American Legion District 31 baseball playoffs
Championship
1-Bushy Run (18-3-1) vs. 3-Latrobe (21-5)
5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Penn-Trafford High School, Harrison City
Coaches: Scott Peyman, Bushy Run; Jason Bush, Latrobe
Players to watch: Carmen Metcalfe, Penn-Trafford; Erik Batista, Latrobe
Scouting report: The district final comes down to a pair of teams on hot streaks. Bushy Run, the regular-season champion, has won 13 straight, and Latrobe, the regular-season runner-up, has won 10 in a row. … Bushy Run clubbed Hempfield East, 17-4, to sweep their semifinal series. Ian Temple had two hits and four RBIs, and Metcalfe had three hits, including a double, and three RBIs. Jason Sabol, healthy after missing most of the high school season for Penn-Trafford, doubled, tripled and drove in three, and Matt Lichota had two hits and two RBIs. … Latrobe swept past Murrysville with a 5-1 win in Game 2 as Lou Amatucci went 3 for 3 with two runs, and Haden Sierocky was the winning pitcher with six strikeouts. Logan Bradish and Vinny Amatucci doubled. … Bushy Run won titles in 2017 and ‘19. Latrobe, in the postseason for the 33rd straight time, is the two-time defending champion of District 31. The Jethawks last year went on to finish 26-4-2. … Bush has over 400 career wins. … Bushy Run swept two games from Latrobe during the season, in a six-day span, by scores of 6-1 and 8-4. Both teams have qualified for the Region 7 Tournament set to begin Saturday at Bald Eagle.
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The District 31 consolation game scheduled for Wednesday at Haymaker Park in Murrysville will not be played after Hempfield East (17-11) withdrew because of a shortage of players.
This means Murrysville (18-10) will be the No. 3 seed out of the district for the Region 7 Tournament, which begins Saturday at Bald Eagle High School in Bellefonte.
The consolation game was for seeding purposes.
“We don’t have enough player participation to go through regionals,” Hempfield East coach Jason Willis said. “We had to bow out. I’m not happy about it.”
Willis said his player dilemma is a mix of injuries, work commitments and other obligations.
Huntingdon will replace Hempfield East in the region bracket.
