Bushy Run Legion makes another strong postseason run to reach state tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, July 27, 2025 | 11:46 AM

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The Bushy Run American Legion baseball team continues to roll and surprise its coach, Scott Peyman.

Led by a group of veterans and youth, Bushy Run advanced to the Pennsylvania American Legion state tournament in Erie — that began July 26 — by winning the District 31 and Region 7 tournaments.

Bushy Run, after a loss to Hempfield East on July 20, came back to defeat Philipsburg, 6-0; Latrobe, 2-1; Claysburg, 4-1; and Latrobe, 4-1, to claim the Region 7 title for the second consecutive year.

In those three games, Bushy Run got stellar pitching performances from Brandon Rohrer, Evan Gigliotti, Jon Lovre and Jayden Kennedy.

“Our pitchers were outstanding,” Peyman said. “Everyone contributed. We also got timely hitting and solid defense. This is a special group.”

Brody Huffman, Carmen Metcalfe and Rohrer did not have to play baseball for the Bushy Run this summer, but they did.

Even though the 2024 Penn-Trafford grads are a year into college, they loved the game too much not to play this summer, they said.

The trio was a big reason why Bushy Run won the District 31 championship July 16. Bushy Run, which finished third in the regular season standings, defeated Lower Burrell, 9-3, in the title game.

Bushy Run beat Murrysville in the opening round of the playoffs and Hempfield East in the semifinals.

“Baseball has been such a big part of our lives, and we have been such a tight group growing up, and this really meant a lot to us,” Huffman said. “Our connection is so strong, our chemistry has grown over the years, and it is never stronger than last year and this year, man, just to play with these guys one more year, it’s really been something and we are not finished.

“We are proud of what we have done so far, and we are going to do in the future.”

Peyman said he did not see championships happening this summer.

“At the beginning of the year I would have been shocked is someone made us the favorite,” Peyman said. “But they came together at the right time and played good baseball at the end of the year.”

This was a different Bushy Run team. For the first time in years, Peyman had four players from Jeannette and a player from Norwin. They blended well with the Bushy Run players, including numerous 16-year-olds.

“Hoffman, Jon (Lovre), Robbie (Andrews) and Roher were leaders,” Peyman said. “All those guys have been here for three or four years. I am glad they are going out with a bang and winning a championship. Now they get to finish their careers this way; it is special.”

Huffman said the new players mixed well with the Penn-Trafford players.

Penn Township Juniors finish strong

The Penn Township Junior Legion team did not have its normal regular season.

But things were a lot different when the playoffs began.

Penn Township, consisting of mostly 15-year-olds playing against 16- and 17-year-old players, won the Westmoreland County title and then advanced to the Region 7 championship before falling to S.W. Jacks of Indiana County.

“This year, Legion upped the age for Junior players to 17,” PT general manager Steve Freas said. “We had some our players move up to the Bushy Run team, so the younger players had to adjust to wooden bats and playing against older players. We got off to a slow start.”

One of the problems was hitting. Freas said they did not adjust well.

“The pitchers pitched well,” Freas said. “Andrew Hauck, Michael Madigan and Kaden Lipko were the top pitchers.”

Freas was also impressed with outfielder Anthony Lawson, catcher/outfielder Otto Hettler, outfield Reece Vislocky, center fielder Landon Thomas and second baseman Dante Leonello.

“Lipko and Leonello hit well, and Thomas played great defense,” Freas said. “I can’t wait to see how they grow. We will have everyone back.”

Penn Township defeated Ligonier and Kiski, in the finals, to win the Westmoreland County League. It reached the Region 7 finals by defeating Young Township and Armstrong.

It was the fifth straight year Penn Township was in region championship game.

The group was coached by Chuck Fontana, Mario Disso, Ty Freas and Chris Rayman.

“I was proud to see how well the former players coached,” Steve Freas said. “They did an outstanding job.”

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.

Tags: Jeannette, Norwin, Penn-Trafford