Hempfield East American Legion looking for another big season

The Hempfield East American Legion baseball team is on a mission.

The 2018 season had its great moments — winning the District 31 and Region 7 tournaments — and it’s not so great moments — barely having enough players to compete in the Pennsylvania Legion State Tournament.

The 2019 team vows that if it qualifies for the state tournament this season, it will have enough players to make a run at the title.

“No one is going on vacation this year,” first baseman Reid Amundson said.

Hempfield East coach Scott Smith said the players who took part in the state tournament had fun, and the players who missed it wished they played.

“You don’t get many chances to play for a state title,” Smith said. “I don’t think they have anything to prove. They just want a chance to won a title.”

A lot of the same players (14) are back for another run this season for Smith. He has a mixture of Hempfield and Greensburg Salem high school players.

The Greensburg Salem players are Amundson, Dajauhn Hertzog, John McBride, Zach O’Bryan, Andrew Rosenberg, Noah Sweeney and Matt Wicker.

The Hempfield players were Reno Brasili, Dom Carrera, Lance Daley, Hunter Eperesi, Reed Hipps, Jon Malinak, Shane Stuchell and Christian Zilli. Jeannette’s Zander Malik is the other member of the team.

Hempfield East is off to a 4-0 start and sits a half-game behind Latrobe at 5-0.

“We’re excited about the season,” Amundson said. “We should be pretty good.”

Smith is impressed with the good mix of hitters and pitchers.

Returning on the hill from last year’s club are Stuchell, Wicker, Rosenberg, Zilli, Sweeney, Brasili and Daley. Malik was one of Jeannette’s top pitchers last season. Hertzog saw action in the region tournament.

“In four games, we’ve already used seven different pitchers,” Smith said. “We have a lot of players that can play multiple positions.”

Smith likes the depth of his team as players are pushing for playing time. Even if a player or two has to miss a game, Hempfield East has a deep bench.

Wicker led Greensburg Salem in many offensive categories and was the Golden Lions’ top pitcher. Rosenberg was one of the top pitchers for Greensburg Salem in 2018, and Stuchell came on strong for East last season and this year for Hempfield.

In last year’s region tournament, Hempfield East lost its first game and battled through the losers’ bracket. East defeated Bedford in the title game.

East also knocked off Bushy Run on its way to the tournament title. Bushy Run, United, Latrobe, Yough and Mt. Pleasant are some of the teams that will challenge East for the crown.