Northeastern Legion reaches final day of Pennsylvania state tournament

The Northeastern Legion baseball team’s fantastic summer isn’t quite over yet.

Manager Dave Shindler’s team advanced to the final day of the Pennsylvania state tournament with a 4-2 win over Wesleyville on Tuesday afternoon at Plum High School outside Pittsburgh. Northeastern needs two wins on Wednesday to clinch the state title.

Three of the eight teams remained in the double-elimination tournament through Tuesday afternoon. Defending champion Quakertown, which handed Northeastern its only loss of the weekend on Sunday, was scheduled to play Bristol after the Northeastern-Wesleyville game. A Quakertown win would send Northeastern to the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament with a top-two finish at states.

York-Adams and Region 4 champion Northeastern (20-3) opened state tournament weekend with a 6-0 win over Region 3’s Bristol on Saturday before falling 8-4 to Region 2’s Quakertown the following afternoon. The Bobcats bounced back into the losers’ bracket, however, by beating Region 6 champion Belle Vernon 5-3 on Monday before eliminating Region 8’s Wesleyville on Tuesday.

Drew Barshinger pitched a complete game on Tuesday, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits, walking five and striking out seven in seven innings. The Northeastern offense gave him four runs in the bottom of the first, with Brinden Floyd’s two-run double preceding Brandt Johnson’s two-run triple. Wesleyville crept closer in the fifth and sixth innings, but Barshinger retired the side in order in the seventh to complete his 108-pitch outing.

Northeastern rode its pitching depth to a Region 4 title last week, and the Bobcats have had similar success at state. Barshinger threw four innings and 60 pitches Saturday, while Mitchell Moser threw 3.1 relief innings Sunday after Northeastern fell behind early against Quakertown. Quinn Shindler threw 6.1 frames Monday before Conner Rippo recorded the final two outs. With Barshinger and Shindler unavailable due to pitch count rules, Rippo will be the team’s most experienced option for Wednesday.

Floyd has been Northeastern’s offensive leader throughout the tournament. He went 2 for 4 with two RBIs in the opener, added an RBI single on Sunday, went 2 for 4 on Monday and added the go-ahead knock on Tuesday. The 2023 Northeastern High School graduate also is an option on the mound for Dave Shindler’s staff, though he has primarily played catcher during the Legion playoffs.

No York County team has won a Legion state title since Hanover in 1999, and this Northeastern group has far surpassed its postseason run of last year, when the Bobcats were Region 4 runners-up. A super-regional appearance would be the latest historic achievement for this group of players, six of whom were on Northeastern’s state championship 8-10 Little League team in 2017.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament will be played Aug. 7-11 in Ridge, Maryland, with the winner advancing to the ALB World Series in Shelby, North Carolina, Aug. 15-20.