Representatives from the five leagues that comprise Pennsylvania's Region 2 will descend on Hostelley Field in Nor-Gwyn on Saturday to commence the 2011 PA Region 2 Tournament. The tournament will feature both perennial powers and teams trying to make a name for themselves on a larger scale.
wrapped up a bid to the regional tournament by way of claiming the Lehigh Valley League's regular season crown with a record of 15-3. They are led on the offensive side by Payton Bachman who led the team in nearly every statistical category including batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, runs scored, and bases stolen. The team as a whole will get on base and cause trouble for opposing defenses with their daunting speed. Collectively, they had three of the top five base stealers in the league this season with Bachman, Jake Kern, and Ty Cunningham all swiping double digit bases. Sawyer Smith is their top pitcher, statistic-wise, where he was near the top of the league in both WHIP and wins. The team opened the Lehigh Valley League playoffs with a shutout win over Southern Lehigh before dropping the next two games against Coplay and Lower Macungie.
, the defending regional champions and state runner-up, fought through the BuxMont League postseason as the seven seed and knocked off Quakertown for the league title. The team finished the regular season with an even record of 10-10 before starting another postseason run. Pennridge led off their postseason tournament with a dramatic upset of second seeded Doyelstown in the first round. From there, they were unstoppable as they blanked the four seed Warrington before dispatching Nor-Gwyn in the winner's bracket final. The defending champions eased into the championship round with a double digit win over Perkiomen before topping Quakertown in game fourteen on Tuesday.
, the fourth seed in the Northampton County League, began their postseason march by sweeping top seeded East Stroudsburg in a best of three semifinal series. In the finals, Nazareth shut out Bath in both games to earn the league's top slot in the regional tournament. They are led on the offensive side of the ball by Karl Kleglovits. Through the regular season, he led the team in home runs and RBIs and had a batting average of nearly .500. Jordan Smith posted the top pitching stats on the staff, striking out 41 batters on the season while only surrendering twelve hits. Klegovits was dominating on the mound during the spring high school season, but saw limited action during the summer.
earned a bid into the tournament by way of winning the Lehigh Valley's postseason tournament. The team finished the regular season in fifth place with an 10-8 record. They began their championship run by defeating fifth seeded West Allentown in the first round. After a rainout on Friday, the eventual champions shut out Lower Macungie on Saturday. Following up on that performance, the team knocked off Coplay in subsequent days. In the championship round they defeated Lower Macungie to earn the league's second spot in the tournament. Joe Taves and Davin Pagan lead the team on the offensive side while Gio Fuentes led the entire league in runs scored. Mike Tatasciore is currently one of the league leaders in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched.
will be the second representative from Northampton County by way of their second place postseason finish. Things got off to a great start for the team as they swept the Birches in their semifinal series. Nazareth blanked Bath in their final series sweep to earn the league's top slot in this weekend's tournament. Bath's offsense is led by James Bertolotti and their pitching staff's top pitcher so far has been Jason Mitch. The team has split the bulk of their innings between four pitchers. They have a rather evenly skilled offense with no glaring holes in the lineup.
has earned their way to the tournament by winning the Schuylkill-Berks League championship over Muhlenberg. The team captured the top record in the northern division which is comprised mostly of teams from Schuylkill County. The eventual champions started the postseason with a win over Northern Schuylkill. They then topped Pine Grove and second seeded Pottsville in the north division's winner's bracket final. In the proverbial throw away game, the A's were beaten by Minersville. Southern Area bounced back to defeat Minersville and claim the north division title before their league title win over Muhlenberg at the home of the Reading Phillies. Southern Area has established themselves as a difficult team to play and will look to take a big step towards the state tournament beginning on Saturday.
is the host of the 2011 Region 2 Tournament. The Hawks had a bit of a down year in the Bux-Mont League where they finished eighth overall. That didn't stop the perennial power from making a run in the league tournament. They began the postseason with an upset win over top seeded Hatfield. The Hawks kept it going after a rain day by defeating fourth seeded Pottstown in the second round. Pennridge knocked off Nor-Gwyn in the winner's bracket final that featured the seven and eight seeds in the tournament. Quakertown eliminated the Hawks on the next day. The 2005 state champions have established themselves as one of the premier teams in the state over the past decade and will have the hometown crowd behind them during the tournament. Their experience and abilities should carry them deep into the tournament.
has earned the Berks County League's only berth into the regional tournament. The Bears won the regular season crown and earned a bye in the first round of the postseason tournament. They were able to win a thrilling come from behind game against rival West Lawn in the tournament's second round. Colby Hartman had one of the area's top pitching performances of the year in the winner's bracket final against Twin Valley where he struck out the first eight batters he faced. The Bears knocked off the seventh seed Conrad Weiser Scouts on Monday. Looming in the final round was longtime rival Shillington. The Red Sox were able to beat the Bears in game 14 of the tournament to force a decisive championship game. Despite trailing for much of the game, the Bears again struck back in a big way by scoring ten straight runs late Tuesday evening to win another county title.
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