District 31 American Legion expands with addition of Somerset, Blairsville

Pennsylvania American Legion baseball in Westmoreland County this summer starts May 18 with a new look: The league has expanded to 12 teams.

The league, one of the largest in the state, added two teams: Blairsville, which gives the league three teams from Indiana County; and Somerset, which formerly competed against teams from Bedford, Blair and Cambria counties.

Blairsville will play its games at Wyotech Park and Somerset at Somerset High School. Homer City, which played its home games in Indiana, now will play home games at First Commonwealth Field in Homer City.

The nine holdovers are Bushy Run, Derry, Hempfield East, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Murrysville, Unity, Yough and Young Township. Latrobe is the reigning champion. Young Township and Bushy Run also competed in the Region 7 tournament.

Young Township draws players from Apollo-Ridge, Saltsburg and Armstrong.

Murrysville was the Junior American Legion state champion, and Penn Township and Connellsville competed in the state tournament.

“I think growing is a good thing,” District 31 president and Region 7 director Jason Bush said. “It shows we’re doing things right. I would hope parents would see the benefits with playing with your teammates and not playing travel ball where you don’t know your teammates.

“We have so many new high school coaches in the county, and they know the benefits of playing Legion baseball. I feel there is still growth in the Westmoreland.”

Bush said he would like to see teams such as Irwin, Burrell and Kiski Valley (Armstrong, Freeport, Kiski Area and Leechburg) return in the future.

He also hopes the growth in Indiana County continues.

“With Blairsville, Young Township and Homer City sponsoring teams again, the goal as the Region 7 director is to get three or more teams in the county so they can get their own league,” Bush said. “If we could get that back, that would be a plus.”

Bush said he’s also excited to add Somerset to the league.

“Somerset has had a rich history in the past,” Bush said. “They were frustrated with their past league and playing the same teams over and over again. I know their previous league is disappointed that they are losing them, but this has been in the works for a couple years.”

Somerset is the only team in the county and will be able to choose players from five high schools (Somerset, Meyersdale, Berlin, Rockwood and Shanksville).

“We’re looking forward to the change,” Somerset coach Bart Close said. “The distance we travel isn’t too bad. We’re used playing more than 20 games and our old league, we were lucky to get 12 to 15 games. I’m eager to compete against some quality teams.”

Bush said that Somerset’s population is within the parameters set by the American Legion.

The regular season is scheduled to conclude July 2.

Latrobe will also be the host of the 2023 state tournament, which will be held July 24-28 at the Latrobe Teener Field.