Pennsylvania

American Legion Baseball

We've added yet another feature, results pages for each of the seven regions in PA!  These pages are accessible by hovering over the main region links at the top of the page and simply clicking on the standings link that pops up.

We'll be updating these pages as often as possible as soon as the season gears up around the state.  The pages, as you can see now, will be divided by league name so it will be easy to find the game you're looking for!

We've added another new feature: information about every post-season tournament that a team from Pennsylvania could participate in!

Information is now available for every state regional tournament, state championship tournament, the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes Regionals, and the Legion World Series.

The host team, site, date, and a link to more information is available for each tournament.  

Check it out under the news drop down menu and let us know what you think!

As you may have noticed by now, the site now has the added feature of drop down menus for many of the navigation links.  You can access the region standings, by league, through the same main links as usual.  However, now you can access the updated results pages for each region by simply hovering over any region and clicking the results link that pops up.  We'll be updating those pages with scores as soon as the season kicks off across the state.

We're still working out the kinks of exactly how they look, so let us know what you think!

We've discussed the shake up that took place earlier this year in regards to the newly formed Schuylkill-Berks League in southeastern PA.  Here is the schedule for what now comprises one of the state's largest leagues with seventeen total teams.

Be sure to catch a game or two if you can!

http://www.schuylkill-berks.org/?page_id=590

Here is a link to the 2010 Berks County League schedule provided by the Exeter Blue Jays.  This calendar was created before Kutztown left the league, so simply place the team that is listed as having a bye for that particular day into Kutztown's spot and you have the up to date schedule.

Be sure to check out some games of one of PA's finest leagues!

http://www.exeterlegionbaseball.org/files/2010%20Berks%20Legion%20Schedule.pdf

If you have a Facebook account, all you need to do to find our new fan page is simply click on the 'fan page badge' on the right side of the website and the link will instantly take you there! 

Make sure you 'like' our new page today!

Now you can not only sign in with your Facebook information, but you can also become a 'fan' of the newly created PA ALB fan site Facebook page!  This page will serve as another place to get your PA legion baseball fix, all while still logged in to Facebook!

Be sure to click the link and take a second and 'like' our page!  And if you could, please invite all of your Facebook friends to the page as well... it'd be greatly appreciated!

Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pennsylvania-American-Legion-Baseball-Fan-Site/123025047723703

Thanks for your help!

In the coming weeks we'll be launching a bunch of exciting and new applications for the website.  The first should greatly increase the ease of becoming a member of the site and logging in for future visits!

The site now incorporates the power of Facebook to allow you to sign in using your existing Facebook login info to also login to this site.  What does that mean to you?  Well, for starters, after you login and link the site to your exising account (or new account for those of you who haven't signed up yet), you'll be able to forget your Webs login info and simply login with your Facebook name and password!

We're in the midst of creating a 'Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball' application for Facebook, but we need your help: the application will not be launched until we have at least ten members sign up (or link up) through the Facebook link in the sign-up area... so please do so and help us out!

If you have any questions about this new feature, please don't hesitate to post a comment or send me a message.

Remember to tell all of your friends about our site... we'll be launching a ton of features as the season begins, don't miss out!

There were a few design changes that did not carry through from one browser to another... those issues seem to be resolved and you should be seeing the same site layout and format on any browser now.

Please let me know if you notice anything that doesn't look like it belongs, thanks!

Here is a link to the Ohio River League's schedule.  Their schedule, along with those for the rest of the Pittsburgh Area can be found at the below link... simply go to the top of the page and change the name of the league in the drop-down menu to see the other leagues in the area.

http://www.leaguelineup.com/schedules.asp?cmenuid=6&url=orl&sid=471930904

Here is a link to Region 7's Cambria County League, make sure to check out some of their games if you get the chance!

http://www.cambrialegionbaseball.org/schedule.asp

In continuing our effort to post all of the league schedules we can find before the start of the 2010 PA Legion Baseball season, here is the schedule for the Wyoming Valley League in Region 5:http://wvalbb.webs.com/.

Click on 2010 schedule to see the schedule for every age division of the league.

The tentative 2010 schedule for the Lebanon County League in Region 4 can be found here: http://www.lebcobaseball.com/. Make sure to check out some games if you can!

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll post team and league schedules as they are released and become available.  If you know of one that you don't see here, please let us know and we'll post it.  We'd love to see as many people as possible out supporting all of Pennsylvania's teams!

Here is a link to the Chester County League's Site, where you can find schedules for each team and a league-wide schedule:

http://www.scorebook.com/ccalb

It has been more than a generation since a team from Northeastern Pennsylvania claimed the State Legion crown, but that streak hasn’t been without its share of deep runs in the tournament by Region Five teams. Most recently, Plymouth’s run to the tournament’s final day in 2007 comes to mind, with the Indians just falling short of one of the state’s two National Regional berths.

Last year’s regional tournament was conducted at two sites, with all but two games played at Scranton’s Connell Park.  The first day of the tournament began with a clash between the aforementioned Plymouth Indians and District 15 representative Delaware Valley.  Plymouth won the opener in a rout 16-2.  The day’s second game pitted 2008 Regional Champ Abington against Wyoming Valley League Champion Mountain Post.  Abington beat Mountain Post 14-2 to advance to the winner’s bracket.  The opening day’s second pair of games began with a 7-1 Selinsgrove victory over Wyalusing.  Selinsgrove has been very successful since its program was restarted in 2007 and last year it made its second straight regional appearance.  The day concluded with Milton defeating Dunmore 8-3.

The first of two loser’s bracket games started the tournament’s day two. Delaware Valley stayed alive with a blowout of its own, eliminating Wyalusing 18-4. Mountain Post also had an early exit, losing their second game to Dunmore by a score of 10-6.  In the winner’s bracket contests, the region’s two recent powers stayed unbeaten with big wins.  Plymouth beat Selinsgrove 14-4 and Abington crushed Milton 22-5 to move on to the winner’s bracket final.

The tournament’s third day began with two elimination contests.  Dunmore kept its tournament hopes alive by eliminating Selinsgrove 11-6.  Delaware Valley also gained its second straight victory 10-8, eliminating Milton in the process.  In the nightcap, Plymouth beat Abington 7-2 to take the winner’s bracket final and a place in the final day’schampionship game.  The end of the third day left just half of the tournament field remaining:  undefeated Plymouth, and Dunmore, Abington, and Delaware Valley, each with one loss.

The championship qualifier round began with an elimination game between Abington and Delaware Valley.  Here Delaware Valley’s tournament run and season ended at the hands of Abington, with a 12-1defeat.  In Game 13 of the regional, Plymouth stayed unbeaten edging Dunmore 7-6. This win set up Plymouth well for the final day of tournament, since they would have to be beaten twice.

The tournament’s final day began with a morning start for Game 14.  In a close one, Abington extended the tournament to a fifteenth game with a 9-8 victory. This result set up one game for the championship and state tournament berth, played by the two teams.  This time both offenses were on display again. Plymouth claimed its second regional title in three years with a wild 24-20 victory.  The Indians scored 76 runs in their 6 games in the tournament, while yielding 43.

Plymouth’s run in the state tournament was short lived. Despite a brief, early lead over lead over Boyertown, the host Bears knocked the Indians into the loser’s bracket with a 14-4, 7 inning victory.  The next day, Plum eliminated Plymouth 11-3 in the tournament’s sixth game. This year, Plymouth will shoot for its third regional title in four years and hopes to make a return appearance to Boyertown for another state tournament.

With the season rapidly approaching, we're looking for prospective writers for the site.  We're looking for a few people from each region to write up stories for the main page of the site every so often about their favorite team/league/area/region in PA.

You could write as often, or as infrequently, as you'd like.  No previous experience is necessary, just looking for passionate fans like us!

Please send me a message or comment on the article if you're at all interested in writing!

Thanks!

If you haven't noticed, we've installed a poll on the bottom right side of the site... please weigh in and let us know which region you think will claim this year's state title!

Just about a month until the season kicks off... plenty of other site updates and news coming soon!

                Fredericksburg’s Earl Wenger Field was the site of the 2009 Region Four Tournament.  Although already qualified as hosts, Fredericksburg added luster to their appearance by winning the Lebanon County Title as well.  Runner-up Campbelltown took the league’s bid to the tournament. Joining them were Hummelstown, the Dauphin County champ, Linglestown, the Dauphin runner-up, Franklin County Champ Chambersburg, Suburban York of the York County League, New Cumberland’s Post 143 from the Cumberland County League, and Lititz from Lancaster County.

                Day One of the tournament began with a 7-6 Linglestown win over Campbelltown.  Chambersburg knocked off Lititz, the 2008 Region Four Champ, 6-5, plating the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.  Suburban York defeated New Cumberland 10-5, and Hummelstown beat host Fredericksburg 5-1 in the first day finale.

                The second day of the tournament began with two loser’s bracket games.  Defending champ Lititz stayed alive with a 6-2 win over Campbelltown.  Post 143 rebounded from their loss on day one, eliminating Fredericksburg 10-5.  In the winner’s bracket contests, Chambersburg defeated Linglestown 6-3 and Hummelstown put away Suburban York 9-7 to stay unbeaten.

                Hummelstown and Mother Nature were the big winners on the third day of regional play.  The first game of the day, an elimination contest pitting Linglestown and New Cumberland was delayed by two hours for rain, but Linglestown eventually prevailed 11-5 to stay alive.  In the other elimination game, Lititz kept their season alive with an 8-7 win over Suburban York.  In the winner’s bracket final, Hummelstown blew out Chambersburg 15-5, invoking the mercy rule in the 7th inning.

                On Day Four of the tournament, Lititz began the day’s action by hammering Chambersburg 16-6 in 8 innings.  Hummelstown continued with romp through the tournament, eliminating Linglestown 9-7, behind a potent offensive attack.  These results set up the scenario for the final day of the tournament:  Lititz would need two wins over unbeaten Hummelstown in order to nab the region’s bid to the State Tournament in Boyertown.

                Hummelstown wasted no time claiming the Region Four title on the fifth day of action at Wenger Field, doing so with a 12-4 win over Lititz.  Although the tournament was again delayed by rain, this time in the 5th inning, Hummelstown didn’t seem to mind, running out to a 6-1 lead and continuing to score each inning as the game progressed.  Lititz could never get closer than 7-4, wrapping up their season at 16-6.  Hummelstown advanced to Boyertown for State Tournament, where it finished with a 1-2 record.

Last year was another banner season for PA Region 2 baseball.  With over six hundred teams playing ball in the state last year, the final two both came from this same region in the southeastern part of the state.

The league representatives in the Region 2 tournament were as follows in 2009:

Berks: Boyertown, Twin Valley

BuxMont: Hatfield

Schuylkill: Tamaqua

Lehigh Valley: South Parkland

Northampton: Nazareth, Kemp Post

Host: Nor-Gwyn

Entering post season play, all eyes were on the BuxMont champion Hatfield.  The team entered the tournament with a deep hitting line-up and the top pitcher in the area.  Hatfield proved that they were indeed the team to beat when they drubbed state powerhouse Boyertown in a mercy-rule 7 inning game to kick off the festivities.

Tamaqua got by Kemp Post in game 2 of the tournament, with Nazareth downing South Parkland.  The nightcap of the first day's games saw upstart Twin Valley, the regular season Berks champion, take on the host Nor-Gwyn Hawks.  Nor-Gwyn, fresh off a lackluster performance in the BuxMont post season came out with something to prove in front of the home crowd.  They got off to a fast start, knocking off the Raiders in day one.

In a matchup of two perennial powers, Boyertown rallied late to defeat South Parkland in the first elimination game of the tournament.  Twin Valley bounced back in the second elimination game of the tournament, sending Kemp Post packing for the summer.  Hafield and Nor-Gwyn continued the dominance by the BuxMont league on day 2, as both teams advanced to the winner's bracket final.  Hatfield defeated Nazareth and Nor-Gwyn topped Tamaqua.

Nazareth opened day 3 with a win over Twin Valley, ending the team's great season. Boyertown dropped Tamaqua in the day's second contest, which shaved the tournament field in half.  A battle of the BuxMont teams took place in the winner's bracket final.  This time, Nor-Gwyn came out on top and advanced to the championship round.

Boyertown and Hatfield had a rematch of the opening round game.  Boyertown was able to avenge their earlier embarrassing loss, proving that they were a more formidable team than many had given them credit for.  Nor-Gwyn defeated Nazareth in game 13 of the tournament.  By virtue of their win, and Boyertown's win over Hatfield, Nor-Gwyn earned themselves a berth into the PA State Tournament being hosted by Boyertown.

This is when the real fun began.  Boyertown continued their winning streak by defeating the Hawks in a match-up of the last two teams to win a PA state title.  This forced a decisive game 15, a game which was never actually decided.  After playing much of the tournament through rain, and incurring several delays during the early innings of the championship game, region officials determined it was best to simply declare co-champions.

Boyertown and Nor-Gwyn advanced to the state legion tournament at Bear Stadium, where they eventually met three more times: the winners bracket finals, and two championship round games.

What are your thoughts on who will represent each of the leagues in this year's tournament?

Information on PA's Region 8 is pretty scarce, however, one of our site members has been graceful enough to do a year in review write-up on the Elk County League playoffs.

We thank Elk County Fan1 for the following contribution to the site:

Elk County League Champion Bradford was the state runner-up in 2008 and they picked up where they left off in 2009. Bradford cruised through the regular season undefeated and beat Fox Twp in the finals of the league championship. Bradford finished at the top of the league followed by St.Marys, Fox Twp, Smethport, Ridgway and Kane.

The top two teams in the league, Bradford and St.Marys both received playoff byes. Fox Twp, in a wild 9 inning game, came from behind to beat Kane and Ridgway upset Smethport in Smethport. Bradford pummeled Ridgway to head to the winners final and Fox Twp 10-run ruled St.Marys for the right to take on Bradford.

In the finals of the winners bracket a huge error by Fox Twp led to a big inning which enabled Bradford to beat Fox. In the losers bracket Ridgway once again nipped Smethport and St.Marys whipped up on Kane. St.Marys then went on to defeat Ridgway to set up a rematch with Fox Twp. In a classic ending Fox Twp scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning off of St.Marys ace Nick Brennen to win the game 6-5 and reach the league finals against Bradford.

Fox would have to beat Bradford twice to advance to the Region 8 Tournament but Bradford would have no part in that as they beat Fox 7-4. Bradford finished both league and playoff play undefeated as they defended their Elk County League title once again.

We thank Elk County Fan1 for his write-up! If you are interested in writing an article for the site please don't hesitate to comment on this post or send me a message, we can use all the help we can get, thanks!