Pennsylvania

American Legion Baseball

The four team Lower Montco League playoffs will begin Wednesday night with two games.  In the first round of the double elimination tournament, regular season champion Warminster will host four seed Roslyn at Warminster's Munro Park.  Three seed Horsham will travel to Upper Dublin High School to take on the three seeded Fort Washington Golden Generals.  The tournament will continue through Sunday night, or Monday, if necessary.  The league champion will move on to the Region Three Tournament, which will be hosted by Norchester, beginning July 16th.

PA Legion Baseball News Site, through a partnership with WZAR TV, will be providing the first ever live video streaming broadcast of the Mid-Atlantic National Regional Tournament this August.  If you are interested in sponsoring one of the streams, or may need additional information, please contact us at your earliest convenience at [email protected].

Thank you for your consideration!

Eight teams will begin play tonight in the first round of the Northampton County Playoffs.  The first round will be contested as a best of three, with the higher seeds hosting the first game, as well as the third game, if necessary.  The league will send two representatives to the regional tournament at Nor-Gwyn later this month.  Top seed East Stroudsburg will host eight seed the Bethlehem Jeffs and seven seed Kemp Post will travel to two seed Bath.  The other mathchups include three seed The Birches hosting six seed Wind Gap, while five seed Big Pocono takes on four seed Nazareth.  The full first round schedule is below, all games are scheduled for a 5:30pm start time:

Tuesday, Game One

(8) Bethlehem Jeffs at (1) East Stroudsburg

(7) Kemp Post at (2) Bath

(6) Wind Gap at (3) The Birches

(5) Big Pocono at (4) Nazareth

Wednesday, Game Two

(1) East Stroudsburg at (8) Bethlehem Jeffs

(2) Bath at (7) Kemp Post

(3) The Birches at (6) Wind Gap

(4) Nazareth at (5) Big Pocono

Thursday, Game Three (If Necessary)

(8) Bethlehem Jeffs at (1) East Stroudsburg

(7) Kemp Post at (2) Bath

(6) Wind Gap at (3) The Birches

(5) Big Pocono at (4) Nazareth

The District 11 Semifinals will begin tonight in Region 5.  The playoffs will consist of two best of three rounds, with the higher seed in each matchup getting homefield advantage in two of the three games.  Tonight, four seed South Scranton will visit undefeated regular season champion West Scranton at Bataglia Field.  Wednesday, the action will shift to South Scranton's home field at Connell Park, before returning to Bataglia for a decisive game Thursday, if necessary.  In the other semifinal series, two seed Abington will travel to Scranton High School to take on three seed Green Ridge tonight.  Games two and three (if necessary) will be played at Abington Heights High School.  The semifinal winners will begin the championship series Saturday.  It will continue through Monday, if necessary.  The league champion will represent District 11 at the regional in Bloomsburg.

The fourteen team Schuylkill-Berks League will begin its postseason tournament on Tuesday night with a slate of six games.  The North Division, comprising the Schuylkill County teams, and the South Division, made up of the six Berks County entries, will conduct separate double elimination tournaments, with the playoffs culminating in a one game championship to be held at the home of the Reading Phillies.  The winner of the tournament will represent the league at the regional hosted by Nor-Gwyn beginning on July 16th.

As the North Division has eight teams, all eight will be in action Tuesday night in the first round.  The opening matchups are Northern Schuylkill at Southern Area, Valley View at Pine Grove, Tamaqua at Minersville, and Schuylkill Valley -Schuylkill at Pottsville.  In the South Division, Muhlenberg and Kutztown have received byes as the top two teams.  The remaining four teams will begin their postseason campaign Tuesday night as well.  The two South Division games are Schuylkill Valley - Berks at Oley/Topton and Fleetwood at Hamburg.

Please check back for continued results and updates from the Schuylkill-Berks playoffs and other tournaments from around the state.

Eight teams will take the field today to begin the District 31 (Westmoreland County) Playoffs.  Although members of the league's two divisions did not meet during the regular season, the top four teams from each division were combined for the playoffs.  The tournament will use a best of three structure throughout.  Eight seed Irwin, the fourth place team from the North/West Division, will travel to South/East champ and overall one seed West Hempfield today.  In other games, second seed Latrobe hosts rival Unity, the seven seed, Hempfield East (six seed) visits Kiski Valley, the three seed and North/West Division champ, and Murrysville plays at Bushy Run in a battle of North/West Division teams.  Please check back for updates and results from District 31.

Blairsville Kovacik Insurance clinched the Indiana County (Region 7) regular season title with a 5-3 win over Indiana Legion today.  Blairsville, 14-5 in the league and 14-7 overall, is playing its first season after a 3-year hiatus.  Manager Bob Thompson's team will open the playoffs on Thursday at WyoTech Field in Blairsville against an opponent that is yet to be determined.

The remaining three playoff spots are still up in the air.  Creps United has the inside track for one of those spots with a 9-7 record.  Homer City Post 493 (9-9), last year's league champion and Region 7 runner up, remains in the thick of things despite an up and down season.  Marion Center (8-10) is riding a three game winning streak on its late season surge for a playoff spot.  Indiana Legion (8-10) has cooled off recently, but has two games remaining with in-town rival Creps United.  And, Young Township remains mathematically alive heading into the last week of the regular season.

Wayne has secured the number one seed in the Main Line League Playoffs, which begin on Tuesday.  All ten teams will participate in the tournament, with the champion moving on to the Region Three Tournament hosted by Norchester.  Action will be Tuesday with a pair of single elimination games.  Number nine seed Nether Providence will visit number eight seed Aston-Media in one matchup, while Haverford is at seven seed Norwood in the other.  The two victors will join the top six teams in a double elimination bracket, which begins on Thursday at the site of the higher seeds.  The full list of seeds is below.  Be sure to check back for more results and coverage from the Main Line League.

Main Line League Playoff Seeding:

1. Wayne

2. Broomall-Newtown

3. Upper Darby

4. Concord

5. Narberth

6. Springfield

7. Norwood

8. Aston-Media

9. Nether Providence

10. Haverford

The four team playoff field in Region 7's Jefferson County has been decided.  The double elimination event will begin Tuesday with two games.  Regular Season Champion DuBois will host number four seed Brookville and number three Clearfield will travel to second seed Punxsutawney.  The winner of the tournament will advance to the Region 7 Tournament hosted by Bedford.

DuBois won last year's title and finished 1-2 at the regional.  Clearfield also participated in the 2010 regional as the host, making it to the final day before finishing in third place with a 3-2 record.

Keep visiting palegionball.com for more schedules as league playoffs begin to get set!

Interview Part 2:

PA ALB

Where does your team's final day rally to win two games over St. Mary's in the Region 8 final last year rank in terms of your coaching accomplishments?

Coach Hansen

It is always a thrill to win the region tournament. Last year was no exception. The Region 8 tournament at St. Mary's was unique. Anyone who was there or heard about it would have to agree. The final game with the rain delays, the fog, the conclusion with the two teams on the infield and congratulating each other gave the fans and even the players a good look at what the nature of this competition can become. The host team and the directors of the tournament were exceptionally gracious and the final gesture of the players from St. Mary's giving out the tournament medals was a real class act.

PA ALB

What has it been like to play on fields like Owls Field in West Lawn and Bear Stadium in Boyertown in front of large crowds?  How do the fields in your area stack up?

Coach Hansen

The sites where we have played are a testament to a community who cares about providing the teams with the best facilities for this type of competition. The venues have been comparable to the Double A park where the Erie Seawolves play. It really adds a lot of class to the tournament when the games are played on such first rate facilities.

PA ALB

Your team defeated eventual champion Spring City 7-6 on day one of the tournament last year.  How's it feel, looking back, knowing you were the only team to knock them off?

Coach Hansen

It gave us a great remembrance for that tournament after the championship was decided. We had played Spring City a few years before on the opening night of the state tournament at their facility. After they won everything last year, we could look back and take away a measure of succes from our participation in the tournament. In this way it was both a proud and somewhat humbling memory. The Red Sox had a great team and a great organization as one can see from their programs success last year and in their past. Jamie was gracious coach and also a tenacious competitor as can been attested to in comong all the way back from the first game loss to capture the title. We were very fortunate to have a game ending double play with the potential tying run on second. Those are the experiences that make the American Legion State tournament a thrill for the players and coaches.

PA ALB

What does your team need to do in order to return to states this year and continue the success the program has experienced?

Coach Hansen

In order to return this year we cannot look too far ahead. That may sound absurd, but we have to play our best every next game we play. We do have a target on our shirts and that is the nature of healthy competition. It brings out the best in the players. What I have seen in the past 4 or 5 years is that pitching is what makes teams strong in tournament play. We need to get our younger pitchers to give us quality innings and the older players need to be encouraging and demanding in order for us to be successful. It always helps to have a little luck on your side too.

PA ALB

Have any favorite stories from coaching Millcreek you'd like to share?

Coach Hansen

I think the St. Mary's region 8 final game experience was one that would be hard to duplicate. We had rain delays, and a heavy fog that rolled in at about the 7th or 8th inning. I told the third baseman to check if we still had our left fielder because I could not see him from the dugout. Our third baseman took me literally and ran out to left field to make sure the fielder was there. A fly ball was hit to the centerfilder in the next inning and the second base umpire ran out to follow the play. The home plate umpire said no catch. When the second base umpire reappeared, he corrected the home plate umpire and awarded the out. Noone could dispute the second base umpire. The next inning was similar and a pop up was hit behind first base in shallow right field. Our first baseman went out to catch the ball and by this time the general safety of the players became the guiding issue. The game directors recognized this and called the game complete at that time. The score was lopsided and to continue was deemed a potential for harm. The players from both teams gatthered in the infield and debated the miraculous catch in centerfield as the officials determined the outcome. It was then that the class of the tournamnet was witnessed by all those who remained. The St. Mary's players awarded our team the region 8 medals for the championship and congaratualted each player individually.

We hope you've enjoyed the interview and would like to thank Coach Hansen again for his time and in-depth responses!

It's gotten to that point of the year where some leagues have a clear favorite or two, but some are still closely packed.  Head over to the forums and let us know who you think has what it takes in each league.

Remember, you have to be a member to post on the forums.  Don't worry, signing up is nearly effortless and takes just a few moments.  

We're proud to offer the best looking, most civil, and most intelligent discussion on PA ALB there is.  If you haven't taken a look yet, check out the forums by simply navigating to the 'forums' link at the top right of the page!

Millcreek, led by manager Tom Hansen, has enjoyed a great deal of success in Region 8 and state play in recent years.  In last year's state tournament, Millcreek started out strong by defeating eventual champion Spring City by a run on the first day.  After dropping a game to eventual runner-up Pennridge, the Region 8 champs defeated Upper Dauphin of Region 4 before bowing out with a season-ending loss to host Boyertown.

Tom has been gracious enough to do an exclusive interview with the site, here is part 1:

PA ALB

Since representing Region 8 at the state tournament several years ago, Millcreek has seemingly been unstoppable in northwest PA. What do you think has led to this great deal of success?

Coach Hansen

We have had some very good talent in the past few years. We have had several division one players, one of our players was drafted twice and this year signed with the Oakland A's and is in their farm system. We have a few division two players and a NCAC all conference outfielder and one of our players was a Junior College All American third team selection this year. Also, the program has been very consistent. We have 99% of our kids from McDowell High School where Coach Hayes and Coach Richards are great teachers of the fundamentals of the game.

PA ALB

Coming into the season, what type of expectations do you and your fellow coaches have for your team?  Is repeating as regional champions the goal coming into the year, or were expectations perhaps not as high?

Coach Hansen

We have the goal of getting back to the states again this year but obviously must take care of first things first. We have a stronger league in which a few teams have combined because of the economy.The region also looks to be stronger this year with teams returning many veteran players.

PA ALB

Has your team's recent success helped your team lure additional players from your area to the team?  In a time when AAU and other programs are taking legion players away from their teams, this would surely have added benefits.

Coach Hansen

We have always felt that the organization of the American Legion baseball provides the best competition for our players. It would therefore give them the best opportunity to improve their skills and hopefully play college baseball. We stress the significance of the competition and organization to help encourage our players to continue in the summer in trying to get better to compete at the next level by playing with our American Legion team.

PA ALB

How has your team and league adjusted to the new bat standards?  There has been quite a bit of confusion across the state with bats being ruled ineligible that players thought were legal.

Coach Hansen

The bat situation has its merits in terms of safety. We have tried to keep updated on those bats that are tested and found to be safe. We have removed those in question, but it is difficult to have a consistency with what is and is not acceptable. Hopefully next year will bring some relief for coaches, players, and especially umpires with the BBCOR labels. Some of the confusion has been the composites that are marked with BESR labelling. The intent is good and to keep baseball at its purest level of competion and safety is what I would feel is the message behind the restrictions.

PA ALB

What are your teams strengths and weaknesses?

Coach Hansen

We have a nucleus of six players who have played in the state championships either one or two years. We have lost our older College players and have a few talented but inexperienced younger players. We play a rigorous schedule and travel across the state and invite teams to play in our own tournaments to get the feel for the end of the year tournamnents for our league, region and eventually, the state tournament.

We hope you've enjoyed reading part 1, look for part 2 coming soon!  Feel free to leave a comment or question and we'll be sure to pass it along!

As some of you may have heard by now, there will be no statewide legion baseball showcase held this year.  In response, the Boyertown Bears and manager Rick Moatz will host a showcase at Bear Stadium on Thursday July 14th.  The showcase is open to all players from any team or league.

The showcase will include a full pro style workout and evaluation in front college coaches, recruiters, and scouts.  To date, over 300 invitations have been sent to college coaches across all three divisions.  The event will also include a free seminar for parents on the college recruitment process.

This is a great opportunity to get yourself noticed and to check out PA's top legion baseball field!  For more information, contact Rick Moatz at [email protected] for more information and the registration form.  

As teams continue vying for crucial positioning in their league playoffs that are set to begin in a few weeks, we thought we'd take a look at the Chester County League in PA's Region 3 in the southeastern part of the state.  The league very well could contain the most talent of any in the state.  

The league is home to Spring City, the 2010 state champions and 2011 high school state runner-ups in addition to their rival the NorChester Bulldogs who will make the the defending champs' effort to repeat very difficult in league and regional play.  If that weren't enough, the 2011 high school state champions from Conestoga (yes, both AAAA teams hailed from the same legion league!) have begun their season.  Despite a slow 0-2 start, they should be a force to be reckoned with by the end of the season.

Only one team will get the opportunity to move on from Region 3 and into the state tournament, and there's a very good chance it will be one of these three teams.  Spring City has to be considered the early favorite for the state title, as they return nearly every player from last year's championship team.  

Another summer, the same old story.  Boyertown has been unstoppable so far in Berks County League play this year, as they're out to a 13-0 start under the new schedule format.  For years, the league had been one of the only ones in the state that featured all nine inning league games.  This season, in an attempt to schedule more league games into the ever-shrinking amount of time allotted for play, the league has adopted a new format.  Each team will now play every other team during a weekday nine inning game and a weekend seven inning doubleheader.

The Bears, who return many key components from another solid team last season, will host the 2011 Mid-Atlantic National Regional Tournament in August.  If their early success is any indication, they could very well earn their way there instead of relying on the automatic host bid.  League rivals Shillington and West Lawn round out the current top three in the league, with the Red Sox sitting at 7-3 and the Owls at 7-6.  

It is with great honor that we here at PA ALB News Site announce that, through a partnership with WZAR TV, we will be providing exclusive live streaming video coverage of games 9 through 15 of the 2011 Mid-Atlantic National Regional Tournament to be held at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, Pennsylvania at www.palegionball.com.  If you can't make it out to the tournament, be sure to catch all of the exciting action live on our site!  

The tournament, which will take place between August 4th and 8th, will feature the state champion and runner-up from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the state champions from Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia, in addition to the host Boyertown.

Our coverage will begin on the tournament's third day, beginning with two elimination games on Saturday afternoon.  The winners bracket final, with a berth into the tournament championship round on the line, will follow later in the evening.  On Sunday afternoon, four teams will remain.  By the end of the day, just two or three will be left.  The final day of the tournament will feature the Mid-Atlantic championship game in either game 14 or 15, depending on the outcome of the games featuring the lone undefeated team.  The winner of the tournament advances to the 2011 American Legion Baseball World Series to be held the following week in Shelby, North Carolina.

 If you or your company are interested in supporting our efforts through a sponsorship, please contact us at [email protected] for more information.  Your support is greatly appreciated.

As tough economic times have hit the country, most businesses have looked to reduce spending and costs where possible.  The American Legion is no different, and this summer will begin a new policy that aims to reduce travel costs and concerns for national regional play.  In years past, those states with more than one representative (both Pennsylvania and NJ in the Mid-Atlantic) would send their teams to different tournaments.  For instance, PA would send their state champion (in most years) to the Mid-Atlantic National Regional Tournament while sending their runner-up to the Great Lakes National Regional Tournament.  New Jersey's representatives would head to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regional Tournaments.

The summer of 2011 will be the first year of a different tournament format, in which a state will send all of its representatives to the same tournament.  That means this year when the tournament is held in Boyertown, PA, that three teams from the Keystone State will be at Bear Stadium vying for the coveted berth into the ALB World Series.  New Jersey will do the same, sending both of its teams to the Mid-Atlantic tournament as well.

Here are the changes broken down when comparing last year (the old format) to this year (the new format) and what it means for your favorite teams.

Old Format

Mid-Atlantic National Regional

Pennsylvania (state champ/runner-up), New Jersey (state champ/runner-up), Delaware, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and the host.

Great-Lakes National Regional

Pennsylvania (runner-up/state champ), Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota (runner-up/state champ), Wisconsin, Michigan, and the host.

New Format

Mid-Atlantic National Regional

Pennsylvania champion, Pennsylvania runner-up, New Jersey champion, New Jersey runner-up, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and the host.

So what's it all mean?  To begin with, there will be a lot less variety in the teams that descend on Boyertown this year and in future tournaments.  Instead of seven states represented, there will be just five.  New York will now be a part of the Northeast Regional and Virginia will send its team to the Southeast Regional.  As you may recall, the Virginia state champions took home the Mid-Atlantic crown last season.

The Mid-Atlantic Tournament has always been thought to be one of the toughest regional tournaments in the country, most notably because PA and NJ both generally send their state champions there.  New York's representatives have not done too well in the tournament in the past, so, despite losing a usually strong Virginia team, this move should help bolster the competition in the Mid-Atlantic.  Adding the Pennsylvania runner-up, which in most years makes a solid showing at the Great Lakes Regional, will give the state a much better chance of winning the tournament year in and year out.  With Boyertown hosting this year, three of the eight squads will hail from the Commonwealth.

There are of course downsides to this move, including the aforementioned teams departing the tournament.  In addition, those PA Legion Baseball lovers (we'll admit, we're one of them!) who dreamed of seeing an all Pennsylvania national title game one day will have to wait for a possible shift in formatting in the future.  

It will be interesting to see the matchups between the three PA teams this year at the tournament.  Generally the state champion and runner-up fight it out over the five day state tournament, but with two available bids, getting to the finals is of the utmost importance.  It's very possible we could see one team win the state title this year and then be ousted the next week by the very team they beat.  Here's hoping for an all PA final, and if you want to be greedy, perhaps an all PA final day as well.

What is your take on the shake-up?  Will it greatly affect the tournament or play a minimal role in how things pan out?  As always, comment and let us hear your opinion!

Though the PA ALB is in full swing, we wanted to pass along some unfortunate and rather unsettling news from PA's Region 7.  The defending region champion and longtime state power, State College, is not fielding a team this summer.

The shocking news comes after their manager was unable to return and many players left for neighboring AAU and other travel teams.  This means that this summer the well known Lions, who proudly wear the navy and blue of hometown Penn State, will not be vying for a regional title or state berth.  

State College, the 2001 PA state champs, have split their remaining players up amongst neighboring teams.  While it will be interesting to see how those teams fare in light of the situation, it is certainly alarming that such a prominent and productive team won't be playing the season.  As we've noted, several other teams have other lost their legion programs, at least for this year.  Those, however, are due mostly to waning interest and not a jump to another division of play.  Many of the players believe that AAU ball, which has been outlined here several times, offers them a better chance at playing in college.  The numbers and statistics certainly do not support that notion, however.

What's your take on this situation?

We've received a large amount of inquiries from concerned parents and coaches about what bats are and are not legal for use in the 2011 season.  We'll attempt to clarify the regulations as best as we understand them.

To put it simply, in 2011 legion baseball is still under last year's rules of general BESR bats being allowed and BESR composite bats being illegal.  BBCOR bats are legal this year and will be the only bats legal next year.  More is outlined by the national legion here: http://www.legion.org/baseball/92911/new-bat-standard-changes-baseball-speed

The lists of approved and illegal bats are found in three lists: BBCOR, BESR certified, and BESR illegal. http://www.mme.wsu.edu/~ssl/certified/ ;

In addition, it should be noted that the national legion  has placed a moratorium of the use of any type of composite bat (handle, barrel or both) for the 2011 season.  Therefore, if your bat is in any way made of composites, it is not legal for use.

Make sure to check (and double check) the lists for your exact bat model, model number, and dimensions.  Hopefully this alleviates some of the confusion we've been hearing about.  

Feel free to comment or email us with any questions. 

A few weeks into the legion season and there are already some familiar, and some unfamiliar, teams rising to the top of their respective leagues in Region 2.

Boyertown has jumped out to a quick 6-0 start in the Berks County League.  Twin Valley, who may very well be their top competition, has yet to play a game yet due to the success of their high school team.  They'll have to play another tight schedule again this year.

Pottstown and Perkiomen have both done extremely well in the early going in the Bux-Mont.  Pottstown leads the league with a 6-1 overall record with Perkiomen trailing closely behind at 4-1.  Some of the perennial powers of the league haven't gotten off to as hot of starts, so it will be interesting to see how things play out over the next couple of weeks.

In a tightly bunched Lehigh Valley League, Southern Lehigh has won their first couple games of the year to take the lead spot.  Northern Valley and South Parkland each have winning records with just a loss apiece.  Several teams in the league still have high school teams alive and aren't playing full schedules just yet.

Wind Gap is off to a 2-0 start in the Northampton County League with Hellertown leading all divisions with a total of 4 wins and a loss.  As is the case in most places, a few teams have yet to get into legion mode with their high school teams still out and playing.

Muhlenberg leads the South Division and all of the Schuylkill-Berks League with a 4-0 record.  Minersville sits atop the North Division with a 2-0-1 league record.