Building chemistry among teammates in the Western Pennsylvania Elite Baseball League is tough considering rosters are a combination of players from a number of different schools. That has not stopped the Steel City Wildcats from having one of the best years in the league.

After 17 games they were 14-3 as the playoffs approach, only a game and a half behind Bulldog Baseball.

The team does not draw its players from one or two school districts as do Palomino or American Legion teams. Instead, the Wildcats have players from 12 different schools.

The Wildcats, who compete in the league's 18-and-under division, have an edge in that the team's nucleus started playing together their sophomore years of high school when the WPEBL first formed in 2006. Those players have stayed with the team and the improvement has shown. The Wildcats won a WPEBL title last season.

The Wildcats are managed by Mark Saghy, one of the people who helped put the league together.

"The biggest reason for the success is the fact that the [players] have been together for three years now and they just know each other," Saghy said. "We enjoy playing and practicing with each other and we just have a lot of fun."

The core players are Peters Township infielder Jim Rider and catcher/pitcher J.J. Jankowski; Mt. Lebanon infielder Jordan Steranka and Shaler catcher Tyler Juran.

"Those guys have been our most consistent producers. They were all sophomores and now they are all seniors, so we have been fortunate and it's helped and paid off," said Saghy, a former Mt. Lebanon High School coach.

"A couple other guys have come on board and done well too. It's like a regular high school team."

The Wildcats were 25-6 overall heading into yesterday's game against Seneca Valley. They had won nine in a row and 11 out of 12.

Steranka is hitting at a .493 clip with six homers and 32 RBIs. Juran is at .486 with 26 RBIs and Jasnkowski is at .429 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. Rider is hitting .436 with five homers and 31 RBIs.

Nearly the entire Wildcats roster has been recruited to play at the next level. Jankowski is headed to Miami, Ohio, where he might be playing against fellow Mid-American Conference recruit Jim Rider, who is headed for Kent State. Eric Isler, one of three Mt. Lebanon players on the team, will play at High Point University. Nick Merich is headed to Point Park University, while Kyle Thomas will play at Delaware). Both are pitchers.

"This season has been great. I think we have the best team and all our guys are just awesome," said Steranka, a Penn State recruit. "Most of us have been together for two to three years in a row now. We have a good group of five or six guys. It has helped a lot just knowing that if a pitcher is pitching he knows that the defense is behind him and what they are going to do."

Steranka is one of the top power hitters on the Wildcats. He bats third in the lineup.

Two others who will play at the next level are Juran, a Temple recruit, and Fox Chapel's Evan Baum, a pitcher who is headed for Kenyon. Reed Tomlinson, an infielder from Chartiers Valley, will attend La Roche.

Other players on the Wildcats are: Jimmy Meyer from Bethel Park; Jason Paris, Chartiers-Houston; Tarran Senay, South Park; Nick Berger and David Durso, Central Catholic; Christian Wheeler, Upper St. Clair; and Jonathan Boyd, Matt Fraudin, the youngest player on the team, and Doug Slavonic from Mt. Lebanon.