American Legion reveals Region 6 tournament bracket
Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard
The American Legion Region 6 Baseball Tournament bracket has been released but the two qualifiers from the Fayette County league won’t find out who and when they’ll play until their seeding is determined this week.
The three-day, four-team, double-elimination tournament, which is hosted by Blackhawk, will be take place at Chippewa Park in Beaver Falls beginning on Saturday.
Fayette regular-season champion Belle Vernon and second-place Smithfield-Fairchance are the two Fayette representatives. They both advanced to the Fayette best-of-three final which is taking place Monday through Wednesday. The winner will earn the first seed from the Fayette league with the loser taking the No. 2 spot.
Belle Vernon would seem to have the edge as S-F will be shorthanded.
“We are missing four starters this week (due to vacation), so we are using the district finals as a preparation tool for the regional playoffs this weekend,” Smithfield-Fairchance manager Tony Watson said before Monday’s game. “My goal is to try to limit pitch counts this week, so our pitchers will all be eligible for Saturday.”
Both teams earned first-round byes in the Fayette tournament and Belle Vernon advanced to the final after semifinalist Charleroi bowed out. S-F defeated Uniontown in their best-of-three semifinal series, 2-1, to claim the other spot in the final.
There are three games set for the Region 6 tournament on Saturday.
The top seed from the Fayette league will start off the tournament with an 11:45 a.m. game against Beaver. The second seed from Fayette will take on host Blackhawk at 2:30 p.m.
The losers of those two games will meet in an elimination game at 5:15 p.m.
The winners of Saturday’s first two games will play at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday with a spot in Monday’s final on the line. The team that loses that game will play again at 5:15 p.m. on Sunday against the survivor of Friday’s elimination game with the second spot in the final on the line.
The winner of Sunday’s elimination game will need to defeat the winner of Sunday’s first game twice on Monday to claim the regional title and earn a spot in the state tournament. Monday’s first game is slated for 5:30 p.m. with the second game, if needed, to immediately follow.
Watson, who also is head coach of Albert Gallatin’s baseball geam, feels the team’s success this season will greatly benefit his players down the line.
“We only have two Legion players who are unable to return next season, Matt Malinsky and Jake Bellish,” Watson pointed out. “Even though we are an extremely young team, our guys are getting plenty of experience this summer. My hope is that it will better prepare them for next year’s high school season.”
There will be a new Region 6 champion this year as the 2025 winner, Connellsville of the Fayette league, did not field a team in 2026, although its Junior American Legion team has advance to the state tournament.