Bushy Run and Trafford Juniors picked up huge wins Sunday in two American Legion tournaments.
Bushy Run knocked off Philipsburg, 9-1, in the Region 7 tournament at Claysburg, whereas Trafford built a huge early lead and held on to defeat Titusville, 7-6, in the Junior Western Regional at Homer City.
Brandon Rohrer pitched into the fifth inning and allowed one run on six hits. Jonny Lovre and Nico Casciato held Philipsburg hitless over the final three innings.
Bushy Run snapped a 1-1 tie with a run in the second inning. It added two more in the fourth inning, three in the fifth and two more in the seventh.
Chuck Fontana had two doubles to lead Bushy Run’s 13-hit attack. Brody Hoffman added a triple and single, Ethan Septak doubled and Carmen Metcalfe, Eric Biroscak and Casciato each had two hits.
Hoffman and Septak each had two RBIs.
Bushy Run faces Claysburg, which defeated Bedford, 4-1, at 6:45 p.m. Monday.
Trafford advances to the championship game at 7 p.m. Monday against S.W. Jack, which lost to Monroeville, 5-4. Monroeville and Titusville play at 4 in the third-place game.
Caleb Kerstetter and Bruce Ruby each drove in two runs to lead Trafford to the finals and a berth in the state tournament.
Cam Duddy, who drove in a run, pitched the first five innings to earn the win.
Kerstetter allowed two hits and no runs over the final two innings to earn the save.
Titusville outhit Trafford, 13-6.
Murrysville 7, Latrobe 2 — Brody Reese banged out three hits including a two-run homer in the second inning to lead Murrysville past District 31 champion Latrobe.
Murrysville scored three runs in the second inning and four in the fifth inning.
Reese also drove in three runs. Max Bernadowski had two hits, and Nolan Boehm added a double.
Erik Streussnig was the winning pitcher.
Latrobe, which had only five hits, scored its runs in the fifth inning. Jack Stynchula took the loss.
Murrysville faces Philipsburg at 12:40 p.m. Monday.
Hempfield East 3, St. Michael 1 — Connor Burkey allowed five hits and one run while striking out 11 to spark Hempfield East to a win against St. Michael.
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Grayson Willis drove in a run in the first inning, and Liam Randolph had two RBIs for Hempfield East.
Willis and Randolph each had two hits.
Kaden Christ took the loss.
Hempfield East will face Bedford at 3:40 p.m. Monday.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.