Upper Dauphin Legion eyes state title

BOYERTOWN - Being from a rural area and comprised of players from small high schools, Upper Dauphin County isn't given much of a chance to win this week's Pennsylvania State American Legion Baseball Tournament at Bear Stadium.

UDC manager Scott Dietrich likes it that way.

The first team from this area to reach the American Legion state tournament in more than 30 years, Region 4 champion Upper Dauphin (22-2) began play July 27 against Region 6 champion Hopewell in the second game of the morning doubleheader.

(Details of that game were unavailable prior to press production.)

Region 5 champion Danville was scheduled to take on Region 2 winner Pennridge in the opener of the double-elimination tournament, followed by the Upper Dauphin-Hopewell game. Region 8 champ Millcreek and Region 3 titlist Spring City were to square off at 4 p.m., followed by Region 7 winner State College against host Boyertown.

"Really, there's no pressure in our eyes to live up to expectations or hype," Dietrich said. "The buzz seems to be that we're major underdogs here, because we're from a rural area, made up of players from a bunch of small schools and don't get much press.

"That's a good thing for us. We're kind of embracing it, to be honest."

Upper Dauphin reached the state tournament by winning the Dauphin County championship with a 3-2 victory over Hummelstown, then rolling through the Region 4 Tournament and beating Campbelltown 11-3 in the finals.

Region 4 encompasses York, Franklin, Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, Lebanon and Lancaster counties, about the same area as PIAA District 3, minus Berks County.

Upper Dauphin County is comprised of nine players from Upper Dauphin High School, eight from Williams Valley and one from Millersburg. During the high school season, Upper Dauphin won the Tri-Valley League title and reached the District 3 Class AA semifinals, and Williams Valley won the Schuylkill League Division II crown, lost in the league finals and reached the District 11 Class A semifinals. The Trojans and Vikings combined to go 40-5.

UDC is led by Republican-Herald Player of the Year Tyler Herb, who has allowed just one earned run in 56.1 innings during the Legion season. The Coastal Carolina recruit was scheduled to take the hill July 27 against Hopewell.

"It's nice when you pencil him in the No. 3 hole and on the mound," Dietrich said. "You don't have to worry about that spot in the lineup and that place on the field. It's a nice thing to have at your disposal."

Herb is joined by Republican-Herald Pitcher of the Year Tyler Koppenhaver, Republican-Herald Rookie of the Year Sean Collins and All-Area first-teamers Ben Ancheff, Ty Raubenstine, Brent Wolfe and Zach Markel.

Completing the squad are Cody Kreiser, Ryan Welker, Ethan Calnon, J.P. Leitzel, Ian Buffington and Adam Welker of Upper Dauphin; Kegan Bettinger, Owen Daniel, Ronnie Daub and Cody Miller of Williams Valley; and Eli Grubb of Millersburg.

"We certainly believe we have as good a shot as anybody else does (at winning the tournament)," Dietrich said. "For how many games we're required, we want to play nine solid innings every day, and however far we go is icing on the cake.

"We've already gone farther than any Upper Dauphin Legion team has gone, and done more than any other team has. We can just relax and play baseball."

Dietrich, his coaching staff and his players traveled to Boyertown on Monday, and attended the American Legion state banquet and Hall of Fame inductions Monday night in Bechtelsville before heading to their hotel.

None of the Upper Dauphin players have ever played at Bear Stadium.

The last local Legion team to play in a tournament of this magnitude in Boyertown was the 2005 Valley View squad, which went 2-2 and knocked off the host Bears in an elimination game.

"This is our first time, myself and all of our players, that we got to do this," Dietrich said. "We're excited we got the chance to play, and we're excited to get to experience the whole tournament. We're taking it one game at a time, taking it all in.

"We expect to compete with everybody here, and we're not intimidated by anybody here. It's a great thing for our kids to see this atmosphere. We can just relax and play baseball."

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