American Legion baseball teams vie for spots in state tournament in Latrobe

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, July 14, 2023 | 7:10 PM

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The Steelers aren’t the only team arriving in Latrobe this month.

The Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball state tournament will be held in the area beginning July 23.

Things will kick off with the Hall of Fame dinner at Huber Hall in Latrobe at 6 p.m. July 23.

Games will begin at 10:10 a.m. July 24 at Latrobe-Derry Teener League Rosa-Oglietti Park on Route 981 near Latrobe Elks Golf Club. There will be four games each of the first two days of the tournament.

Latrobe American Legion will be the host team while seven regions across the state open tournaments Saturday to determine which teams will be participating.

The tournaments will be held at Boyertown (Region 2), Spring City (Region 3), Waynesboro (Region 4), Scranton (Region 5), Washington & Jefferson College (Region 6), Bald Eagle Area (Region 7) and St. Marys (Region 8).

District 31 champion Bushy Run, runner-up Latrobe and third-place finisher Murrysville will be competing in the Region 7 tournament.

Bushy Run will face Beech Creek at Governor’s Park in Bellefonte at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Latrobe will play Huntingdon at noon at Bald Eagle Area, and Murrysville battles St. Michael at 6 p.m.

Pool play continues Sunday and Monday with the semifinals being held Tuesday at noon and 3 p.m. and the championship game at 6.

The Region 6 tournament will feature teams from Fayette and Beaver counties. No Allegheny County teams qualified for the tournament.

The double-elimination tournament begins at 10:05 a.m. Saturday with Charleroi battling Baden. Connellsville will play New Brighton at 1:05 p.m., followed by Belle Vernon and Blackhawk at 4:05 p.m. and host Uniontown facing Hopewell at 7:05 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Junior Western Regional is slated to begin July 21 at Homer City. Penn-Trafford and Murrysville, the returning champion, already have clinched berths and are playing for the Westmoreland Junior League title. Monroeville is playing in a play-in game.

And, for the record, the Steelers report July 26 to Saint Vincent.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.