAL announced Monday.
The WPIAL held a hearing last week where first-year Baldwin baseball coach Scott Wolf said he inadvertently violated the rule when he scheduled a joint workout with Central Valley’s baseball team Feb. 22. Teams were prohibited from “participating in any team competition” in the 10 days leading up to the first official preseason practice March 3.
WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said Baldwin’s administration was notified of the discipline by letter Monday. The three-game suspension is in addition to discipline already imposed by the school.
The WPIAL is unable to levy such suspensions directly on coaches but can threaten to ban teams from its postseason tournaments to encourage compliance by its member schools.
This was the second year in a row that Baldwin’s baseball team ran afoul of the same open gym rule, according to the WPIAL. Wolf, formerly an assistant coach at Central Valley, was not part of Baldwin’s coaching staff last season.
In addition to the suspension, the WPIAL placed the entire Baldwin athletic program on probation until June 30, 2026.
“Any further instances of a lack of institutional oversight within the Baldwin Athletic Department or any further violations of any other PIAA rules may lead to more serious penalties under Article XIII of the PIAA Bylaws,” the WPIAL said in its statement.
The board also publicly censured both Wolf and Baldwin athletic director Tony Cherico. A censure is in essence an official admonishment.
The PIAA rule says: “Within 10 days prior to the start of each sports season, no student enrolled at a PIAA member high school may participate in any team competition on a team on which all other players and at least one coach are also affiliated at that student’s school.”
During last week’s WPIAL hearing, Baldwin at times questioned the PIAA interpretation of the words “team competition.” Baldwin pitchers faced Central Valley batters and vice versa during the joint workout, but Wolf and Cherico noted there was nobody calling balls and strikes, the score wasn’t kept and there were no fielders.
The WPIAL has maintained that the intent of the rule is to prevent teams from interacting with teams from other schools during the 10-day window established by the PIAA. The rule was adopted in 2019 and applies to all sports.
Baldwin’s baseball team is off to 1-2 start this season. The Highlanders went 1-19 overall last season, including 0-15 in the section.
The WPIAL board previously placed the Central Valley baseball program on probation and took away a preseason scrimmage for next season.