Interested and eligible candidates for the 2017 Wayne Wolverines Junior Legion baseball team are invited to participate in winter workouts which will take place at the NELL Flanigan Center in Newtown Square.

The workouts will be held from 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM on the following Sundays:

• January 15
• January 22
• January 29
• February 12
• February 19
• February 26

Any questions about the workouts, please contact Jim Sears at Jim.Sears@dell.com. 

Although our season ended a little bit earlier than we hoped, the 2016 Wayne Wolverines team played some great baseball, earned sixteen victories in twenty-four games, grew as baseball players, and had fun playing together as a team.  We hope everyone has a great remainder of the summer, that our 14 year old players come back next year to lead the team again next summer, and that our 15 year old players join the Wayne Wolverines Senior Legion team next summer and build upon the successes they've had in the Junior Legion and Prep Legion programs.

We also want to wish our fellow Main Line League teams Aston Media and Nether Providence the best of luck at this year's regional tournaments, and hope that one or both of you win your regional so that you can represent the league at States, just as we were fortunate to do last summer.

The Wayne Wolverines overcame a sluggish start to manufacture a 4-3 comeback win over the Roxborough Bandits in the first round of the Main Line Junior Legion League playoffs at Odorisio Park.

Matt Cohen pitched a complete game for the Wolverines, giving up seven hits and three unearned runs, while striking out three and walking one to earn the victory.

The Wolverines mustered only four hits, three of which were infield hits, but took advantage of three Roxborough errors and seven walks to scrape together single runs in the fourth and fifth innings and two more to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth.  Bobby Hydrisko went 1-2 with the sole outfield hit for Wayne,   Cohen went 2-3 with a run scored, and Jack Demmy had a walk and the game winning RBI on a sacrifice fly to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Roxborough came out swinging, stroking two hits in the first inning yet somehow going out with only three batters.   After a leadoff single dumped into left center field, the Bandits tried the hit and run.  The batter hit the ball right up the middle where Jack Lee was positioned by second base for the would be base runner, and easily converted the 4-3 double play.  The third lofted a shallow fly ball in between the middle infielders and the center fielder for a single, but the batter thought he saw second base unoccupied so he tried to take second.  Center fielder Luke Kania  threw a strike to Cohen, the pitcher, who alertly went to cover second for an easy tag out of the batter for the final out of the inning.

The Wayne bats were quiet as the Wolverines went hitless in the first two innings.  Roxborough again came up empty-handed in the second inning as Cohen stranded runners on first and second.

The Bandits took the lead in the top of the third inning with the help of three Wolverine errors in the space of two at-bats.  Roxborough started the inning with two straight singles.  The next batter launch a fly ball to left center field.  An error on the attempted catch and then an overthrow out of play on the relay throw cleared the bases and gave the Bandits a 3-0 lead.  Another error on a ground ball put another Bandit on second base.  After a ground out moved the runner to third with one out, Cohen and Bonini engineered a pick off of the runner on third to end that threat.

That would be all Roxborough would get against Cohen.  who retired 13 of the last 15 batters and also induced another double play.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines slowly but surely got their offense together.  Hydrisko got the Wolverines' first hit in the bottom of the third.  Walks to Demmy and Sean Mullarkey loaded the bases with two outs, but Wayne could not push a run across.

They had better success in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Lee legged out a grounder to the short stop for an infield hit.  He then stole second base.  Patrick Lofton followed with a walk.    After a 5-3 double play put Lofton on second with two outs, Cohen followed with an hit deep in the hole at shortstop, but the Roxborough shortstop did a nice job keeping the ball in the infield, putting runners on the corners.  After Cohen took second on the first pitch to the next batter, Lofton scored and Cohen moved to third on a third strike/ wild pitch to cut the lead to 3-1.

Wayne went right back at it in the bottom of the fifth inning.  With one out, Kania walked and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Mullarkey, who made two nice plays at shortstop in the top of the inning, sent a grounder to his Roxborough compatriot, but the shortstop let it go through him, bringing in Kania and cutting the lead to 3-2.

After Cohen once again kept the Bandits' batters quiet, the Wolverines continued to fight for the lead.  With one out, Keiran Ryan drew a walk.  Cohen then hit a grounder to the right side of the infield that the first baseman tracked down, but was unable to get it over to first in time to get the speedy Cohen.  Brendan Surbeck came in to pinch run for Ryan.  Nick Scheri then fought back from a 1-2 count to draw a seven pitch walk to load the bases.  Nick Camposano came in as a pinch hitter and worked a six pitch walk to bring home Surbeck and tie the game at 3.  Demmy then lofted a fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly that plated Cohen with the go-ahead run.

The Wolverines now needed only three outs to earn a first round victory.  After a leadoff single into left field, Cohen induced a 5-4-3 double play, with Joe Bonini tossing to Lee who completed the twin killing with a relay to Scheri at first.  Cohen ended the game with a strikeout, and the Wolverines move forward in the playoffs.

The Wayne Wolverines ended their regular season this morning with a wild 11-9 victory over Aston Media at Cardinal O'Hara High School, handing the Mustangs their only league loss in the 18 game regular season.

Jack Demmy, one of five Wolverine pitchers on the day, pitched three innings of one hit, scoreless relief to earn the victory.  Matt Cohen came in to get the final out of the game with the tying run at bat for the save.

Joe Bonini had an electric bat today, going 3-5, with a double and triple and three RBIs to lead the offensive charge for Wayne.  Pat Lofton also had three RBIs, Sean Mullarkey was on base four times, going 2-3 with two BBs, and Nick Scheri went 2-3, with a double, and RBI, and a BB.

Wayne jumped on top with a big first inning.  Luke Kania led off the game with a six pitch walk.  Mullarkey then saw six pitches before depositing the seventh into left field for a single.  Bonini then had the first of his long bombs, this one a base-clearing triple to right center field to knock in Kania and Mullarkey for a 2-0 Wayne lead.  With one out, Lofton hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Bonini and a 3-0 lead.

Lofton started on the mound for the Wolverines, and set down the Mustangs in the first, giving up only a two out double.  After Wayne went down 1-2-3 in the top of the second, Lofton came out to the mound in what turned out to be a very weird inning.

The first two Aston Media hitters got base hits with a single and double to cut the lead to 3-1.  Wayne's manager came out to talk to Lofton after the two base hits.  After Lofton struck out the next batter for the first out of the inning, the following Aston Media batter broke his bat on a grounder back to Lofton.  Lofton alertly threw to thrid base where Bonini placed the tag on the runner coming into third for what looked like the second out of the inning.  However, the field umpire called the runner safe, much to the disbelief of those in attendance and on the field.  Following that play, Wayne's manager again went out to the mound.  Unfortunately, that was his second visit to the mound in the second inning to see Lofton, meaning Lofton could no longer pitch in the game.  Jack Lee came in to pitch, getting a fielder's choice groundout to third for the second out of the inning.  Unfortunately, he was then called for a balk, which scored the runner on third, before striking out the next batter for the final out of the inning with Wayne's lead cut to 3-2.

The Wolverines responded in a big way in the top of the third.  Mullarkey led off with a base on balls.  Bonini then launched another blast to left center field for a double, scoring Mullarkey all the way from first.  Lee then singled to right field, putting runners on the corners.  Lofton followed with a single to right center field, plating Bonini and moving Lee to second.  With one out in the inning, Nick Scheri lined a double to left field, bringing home Lee for a 6-2 lead, and moving Lofton to third base.  Lofton was tagged out at the plate on a fielder's choice grounder by Brendan Surbeck, making it runners on the corners again with two outs.  An errant throw by the catcher allowed Scheri to score and Surbeck to head to third.  The right fielder then threw the ball past the third baseman trying to get Surbeck at third base, allowing Surbeck to also score on the play, giving Wayne an 8-2 lead.

However, given the already wild nature of the game and Aston Media's powerful lineup, people could feel this game was far from over.  Lee did his part in the top of the fourth to dispel those feelings.  After allowing a lead off single to left, Lee induced a ground ball to third baseman Bonini, who threw to Cohen, now playing second base, for one, who then completed the double play by throwing to Lofton at first.  Lee then got another grounder to Cohen to finish the frame with the 8-2 lead intact.

Wayne had men on first and third with no outs in the top of the fourth, but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity to add to their lead.

Aston Media came back with a vengeance in the bottom of the fourth.  It all started innocently enough with a fly out to Kania in center.  Then the lumber showed up.  Two consecutive triples and a double cut the lead to 8-4.  An infield single put runners on the corners, but the runner on third was cut down at home trying to score on a pitch that bounced away as Scheri tossed to Lee who applied the tag.  The runner on first did go all the way to third on the play.    After a walk to again put runners on the corners, a single to shallow left field made it 8-5 with runners on first and second.  After a Wayne pitching change, a walk to Aston Media's leadoff hitter loaded the bases.  A swinging bunt roller down the third base line resulted in another infield single and an 8-6 game.  The Mustang's number three hitter then single to right center field, scoring two more to knot up the game at 8.  Aston Media's clean up hitter then hit a double to deep center field, plating the go ahead run for the Mustangs.  Demmy then came in to relieve for the Wolverines and got the third out of the inning.

Wayne could not respond in the top of the fifth despite getting their first two runners of the inning on base, but Demmy shut down the Mustangs with a 1-2-3 inning, including a strikeout. 

The Wolverines came charging back in the top of the sixth inning.  With one out, Lee drew a walk.  He then stole second and went to third when the throw went into center field.  Lofton then tied the game at 9 with his second sacrifice fly of the game, this one to right field.  Pinch hitter Bobby Hydrisko followed with another base on balls.  After Nick Camposano reentered to pinch run for Hydrisko, Camposano stole second base.  Scheri then legged out an infield single by sliding to beat the pitcher to the bag after a nice snag  of Scheri's ground ball by the first baseman.    Camposano rounded third and was halfway between third and home when the pitcher turned and threw the ball high up on the backstop behind home, allowing Camposano to score the go-ahead run, giving Wayne a 10-9 lead, while Scheri went to second.  Matt Mignucci came in to pinch run for Scheri at second.  Mignucci promptly stole third base, and the catcher's throw bounced into left field, allowing Mignucci to score with an insurance run, making it 11-9 Wayne.

Demmy went about protected the Wolverines' lead.  After allowing a leadoff single, He got a grounder in the hole at shortstop where Mullarkey made a great play to get to the ball and fire to Lee, now at second, for the first out of the inning.  Wayne just barely missed turning the double play on that one.  After a walk to Aston Media's leadoff hitter put runners on first and second, Demmy got the Mustangs' next hitter to fly out to center field, although the runner on second moved to third after the catch.  Aston Media's runner on first quickly went uncontested to second on the first pitch to the dangerous number three hitter, putting the tying run in scoring position.  Demmy bore down and got a ground out to shortstop to end the threat with the two run lead in place.

After Wayne failed to add to their lead in the top of the seventh, Demmy faced down the powerful middle of Aston Media's lineup, trying to secure the Wolverines' victory.  Demmy got a big strikeout of the cleanup hitter, then got the second out on a fly ball to right.  After the next batter walked, Wayne brought in Cohen to get the final out with the tying run at the plate.  Cohen needed three pitches to induce a pop out to Mullarkey in shallow left field to get the final out of the game.

With the shootout victory, Wayne finished the regular season with a 14-4 record in the Main Line Junior Legion League, the second best record in the league to Aston Media's 16-1-1 record.

Wayne enters the league playoffs as the number two seed and hosts Roxborough in a first round game next Saturday afternoon at Odorisio Park.

Ian Myers pitched a dominating complete game, leading the Wayne Wolverines over host Homer City (Walbeck Insurance), 5-1, for the Wolverines first ever PA Youth Legion Baseball State Tournament win.

Myers gave up only one unearned run in the game, allowing five hits and striking out seven while walking only one.  Dakota Sunday pitched a complete game for Homer City, allowing five runs, but only one earned, in the losing cause.

Nick Camposano had three hits, Nick Scheri had two hits, a run scored and an RBI, while Myers, Patrick Lofton, and Matt Cohen all had RBIs in the winning effort for Wayne.

Wayne took advantage of some costly Homer City errors to jump to an early lead.   In the top of the first inning, Myers drew a two out walk.  Darien Pass then reached safely when the Homer City shortstop booted a potential inning-ending grounder.  Lofton then singled to right field, scoring Myers and moving Pass to third.  Scheri then followed with a single to center to score Pass and move Lofton to second.  Camposano then stroked a hit to left field, and when the left fielder bobbled the ball, Lofton was able to come home after stopping at third, staking the Wolverines to an early 3-0 lead.

After Myers set down Homer City in the bottom of the first, Wayne was able to tack on another run in the top of the second.  With one out, Sean Mullarkey singled and stole second base.  Jack Lee then singled to center and Mullarkey rounded third headed toward home.  The third base coach gave a very late stop sign to Mullarkey, who by then was about 2/5 of the way down the third base line.  Homer City alertly caught him in a rundown and tagged him out, with Lee advancing to second during the rundown.    Lee moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Myers' single to left, giving Wayne a 4-0 lead.

Homer City came back in the bottom of the second to score an unearned run when a swinging bunt resulted in the ball being thrown down the right field line, allowing the batter to race all the way to third before scoring on a ground out to second.  That would be the only run that Myers would allow.

Homer City did threaten in the bottom of the fifth.  A lead off single,and a sacrifice bunt put a runner in scoring position with one out.  Homer City's Nate Davis then hit a ball down the left field line for a single, with Cohen, the left fielder, nicely cutting off the ball and holding the runner on third.  Myers then induced a pop up to second for the second out, then a grounder to shortstop Mullarkey who flipped to Lee at second for the final out of the inning, keeping the score 4-1.

Wayne played a little small ball to add an insurance run in the top of the sixth.  Scheri led off the inning with his second hit of the day.  Camposano then laid down a great bunt down the third base line, originally intended as a sacrifice bunt, which turned into a hit when he beat the throw to first base.  A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third with no outs.  After a ground out to third kept the runners where they were, Cohen executed a suicide squeeze bunt to plate Scheri for a 5-1 Wolverines lead.

Myers continued to coast along in the sixth where he ended the inning by picking off the Homer City runner from first base.  After a lead off single by Homer City in the bottom of the seventh, Myers struck out the next two batters, still bringing heat to the plate, and then got the last batter out on a dribbler to first base, giving the Wolverines the win.

Wayne is now 26-9-1 on the season.  They play tomorrow morning at 11 AM as they attempt to work their work out of the losers' bracket versus the loser of tonight's game between defending state champion Spring City and Spring City's league rival, the Boyertown Grizzlies.

Things couldn't look much worse for the Wayne Wolverines Junior Legion team shortly after noon today in Lower Southampton.  They had come into today needing only to beat Swoyersville once to win the Lower Southampton Regional championship.  However, they had just fallen short in a 2-1 loss to Swoyersville in the morning game, and Swoyersville opened up the second game with four runs in the bottom of the first inning.  

One should never count out this bunch of Wolverines.  Time and again during the season, they have come back from behind and bunched runs in big innings.  This afternoon, the Wolverines decided to chip away at the lead, little by little, scoring runs in five consecutive innings, to prevail 7-4 and earn the Regional championship.  The Wolverines, who are now 25-7-1 on the season, head to Homer City where they will complete to win the 2015 Youth Legion Pennsylvania State Championship starting this weekend.  

Patrick Lofton was the starter for Wayne in this winner-take-all game.  He had a rough first inning as Swoyersville combined four hits, a walk, and a hit batsmen to race to a 4-0 lead after one.

Wayne and Lofton did not panic.  The Wolverines pecked away at the lead with a  run in the top of the second.  Jack Lee (2-3, 2 RBIs, 1 R, HBP) started things off with a single to right.  Keiran Ryan then drew a walk to put runners on first and second.  With one out, Matt Cohen was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Lofton helped his own cause with a single right up the middle, plating Lee, but Ryan was tagged out trying to score on a great throw by CF Josh Montalvo.

The Wolverines chipped away at the deficit some more in the top of the third inning.  With one out, Ian Myers drew a walk.  Jack Dougherty then doubled to right center field with Myers stopping at third.  Lee then smashed a single down the third base line, scoring both Myers and Dougherty to pull the Wolverines within one run.

Wayne kept the pressure on in the top of the fourth.  With one out, Pass was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game.  Myers then bashed a ball off the right field fence for a double that scored Pass to tie up the game.  Clearly, the momentum, which early on was certainly with Swoyersville, had shifted dramatically back to Wayne.

Lofton got into a groove, keeping Swoyersville off the scoreboard after the first inning, finishing with a complete game victory, while amassing five strikeouts.    Lofton got some help from his friends in the field in the fourth as his battery mate, Darien Pass, threw out a runner trying to steal second, and then shortstop Sean Mullarkey turned a 6-3 double play to end the inning.

Wayne took the lead in the top of the fifth inning.  Cohen lined a single to left field with two outs in the inning.  Lofton then lofted a pop up to shallow right field which appeared to end the inning.  However, the second baseman dropped the ball, allowing Cohen to scamper all the way to third.  When the throw went home, Lofton started toward second base.  The catcher threw to second to try to nail Lofton for the final out of the inning, but the throw sailed over the shortstop into center field, allowing Cohen to come home with the go-ahead run and a 5-4 lead.

His teammates gave Lofton some breathing room in the top of the sixth inning.  Pass reached safely on an error by the third baseman.  Myers, who had hit the fence clanging double in his previous at bat, laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Pass into scoring position at second.  Dougherty brought Pass home with a single up the middle to make it 6-4.  After both Lee and Ryan were hit by pitches (six Wayne batters were hit during the game), Nick Scheri hit into a fielder's choice to the second baseman to make it 7-4.

Lofton's saved his easiest inning for the bottom of the seventh.  After a fly out to right and a strikeout by Swoyersville's first two batters of the inning, the game ended when Pass made a diving catch of a foul pop up near the Swoyersville dugout to give Wayne the victory and the championship.

This is the first Regional championship in Wayne Junior Legion history.  Last year, the Wayne Prep Legion finished as the state runner-up in its first appearance in the Prep Legion State tournament, with many of those former Prep players now important contributors to the Junior Legion team.  Coincidentally, Wayne's Prep Legion team has once again qualified for the Prep State tournament this year and will also be starting their state tournament this weekend.