Darin Cunningham

The Butler County Sports Hall of Fame is becoming a bit of a family affair.

Former Knoch High School and Penn State pitcher Darin Cunningham will be inducted during the organization’s annual banquet at 6 p.m. April 23 at the Butler Days Inn. He will join his father, Dan Cunningham (2015) and uncle Charles “Chud” Cunningham (2013) in the Hall.

“That’s pretty exciting for me,” Darin Cunningham said. “I wasn’t expecting this at all.

“I don’t remember much about my accomplishments at all. Number of wins, milestones ... I have no idea. What I remember is how much fun I had playing, the great guys I played with and against, and the rivalries.”

Now living in Tennessee, Cunningham pitched the first shutout in Knoch baseball history, a 2-0 verdict over Kittanning. He hit .329 over three years with the Knights.

Cunningham was a three-time selection to the Butler County American Legion All-Stars. He pitched for Penn State-Beaver while it was ranked No. 1 in the country among junior college teams. Cunningham pitched PSU-Beaver’s first game of the NJCAA World Series that year, allowed one earned run and threw 136 pitches in a 7-3 victory.

“Those guys were good,” Cunningham recalled of Penn State-Beaver. “When that No. 1 ranking came out, we had a big celebration. We eventually lost in the World Series, though.”

Cunningham received the John S. Egli Award as the outstanding male scholar athlete at PSU-Beaver his sophomore year. His two-year record with the baseball team was 14-1 with three saves, a 2.01 ERA and 99 strikeouts.

He finished his collegiate career pitching for Penn State and was named an All-Big Ten Scholar-Athlete during his senior year of 2000.

“We were ranked 16th in the country that year,” Cunningham recalled. “We played second-ranked Indiana and I got the win in relief, then I started the next game of the series against them and got the win again.

“That’s a special memory of mine.”

He wound up pitching for his father’s Saxonburg team in the Eagle County League from 1995 to 2001 before moving south.

“I’m thrilled that (former Mars slugger) Mike Sheehy is going into the Hall this year, too,” Cunningham said. “Our rivalry with them was special. They had the same core of players for years and so did we.

“We were always ticked off at each other on the field, but were friends with each other once the game was over. Those were just some glory days for all of us.”

Cunningham went on to pitch for the Pompano Beach (Fla.) Barracudas for two years, helping ghat team win the NABA Tournament. He pitched for the semi-pro Yankees in the Boca Raton (Fla.) League in 2002-03 while teaching school there.

He ended his active playing career pitching for the Travelers in the NCAA Collegiate League in Nashville, Tenn., from 2003-07.

“That was a wooden bat league that had guys playing college baseball, guys in and out of the minor leagues ... It was high quality baseball.

“Life eventually gets in the way the longer you play. I got married, my job was time-consuming. That’s when I decided to give it up.

“The fun I had playing baseball and the guys I got to play ball with are far more important than any statistics.”

Tickets for the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame banquet are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. They are available at bcshof.com, Parker’s Appliance in Chicora, Saxonburg Drug, Moses Jewelers, Snack n’ Pack and Bill’s Beer Barn in Butler.