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Yohman working to improve Legion baseball in area

By Jonathan Guth jguth@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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Uniontown American Legion head coach Brad Yohman is working to improve baseball in the area, as the 2002 Laurel Highlands graduate serves as the president of the Fayette County League.

Yohman’s team has been a mainstay atop the Fayette standings prior to and since he took over the program in 2015, and he hopes to continue that trend moving forward.

“I really want to get players into Legion ball at a younger age to provide our Senior Legion team with a feeder system,” Yohman said. “We also want other teams in our area to do the same.”

Uniontown hosts the Region 6 Tournament for the second consecutive year at Hutchinson Field, and Yohman is eager to be a part of it once again.

“We are excited to host the Region 6 Tournament again, and we want to be good hosts,” Yohman said. “The other teams from outside the community had a good time last year, and it is a nice platform to show what we can do.

“It is a great showcase and there is a lot of good baseball played. I believe we provide a good venue and tournament experience. We have many volunteers that do a great job, and we couldn’t do it without them. We are hoping to get something together over Memorial Day for teams to come and play at our facility.”

Uniontown wants to emulate teams like Blackhawk, and Yohman believes having a Junior Legion team will have the program on the right track.

“Blackhawk has set the bar pretty high and it seems like we run into each other in the regionals,” Yohman said. “I look to pattern what Blackhawk does. We hope to be the top team in our area. I really believe having a Junior Legion team will help our program grow.”

Uniontown’s Junior Legion team is scheduled to make its debut on the week of May 7. The start times for specific teams could depend on the success of their high school baseball seasons. The teams play an 18-game regular season, as division teams play each other twice, and play a non-division team once.

The league playoffs are scheduled to begin July 5. The playoffs will be an eight-team double elimination tournament with the champion advancing to the Junior Legion Western Regionals on July 21-15 in Homer City. The top two teams in each division and two wild cards will qualify for the playoffs. The state playoffs are July 28-Aug. 1 in Spring City.

“Most of the bigger and better programs have Junior Legion teams, and that is what we want to do,” Yohman said. “We went with parents in the fall and reached out to the state officials to get into a league.”

The 13-16 age group is eligible to play this season. Those that turn 17 prior to Jan. 1, 2019, aren’t eligible to play Junior Legion.

The Junior Legion roster allows a maximum of 18 players, and only 12 players can be 16. Those that are 15 or 16 are eligible to be dual-rostered with their respective Senior Legion team.

Uniontown will play in the Allegheny/Westmoreland League with 14 other teams. Connellsville, Smithfield, Mount Pleasant and Ligonier join Uniontown in the South Division.

Kiski, Lower Burrell, Monroeville, Penn Hills and Plum make up the North Division. The Central Division comprises of East Hempfield, West Hempfield, Murrysville, Norwin PAL and Penn Township.

“We will be in with Connellsville and Smithfield in the Westmoreland County League,” Yohman said. “This is the first year for ourselves and Smithfield.

“Connellsville played in the Somerset Junior Legion League, but it is great to have them in the same league with us and Smithfield. I’m really excited about it and glad to get kids playing at a young age in Legion ball.”

Larry Kumor will be the head coach for Uniontown Junior Legion. Roy Koffler, Todd Vecchiola and Jason Burchuick will serve as assistants.

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