The greatest season in Quakertown Blue Jays history ended Saturday in the fourth game of the Mid-Atlantic Regional American Legion tournament at Dale Miller Field in Morgantown, W.Va.
Quakertown, the 2023 Pennsylvania state champion, fell to Wilmington (Del.) 9-4 in an elimination game. Left fielder Brayden Schuler had three hits and scored twice to pace Quakertown.
The eight-team double elimination tournament featured the state champions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia. It also featured Paxton, the Pennsylvania runner-up, and host Morgantown. By clinching its first state championship in Latrobe on July 28, Quakertown earned the invite.
“We went into games feeling no pressure,” described catcher Brandon Pierce. “The state championship felt like a championship game but we had team camaraderie and no one felt tight. We just played the game.”
Pierce realized something extra special was brewing when Quakertown won its first state tournament game. “After that, I actually told my work that we would be going to West Virginia,” Pierce remembered, “because I knew we could compete pretty well.”
Quakertown didn’t flinch in its Wednesday opening-round win, despite playing in its foe’s home state. When Berkeley, the West Virginia state champ, punched first with two runs in the top of the second, Quakertown punched harder with a 4-spot in the bottom of the second.
Ethan Beil, the Pennsylvania state tournament MVP, hit a two-run single to give Quakertown a 4-2 lead. The Blue Jays then put up 3-spots in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Schuler had a two-RBI knock in the fourth while Pierce and Cole Reich each hit a three-run homer. Danny Qualteria added a double and a single.
Quakertown defeated Harrison (Ohio) 6-4 on Tuesday in a second-round winner’s bracket game. The Blue Jays put up four in the first, thanks to a two-run single from Ty Everitt and an RBI knock from Caleb Everitt, and plated two more in the second. The early runs held. Pierce doubled, for his second straight game with an extra-base hit. Qualteria nailed down Peyton Meyers’ start with a shutout, 1.1 inning save.
“I wasn’t trying to do too much at the plate. I tried to do what I could do for the team. I didn’t really have a different approach,” Pierce said.
Brooklawn (N.J.) ended Quakertown’s (27-7) eight-game playoff win streak with a 13-3 winner’s bracket victory on Friday. Brooklawn is Legion royalty, having won four World Series since 1991. Pierce rapped out a two-run single to start the scoring, but Brooklawn responded with 11 unanswered runs to close the door.
Reich continued to impress after a notable state tournament. He batted .462 in the regional with three extra-base hits and four RBIs. Pierce (.357 average) drove in six and also had three extra-base hits. Beil drove in four in Morgantown while both Schuler and Ty Everitt hit .400 over the four games.
Brooklawn defeated Paxton on Sunday and advances to the eight-team, double elimination American Legion World Series, held in Shelby, N.C., between Aug. 10 and 15. Quakertown ironically defeated Paxton twice to win the Pennsylvania title, and defeated multiple good teams to put together a summer for the ages.
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