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Jul 16, 2026 By Rob Burchianti 6 min read

Belle Vernon manager Tom Jackson remembers taking his team to the Pennsylvania State American Legion Baseball Tournament two years ago at North Allegheny.

It’s an experience his squad missed out on a year ago when Connellsville advanced out of the Region 6 tournament to the states.

Jackson still has players who were on the 2024 team who would like nothing better that to earn a return trip to the states.

“That’s their goal,” Jackson said. “Some of these kids were there when we made the states two years ago. They got to see the big hoopla, you go to the dinner on Friday night and all that. This team wants to experience that again.”

Belle Vernon, the Fayette County American Legion Baseball League regular-season (12-2) and tournament champions, is one of four teams who will be battling for one state spot at Chippewa Park this weekend. Also competing will be Smithfield-Fairchance, host Blackhawk and Baden.

The regional tournament begins Saturday with Belle Vernon playing Baden at 11:45 a.m. and Smithfield-Fairchance taking on Blackhawk at 2:30 p.m. The losers of those two games meet at 5:15 p.m. in the double-elimination set-up.

The tournament runs through Sunday with the finals set to take place on Monday. The state tournament will take place in Williamsport, July 26-29.

Belle Vernon (17-2-1 overall) is a deep team with 18 players and is loaded with pitching which gives it a good chance to advance to the states for the second time in three years.

“That’s two groups of nine and they’re all good enough to play,” Jackson said. “It’s plug and play, you can take one kid out and plug another kid into his spot and not miss a beat. We’re very blessed with that.”

Belle Vernon’s abundance of arms is its strength.

“Out of 18 kids I’ve got 11 pitchers,” Jackson pointed out. “Not just kids that can throw but 11 legit kids that can pitch.”

That usually serves a team well in a tournament format.

“Absolutely,” Jackson said. “I was looking today, I have five kids who have thrown 10-plus innings and then a sixth one was real close to that. We just don’t rely a lot on putting a guy out there and say, OK, throw, throw, throw, we can mix in a lot of different pitchers.

“We played in some Legion tournaments. Some of the teams we played in West Virginia were very good. We went 2-0-1 against them. So we’ve played a tough schedule. There are a lot of good teams in our league. Thomas Jefferson was good, Charleroi was good, Smithfield has had a heck of a year, Uniontown/Laurel Highlands had a good year.

“I think we’re well prepared, battle tested for this tournament.”

Belle Vernon is a close-knit team that doesn’t worry about individual statistics, according to Jackson.

“They play for each other,” Jackson said. “There’s no bickering. If I take someone out they don’t mope around. We haven’t had a kid sit for an entire game the whole year. Every kid who is there gets at least an inning or two innings every game. That’s tough to work out but we do it.”

Belle Vernon suffered a 9-5 loss to Thomas Jefferson in its second game of the season, then went on a 14-0-1 run. That streak came to an abrupt end July 3 when Smithfield-Fairchance upended BV on its home field, 7-3, in the regular-season finale.

“It was a wake-up call,” Jackson admitted. “The boys understood. You could see it lit a fire back under them again. We beat Smithfield 11-5 and 14-0 in the (best-of-three Fayette League) finals so I think our kids were a little more mentally prepared against them this time.

“I do think that game got us refocused a little bit.”

Jackson cited Cole Matusik and Landon Jackson as two of several team leaders his squad has.

“Cole and Landon are two of my older kids who are returners,” Jackson pointed out. “JB Crovak and Ian Porter also. Those are two totally different kids. JB gets fired up and plays with a lot of emotion. Then Ian just goes out there and quietly handles his business. If you can get four or five words out of him you’re doing pretty good.”

Belle Vernon is familiar with its first Region 6 opponent, Baden, having met them in the tournament in each of the past two years.

“We beat Baden two years ago but they gave us a good game,” Jackson recalled. “We lost to them last year. We played them after we had finished up a game we ended up losing to Connellsville that started the day before, and you could tell we were pretty flat for that second game. Baden beat us 7-0.

“The kids remember that, they’re aware of that.”

Jackson is considering several pitchers for the tournament opener.

“I’ll probably throw JB Crovak or Ian Porter,” Jackson said. “JB is a bit more of a power pitcher and Ian is very efficient. On (Tuesday against S-F) he went four innings and only threw 43 pitches.

“But I also have Nate Grimm and Cole Matusik I can pitch, and Aiden Shaffer, too. We’ve got a surplus of arms.”

Jackson is aware there is plenty of strategy involved when it comes to how a team uses pitchers in a tournament.

“If you throw a kid for 105 (pitches) he’s done for the weekend, so you weigh that,” Jackson said. “It all depends on what the score is, what inning it is, as to what we do with our pitching. It’s going to be hot, too, so you take that into consideration. If you’re up and you can maybe save that kid for possibly the third day, those are the decisions you have to make. Even with a deep pitching staff, you consider everything.”

Jackson has much faith in his coaching staff, which includes Dean Wardropper, AJ Wardropper, Bob Stanger, Mark Corella and Dave Sink.

“I’m lucky to have the coaching staff I have,” Jackson said. “We all work together well.”

While he is confident in his team, Jackson is wary of his Region 6 opponents.

“All these teams here are very good and well coached,” Jackson said. “It won’t be easy, but I think if we play how we’re capable of playing, we should have a very good shot.”