Pennsylvania

American Legion Baseball

Friday's matchups are as follows:

Boyertown vs. Millcreek, 4pm

Spring City vs. Pennridge, 7:30pm

The Scenarios are:

Boyertown/Millcreek win, Spring City win: two teams play Saturday in game 14, winner plays Pennridge for title

Boyertown/Millcreek win, Spring City loss: Boyertown/Millcreek advances to championship round, plays Pennridge in game 14 and must win twice

Spring City win: they take on winner of Boyertown-Millcreek game, winner in to national regionals and title game vs Pennridge

Pennridge win: take on winner of Boyertown-Millcreek winner in game 14, must be beaten twice for title

Pennridge loss: take on Spring City vs. Boyertown-Millcreek winner in game 15 for state title

Loss by Boyertown, Millcreek, or Spring City will end their season.  Pennridge must be defeated twice over the next two days or they will be state champions

Pennridge's dream season will last at least another week, as they are assured of a bid to national regionals.  Not only that, but they also find themselves with a spot in the championship round of the state tournament, they can finish no worse than second.

Things didn't look good early for the Region 2 champions, they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but quickly squandered that margin.  Boyertown loaded the bases with nobody out and eventually got three runs.  Pennridge's starter settled down and ended up pitching a complete game, keeping the Bears off balance for much of the night.

Pennridge chipped away with a run here and there, taking advantage of an over-aggressive base running attack by Boyertown.  The Bears had two runners thrown out in one inning on the basepaths, one at third and another at home.  Those runs proved to be the difference.

Final score was Pennridge 6, Boyertown 4.  Pennridge advances to game thirteen where they will have a tough matchup with Spring City who will be fighting for their season.  Boyertown will take on Millcreek at 4pm.

By luck of the draw, the winner of the Boyertown-Millcreek game would advance to national regional play if Pennridge wins tomorrow night.  If not, the second bid will be decided Saturday morning before the state championship game.

We're proud to offer another round of live updates via Twitter for the second and third games of the day in Boyertown.  To view the updates, which will be given every inning or so, simply click the twitter icon on the right side of the page.

We've gotten word that PA Legion fans from around the world (literally!) have been following along, hopefully you have been as well.

We appreciate the support and look forward to expanding our live game coverage in the future.

It was a huge day for Region 2 on Wednesday, as both of their representatives advanced with impressive wins.  Pennridge routed Millcreek in seven innings, beating them 16-3.  Boyertown blanked Hopewell, topping them 7-0.  The two teams will meet in game eleven, the winner's bracket final, at 7:30pm on Thursday evening.  The winner gets a trip into the championship round, and more importantly, a bid into national regional play.

Thursday's Matchups

Game 9: Upper Dauphin vs. Millcreek, 12:30pm

Game 10: Spring City vs. Hopewell, 4pm

Game 11: Boyertown vs. Pennridge, 7pm

Check the site for updates on the games throughout the day!

Hopewell certainly has the top pitcher in the tournament, their ace literally hasn't lost a game since last year; while Boyertown may very well have the deepest pitching staff in the state again this year.  Their unsung number two starter Steve Price turned in the top pitching performance of the tournament thus far.

Price went eight innings, yielding just three base hits while shutting out the Region 6 champions.  Hopewell entered the game with high aspirations, as many believed them to be the top team in Boyertown this week.  They couldn't get anything going though, and a lackluster fielding performance ultimately did them in.

Boyertown got their first run in the bottom of the first when lead-off hitter Ryan Schwager snapped out of his hitting drought with a long double.  He stole third and ended up scoring on an errant pickoff throw by the catcher.

The Bears got four runs in a third inning that Hopewell would like to forget.  Two errors apiece by the pitcher and third baseman in the inning led to the scoring.  In fact, the two errors attributed to the third basemen came in back to back at-bats.

Boyertown has won many tournaments this way, playing their patented style of small ball and capitalizing on the mistakes of their opponents.  They used some dazzling defensive plays to back Price and their reliever who finished up the ninth with a relatively quiet inning.

Hopewell drops into the loser's bracket where they will have an interesting face-off with Region 3 champion Spring City.  Considered two of the top teams in the state, one of these very good teams will be going home early.  That game is slated for 4pm.

Boyertown takes on Pennridge in an all Region 2 winner's bracket final at approximately 7:30pm.

After a huge win, and an apparent upset, yesterday afternoon, Millcreek was looking to take the next step and establish itself as a top team in the 2010 PA Legion State Tournament Wednesday.  The Region 6 champs got by Spring City by a 7-6 score yesterday.  Today, they weren't so lucky.

Pennridge jumped on them, early and often.  The Rams posted sixteen runs on twenty-one hits in just seven innings of work.  Pennridge got started with three runs in the top of the second.  They scored another run in the third, which Millcreek countered in their half of the inning.

Four more runs were plated by Pennridge in the fourth, pushing the lead to 7-1.  They didn't stop there, as they piled on two more in the fifth.  They put it away in the sixth with a six run outburst, pushing the tally to 15-1.  The Rams plated their final run in the seventh. 

Millcreek was able to get two runs in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn't enough to stave off the tournament's first mercy rule victory.  Final score: Pennridge 16, Millcreek 3 in seven innings.

Of Pennridge's twenty-one hits, only three were for extra bases.  Pennridge advances to the winner's bracket final where they will take on fellow Region 2 competitor Boyertown.

Millcreek drops into the loser's bracket, where they will take on Upper Dauphin tomorrow at 12:30pm.

State College entered this week's tournament with the most potent offense in the state, averaging almost fifteen runs per game in last week's region seven tournament.  After two games, they've been eliminated after posting just four total runs.

Following a suprising 2-1 loss to host Boyertown on Tuesday evening, the boys in blue couldn't get anything going against Upper Dauphin's Ben Ancheff.  Ancheff did it the old fashioned way, as he allowed his defense to make the plays behind him as he struck out just two batters in the game.

Ever the workhorse, Ancheff threw nearly 140 pitches in the victory while surrendering thirteen hits.  He did what he needed to do, giving his teammates more than enough room to work with to win the elimination game.

The outcome marks a very disappointing tournament for State College, who was back on the state scene after a few year hiatus.  Their offense never got going like they did last week.  Their pitching was very solid in the opener, but faltered in their second game.  They finish their season with another strong showing, finishing 34-10 overall with another regional title under their belt.

Upper Dauphin now finds themselves right in the thick of things, they'll take on Millcreek in the first game of the day Thursday at 12:30pm.  They'll have the chance to jump on a team that may very well still be shell-shocked from the big loss they took this afternoon.

If Upper Dauphin can win that one, they'll have a chance to send their ace back to the mound on Friday in an attempt to get into the championship round.

Spring City bounced back to top Danville in game five of the 2010 PA Legion Championship Tournament Wednesday morning by a final score of 11-2.

Danville has been eliminated, while Spring City advances to game ten tomorrow afternoon, where they'll take on the loser of Boyertown-Hopewell.

We'll be at Bear Stadium this afternoon for the winner's bracket games between Millcreek-Pennridge and Boyertown-Hopewell.  As we did yesterday, we'll post live updates from the game on our Twitter feed.  Every couple of innings or so you'll get a short update about what's going on in the game.

To follow along, simply visit our twitter here: http://twitter.com/palegionball

Be sure to 'follow' us!

Day one of the tournament featured four thrilling games, all of which were hotly contested until the very end.  In game one, Pennridge edged Danville 5-4.  In the second game, Hopewell topped Upper Dauphin 4-2.  

Millcreek downed Spring City 7-6 in the third game of the day, with Boyertown beating State College 2-1 in the nightcap.

Tomorrow's games are as follows:

Danville vs. Spring City (9:30am)

State College vs. Upper Dauphin (doubleheader)

Millcreek vs. Pennridge (4pm)

Boyertown vs. Hopewell (doubleheader)

Stay tuned for updates throughout the day, including live twitter updates from the stadium for games three and four of the day. 

To view the live updates, simply click the 'twitter' icon on the right side of the page.  Be sure to 'follow' us if you have an account to keep up to date on the latest news!

Taras Letnaunchyn couldn't have been more eager to take the mound for Boyertown in their opening round matchup with State College in the 2010 Pennsylvania American Legion Championship Tournament.  After all, his last time out there he was plagued by spotty control and ultimately ended up taking his first loss of the season in the Berks County League winner's bracket final.

Tonight's task involved taking on the state's most potent offense.  State College averaged a staggering 14.8 runs a game in the region seven tournament.  Tonight, Letnaunchyn completely shut them down.  Besides a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, Taras was as close to perfect as could be.  He scattered his hits, and never got into any real trouble.

Boyertown got its first run in the top of the fourth, when third basemen Paul Mills hit a solo home run that just cleared the fence in left.  He followed that up with a two out rbi single in the sixth.  Cleanup hitter Josh Schnell had two bunt base hits for the Bears, whose only other basehit came from right fielder Travis Kreitz.

Boyertown will get a chance to prove they're for real tomorrow evening in game eight, when they take on a very good Hopewell team.  That game is set for approximately 7pm, after the conclusion of the Millcreek-Pennridge contest.

Millcreek is making its fifth appearance in the Pennsylvania Legion Championship Tournament this year, with their overall record entering play at 1-8.  After storming back to defeat St. Mary's in the region eight tournament last week, they drew a less than favorable matchup with region three champion Spring City.

As we noted on the site last week, Spring City topped NorChester in an elimination game last week.  Many people considered NorChester to be the top team in the state.  Millcreek seemed unphased with the task at hand.

The game was close throughout, with Spring City enjoying a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning.  It appeared that the Red Sox were going to pull away in the sixth, when Spring City pushed across three more runs.

Ever resilient, the region eight champions rallied for five straight runs, erasing the deficit and taking the lead in the seventh inning.  The difference was relief pitching.  Spring City's faltered while Millcreek's stood firm.

In what will certainly amount as the biggest win in team history, Millcreek held on to top Spring City 7-6.  They advance to game seven of the tournament tomorrow at 4pm where they'll take on Pennridge.

Spring City will be back at it bright and early, as they take on Danville in an elimination game at 9:30am.

In the first of many exciting games on day one of the tournament, region two champion Pennridge held on and staved off a late Danville rally to win 5-4.

Danville was down two entering the ninth, when they rallied four two runs.  Despite having the tying run in scoring position with nobody out, they were unable to push the runner across for the equalizer.  

Danville now gets the unenviable task of playing two straight day openers, as they'll return to Bear Stadium tomorrow morning at 9:30am and take on Spring City, a 7-6 loser against Millcreek.

Pennridge finds themselves in great position, as they take on region eight champion Millcreek tomorrow at 4pm.  With the surprising loss by Spring City later in the day, Pennridge's route to the winner's bracket final appears to be a bit easier.  Though if today's result was any indication, Millcreek will give them all they can handle.

The first day of the 2010 PA State Tournament commences in just a few hours.  Eight teams, seven regional champions and a host, will take part in four games through the day.  The matchups are as follows.

Game 1: Pennridge (Region 2) vs. Danville (Region 5)

Game 2: Hopewell (Region 6) vs. Upper Dauphin (Region 4)

Game 3: Spring City (Region 3) vs. Millcreek (Region

Game 4: Boyertown (Host) vs. State College (Region 7)

Check back often for updates throughout the day.  For more tournament information, be sure to visit the state tournament page located under the 'news' section at the top of the page.

Are you heading to the state tournament tomorrow or sometime this week?  If so, there's a good chance you could be of great assistance to us.  If you're interested, please don't hesitate to email us at [email protected] for details.

We greatly appreciate your consideration!

Before the state tournament begins this week, we thought it'd be interesting to look back at the somewhat recent past and how the regions across the state faired in the state tournament.  Here's what region claimed the title in each year.

'75: 2

'76: 2

'77: 2

'78: 2

'79: 6

'80: 6

'81: 2

'82: 2

'83: 2

'84: 2

'85: 3

'86: 2

'87: 2

'88: 2

'89: 2

'90: 3

'91: 2

'92: 2

'93: 2

'94: 2

'95: 3

'96: 2

'97: 2

'98: 3

'99: 4

'00: 2

'01: 7

'02: 2

'03: 6

'04: 2

'05: 2

'06: 2

'07: 2

'08: 2

'09: 2

Summing it up, Region 2 has been more than dominant, claiming 26 of the last 35 titles.  Region 3 is a distant second, taking 4.  Region 4 has won one, as has region 7.  Region 6 has three total titles, while Regions 5 and 8 have never won one.

Boyertown has 20 of the 26 for Region 2

Yardley-Western has two of the three for Region 3

Hanover won it in 1999 for Region 4

Shaler won it for Region 6 twice, with Beaver Falls winning it in 2003

State College took home Region 7's crown in 2001

Region: 8

League: Erie County, postseason champions

Millcreek will have the farthest trip of any team to this week’s state tournament, over four hundred miles to be exact.  They’ll embark from Erie County in northwestern PA, and travel over seven hours to Boyertown in the southeastern part of the state.  Despite the long trip, the team returns to Bear Stadium, the site of their first state tournament, primed for a run towards the championship.

Millcreek began the region eight tournament with a win over Warren County champion Corry Savings Bank, beating them 8-2.  Unlike most of the other teams in this week’stournament, Millcreek did not drop their first game, or their forth in the throw away game.  This time, Millcreek was downed by the host, St. Mary’s, who did better than any other regional host did this past week.

They bounced back in game ten, an elimination game, where they defeated Fox Township from Elk County, 7-4.  Tuesday saw Millcreek’s offense break out forthe first time in the tournament, when they dropped a seventeen run outing on Meadville.  St. Mary’s continued to take care of business when they topped New Castle in their throw away game.  St. Mary’s entered the day needing to bebeaten twice for the regional title.

Millcreek’s offense did it again in game fourteen, as they outslugged St. Mary’s, handing them their first loss of the tournament,11-8.  Just a few minutes later, the championship game commenced between the two teams.  This time, it was all Millcreek, an eleven run victory, 13-2.  Millcreek had bounced back to defeat the only team that had beaten them in the tournament, advancing again to Boyertown for the state tournament.

They will open up the state tournament on Tuesday with agame against region three champion Spring City, in game three of the day.  It will be no easy feat for the northwestern PA team, as Spring City has proven themselves to be quite formidable so fart his postseason.  If Millcreek can get by them, they’ll take on the winner of Danville and Pennridge in game seven.