Regionals ready to get going
Area Legion squads look for regional titles in Muhlenberg, Lionville
The summers of Hatfield-Towamencin and Souderton have become a bit intertwined.
The squads finished the BuxMont American Legion regular season with identical 17-3 records — Hatfield-Towamencin edging Post 234 as champ on the runs allowed tiebreaker.
The sides were also the last two teams standing at the end of the league’s playoffs before Tuesday’s storms ended the tournament.
And that earned both squads a return trip to the Pennsylvania Region 2 Tournament, which this year means heading up the Muhlenberg’s Dick Gochnauer Field and battle with six other teams looking for a spot in the state championship.
Souderton gets the doubleelimination tournament started Friday as it faces Norco Legion runner-up Northampton in the opener at 11 a.m. followed by Hatfield-Towamencin taking on defending region champ South Parkland in the second game of a doubleheader.
Saturday, the Region 3 Tournament gets going in Chester County hosted by Lionville with GNALBL champ Chadwick’s and Lower Montco Legion winner Fort Washington returning to the field for the second straight season.
Chadwick’s and Fort both open with 9 a.m. contests — Fort facing defending regional champ Spring City at Downingtown East with Chadwick’s taking on BroomallNewtown at Hickory Park in Upper Uwchlan Township.
Region 2
Souderton started the BuxMont season with 13 straight wins but with Hatfield-Towamencin claiming the regular season crown by tiebreaker — the teams
split their two meeting, the Titans winning with fewer runs allowed (35 to 49) — Post 234’s regional hopes hinged on the league tournament.
Souderton started the Bux-Mont playoffs with victories over Doylestown (6-1) and Quakertown (71) at Romanoski Field. In the winner’s bracket final last Saturday against Hatfield-Towamencin in Quakertown, Souderton jumped out to a 9-0 lead but had to hold on for a 10-8 win.
That ended up being Souderton’s last game before Friday. Post 234 and HT were set to meet in the Bux-Mont postseason final Tuesday but rain scuttled those plans and with regionals three days away and both teams already qualified, the tournament was called completed.
Souderton reached last season’s Region 2 winner’s bracket final with victories over Norchester (6-5) and South Parkland (6-5 in 11 innings) but ended its season with losses to host West Lawn 5-3 and Norchester (14-3 in seven innings).
Northampton was swept by Nazareth in the Norco Legion championship finals — dropping Game 1 1-0 Sunday then falling 8-0 in Game 2 Monday.
Hatfield-Towamencin is making its third straight Region 2 appearance. The Titans won 13 in a row to take the Bux-Mont regularseason title then extended the streak to 15 with close playoff wins over Warrington (6-5) and Perkiomen (3-2). After its loss to Souderton last Saturday, HT bounced back with a 12-2 five-inning win over Perkiomen Monday.
At last season’s regionals, the Titans offense went off in its opener to beat Salisbury 26-16 but HatfieldTowamencin dropped the next two — falling to West Lawn 8-4 then Norchester 6-3.
South Parkland clinched it second straight Lehigh Valley Legion title with a 7-0 win over Salisbury last Thursday. South Parkland topped West Lawn for the 2017 Region 2 title.
In Friday’s other action at Region 2, Pine Grove takes on West Lawn at 4:30 p.m. with Muhlenberg facing Nazareth in the second game of the doubleheader. The tournament continues through Tuesday.
Region 3
The team formerly known as Presidential Caterers. Chadwick’s showed that while the name may have changed the results did not. Chadwick’s captured a second-straight GNALBL title by rebounding for a 6-1 loss to JP Mascaro in the league tournament’s winner’s bracket final with three straight wins — topping Valley Forge then beating JP Mascaro twice — securing the title with a 13-0 in five innings last Wednesday.
At Region 3 in 2017, Chadwick’s fell to host and eventual champ Spring City 14-2 in seven innings, stayed alive with a 15-10 win over Roxborough before losing 20-7 to Lionville in seven.
Main Line Senior Legion’s Broomall-Newtown — which has several players from Marple Newtown’s 2018 PIAA-5A championship team on its roster — earned its spot at regionals by besting Nether Providence 7-3 Wednesday.
Fort Washington won its second straight — and 21st since 1976 — Lower Montco Legion championship by edging Roslyn 5-4 last Saturday at Upper Dublin. Fort held a 4-0 lead after three innings before Roslyn rallied to pull even 4-4 in top of the fourth. But the Golden Generals took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning on Elijah’ Peck’s RBI double.
Like Chadwick’s, Fort Washington went 1-2 at Region 3 last season. Fort lost to Falls 9-8 in 14 innings, then beat Springfield 3-2 before falling to BroomallNewtown 14-1 in seven.
Spring City captured the Chester County Legion title Wednesday with two victories over Lionville, topping the Hillcats 10-2 in the first game and 8-2 in the second. Last season, the Red Sox won their first Region 3 title since 2012, winning all five games on their home field, the last a 10-3 victory over Broomall-Newtown.
The final two games at Region 3 Saturday are part of a doubleheader at Downingtown East — YardleyMorrisville faces Wayne at noon followed by Lionville taking on Wayne. The tournament continues through Wednesday.