Monroeville Junior Legion team caps season at state tournament
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For the second summer in a row, the Monroeville Gators Junior Legion baseball team concluded its season in the state playoffs.
It wasn’t the finish the players or coaches had hoped for — Monroeville lost both games in the tournament the weekend of July 28 in Homer City — but head coach Mark Rawls said he was pleased with the way the team battled through all of the ups and downs to again get to the biggest stage of the summer.
“We felt all season that we had a pretty strong, competitive team,” Rawls said.
“We might not have played up to our potential all the time, but we knew that if we could make it to regionals or states than you never know what can happen as far as how far you can go. For the kids who hadn’t played Legion baseball before, it really sunk in how much of an accomplishment it was to do well at regionals and get to states. Seeing the level of competition, it was a great experience for them.”
Monroeville fell to Upper Perkiomen in the first round, and then was eliminated by S.W. Jack, the Indiana County champion, 10-0 in five innings to finish its season 9-14 overall.
The Gators bats were stymied in a five-inning no-hitter. A hit batter and a walk were the only base runners Monroeville had throughout the game.
“It seemed like from the first inning, we came out kind of flat,” Rawls said. “We weren’t having good contact on the ball. In the at-bats where we were making contact, they weren’t as competitive as we would’ve liked. That was tough to see, but we give all credit to S.W. Jack. We played them in the regionals and won, and we knew we would have to have another stellar performance if we were to beat them again. But it just didn’t happen.”
Monroeville played four games at regionals and finished 3-1.
The Gators lost the first game to Erie’s Wesleyville Post 571 which put them a little behind the 8-ball.
“They had a pitcher who was topping out at 90 miles per hour,” Rawls said. “That was probably the best pitcher we’ve faced in Western Pennsylvania. His breaking ball was between 69 and 72.”
But Monroeville was able to bounce back and win three to punch its ticket to states.
The Gators topped Ligonier Valley, 8-1, before defeating S.W. Jack, 5-4, in an elimination game.
Monroeville finished the game with eight players. Starting the game with nine, an injury in the outfield forced the Gators to go with just two outfielders the rest of the way.
That player’s position in the batting lineup turned into an automatic out. That situation occurred in the sixth with one out and one runner on base.
“That ended our inning a little quicker than we had hoped,” Rawls said.
Monroeville completed its regional run with a 9-7 win over Titusville to clinch its spot at states.
“It was a back-and-forth game,” Rawls said.
The Gators started out leading 6-0 after the first inning. Titusville then punched back and tied it.
Monroeville fell behind, but tied the game in the sixth and went ahead for good in the seventh.
“All the credit to the guys for sticking with it when Titusville rallied,” Rawls said.
Monroeville finished the Westmoreland County Youth Legion regular season at 5-10, but the Gators were able to secure one of the eight playoff spots.
“We found that Westmoreland County was a pretty tough league, with Murrysville and Trafford and some of the others teams like Belle Vernon and 14th Ward,” Rawls said.
“I was proud of the way the guys fought through and made it to the playoffs.”
Monroeville, which had defeated Plum, 11-6, in the first round, suffered a close 2-0 loss to 14th Ward in the semifinals, putting the possibility of qualifying for regionals into question.
“Fortunately for us, there were some teams who had qualified that weren’t able to attend which bumped us up to the regional tournament,” Rawls said.
Trafford defeated Ninth Ward for the Westmoreland County title to automatically qualify. Ligonier Valley was the other regional qualifier from the league.
Of the 16 players on his year’s Monroeville roster, 11 are age-eligible to return next year.
“The guys are understanding the tradition we have built and are trying to build here with Monroeville Legion,” Rawls said.
“We’re always working to make this team something to be proud of in the Monroeville community. They are really wearing that banner and working hard to represent the team name. They hope to carry some of this momentum into 2025.”