Penn-Trafford Junior Legion looking for another state title

The Penn-Trafford Junior Legion baseball team won a Pennsylvania American Legion Youth title in 2021.

It came up short in 2022 as rival Murrysville won the title.

But Penn-Trafford coach Steve Freas, who coached the 2021 squad, said he feels the 2023 version has the talent to bring home another title.

Penn-Trafford opens the 2023 tournament against Black Mountain at 11:30 a.m. Saturday in Berwick. Monroeville, which lost to Penn-Trafford in the West Regional final, faces Lower Macungie at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The other games Saturday have Upper Perkiomen facing Lower Southampton at 9 a.m. and Saegertown facing Berwick at 5 p.m. The double-elimination tournament runs through Wednesday.

Penn-Trafford (22-1) won the Westmoreland Junior Legion regular-season and playoff titles. It defeated Murrysville in the best-of-three championship series, 2-1.

It went 4-0 in the West Regional at Homer City by defeating S.W. Jack, 4-0, Saegertown, 8-3, Millcreek, 12-1, and Monroeville, 8-4.

“From top to bottom, I feel we’re pretty good,” Freas said. “Adding the extra hitter has benefited us. We have 10 to 13 players I feel comfortable with in our lineup.

“We have strong hitting, play solid defense and a good balanced pitching staff. I’m confident we’ll play well.”

The top pitchers are Ben Grabowski, Dom Delio, Braden Kane, Zach Feldman, Ethan Septak, Nico Casciato and Evan Gigliotti. Delio is 6-0, Kane is 4-0 and Feldman is 3-0.

Septak leads the team with 21 RBIs, while centerfielder Logan Matrisch leads the team with 27 runs scored and 23 hits. Septak was on the 2021 team.

“Logan is our table-setter,” Freas said.

Grabowski and catcher Colton Tyburski have banged out 18 hits.

Santino Sella has collected 16 hits and scored 14 runs.

“Colton works his tail off,” Freas said. “He does a great job controlling the pitching staff. He’s also a solid hitter.”

Septak plays first when he’s not pitching. Grabowski plays second, Delio is the shortstop and Feldman plays third. Kane starts in left field, Matrisch in center and either Casciato or Sella in right.

“I felt good two years ago when we won, and I feel good about this team,” Freas said. “If we don’t make too many mental mistakes, we’ll do fine. They are looking forward to competing. They’re a loose group that is having fun. They are great to coach.”