Bristol Wins State Championship Over Boyertown 11-3

West Lawn, Pa. -- Bristol Post 382 pitcher Steve Arthur has played baseball since he was six years old and is usually pretty quick to express how he feels and has no problem vocalizing that.

On Saturday, Arthur needed a moment to compose him self after he and his teammates, most of which he has played with since he picked up a ball for the first time, had forever etched their name in the history book of Pennsylvania American legion baseball, defeating the 23-time state champions Boyertown Bears 11-3 to claim the first state title in team history.

"Wow, I never dreamt this was possible," said Arthur, who went the distance allowing one earned run. "After the sixth inning, I really didn’t feel anything. It was like the adrenaline was running me. This is amazing. I have played with most of these guys for so long and to beat that team which has won this so many times is just unreal. We are state champions, yes!"

The road to the title wasn’t an easy one as Boyertown, fueled by an amazing pitching performance by their ace Steve Price, napped Bristol’s 13-game winning streak with a 5-1 win, forcing a second game and placing the pressure back on the shoulders of Arthur and his mate.  

"It would be easy to think we were flat that first game," said Bristol manager Tim Monoghan. "I don’t think it was that at all, he (Price) did an incredible job for them. He hit spots and frustrated us a bit. He pitched a very strong game and was able to keep us off balance. Hats off to them. They are a great team and this was a battle."

Bristol Post 382, which is now 15-2 in the post season, fought through the early innings as the Bears, who will be hosting the Mid Atlantic tournament, which start Thursday at legendary Bears Stadium, took a 1-0 lead in typical Boyertown fashion on a single, sac bunt, stolen base and sacrifice fly to give starter Ryan Pinter, who allowed only one earned run in seven innings against Blackhawk, a one-run lead to work with.

Bristol answered right back as they have all post season, scoring two in the fourth, but it was the sixth inning in which the quartet of Jeff Lesko, Dave Blount, Brian Beyer and designated hitter Kyle Tepper chased Pinter by rapping four consecutive base hits with the big blow being a double by Zach Philippi scoring two runs which posted Post 382 to a 6-1 lead.

"When people talk about legion baseball in Pennsylvania they will be talking about us being the state champs, unbelievable," said Jeff Lesko. "Bristol is the state champs. I never dreamed that this was even a possibility. It’s almost surreal. We are the best team in the state, wow. This last few weeks have been the best time in my life. I am having so much fun playing with these guys. We knew we would have to work to beat that team."

As the seventh inning rolled around, with Bristol still holding a five edge, Mike McLeod who pitched seven innings in the first game, made his way to the bullpen in case the situation dictated reinforcements for Arthur, but following three additional runs in the top of the inning, McLeod sat back down and the game was in the hands of the  "Outstanding Pitcher" award winner of the tournament.

After three strikeouts in the late innings, Arthur got Bears clean up hitter Travis Krietz to ground out to Ryan Field and as Ryan Hires squeezed the ball at first base, the celebration commenced with the traditional dog pile on Owls Field.

"The coaches and I were talking last night in the hotel," said Monoghan. "We were remembering back to when we won our league tournament, then districts. Each of us had said then, that if we won a game at states, it would be icing on the cake. To leave here as state champions and to be playing next week in a National Regional tournament with other state champions is beyond anything that we could have possible imagined. This is really something special."

Extra Innings: Bristol Post 382 had almost a clean sweep of the post tournament awards as Dave Blount received the "Best Sportsmanship" award, while Steve Arthur claimed the "Outstanding Pitcher" award with a 1.34 ERA in 17 innings pitched and a 2-0 record.

Catcher/third basemen Brian Beyer garnered tournament MPV honors as Boyertown’s Josh Schnell was awarded with the "Outstanding Hitter" plaque. If there was an outstanding fielding award, Bristol short stop Matt Petrizzi would have been a stone cold lock to win as Petrizzi did his best Ozzie Smith impression all tournament.

Bristol will continue it’s dream season on Thursday at Boyertown where they will represent the state of Pennsylvania as it’s champion in the Mid Atlantic National Regional Tournament, from which the winner will play in Shelby, North Carolina at the American Legion World Series.

Pennsylvania has by far the largest number of American Legion baseball teams with 396, which is why the state has always had two representatives every year in national regional tournaments.

In previous years the state champ would play in the Mid Atlantic bracket and the runner up playing in the Great Lakes regional. With the economy as it is the American Legion board voted to start having both Pennsylvania teams play in the Mid Atlantic which is actually hosted by Boyertown this year, Blackhawk will assume the title of runner up and compete as well as state champion Bristol.