Lower Mac’s quest for a Pennsylvania Youth Legion state championship will begin at the same place where its run began last week.
After posting a 4-1 record and finishing as co-champs at last week’s Berwick Regional, the Rangers (28-4 overall) will head back north to Columbia County where the eight best teams will play for the ultimate prize — a state title.
Lower Mac will be in search of its second state title in program history. Their only other championship came back in 1999 when they defeated Murrysville. The Rangers last appeared in states back in 2019 where they finished 1-2 in Homer City.
Head coach Shawn Betz’s squad has enjoyed an outstanding season with a 28-4 overall record, finishing as the Berks County regular-season and post-season champs and qualifying for regionals for the first time since 2019.
Lower Mac will open up the tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m. as they take on Monroeville, the runner-up from the West Regional. Monroeville is 16-9 on the season and competes in the Westmoreland County League.
The other opening-round matchups will feature:
- Upper Perk, winners’ of their own regional, taking on Lower Southampton, the runner-up @ Berwick Regional at 9 a.m;
- Back Mountain, the Upper Perk regional runner-up, facing West Regional champs Penn Trafford at 11:30 a.m;
- Berwick, the host team facing Saegertown, the third place team from the West Regional.
The tournament will continue on Sunday with two losers’ bracket games at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. followed by two winners’ bracket games at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Monday’s lineup includes three games at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. followed by two games on Tuesday at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday with a if necessary game to follow at 1 p.m.
Murrysville is the defending state champs after defeating Upper Perk 8-3 in last year’s championship played at Homer City.
Players on this year’s Lower Mac team include: Aaron Fleetwood, Connor Horwath, Owen Haas, Zach Heller, Jaden Betz, Robbie Barnes, Ryan Heller, Ryan Hummell, Logan Armstrong, Alex Harris, Andrew Lee, Aiden Issler, Cameron Bauer, Jack Sparango, Massimo Tranguch, Cole George, Mason Saylor and Logan Benner.
To stay up to date on the tournament, follow the Lower Mac Youth Legion team on twitter (@legion_lm) and also on @Emmaussports.com and @EastPaSportsNet.