Daniel Macioce played Legion baseball last summer for Murrysville after graduating from Plum, where he helped the Mustangs capture three straight section titles.
With Plum not having a Legion team for several seasons, Macioce was able to join the neighboring Eagles for summer ball.
Murrysville doesn’t have a team in the District 31 League this year.
But Plum does, and Macioce has reunited with several of his Plum friends and teammates, including fellow 2025 graduates Anthony Jump, Jake Dombkowski and Brian Krall, for what everyone hopes is a successful return for the team to this level of Legion competition.
Jump and Dombkowski, who played this spring at Westmoreland County Community College, also were members of the Murrysville team in 2025.
“Daniel has one year of Senior Legion eligibility left,” said Dan Macioce, Daniel’s father and manager of the Plum Senior Legion team.
“When I brought up the idea for this team to him, I told him that he could play, and he got excited. He really wanted to play with his Plum teammates one more time. He loved playing on those Plum teams, especially last year’s team. They were an extremely tight group. Our first (Legion) game, they were having a great time on the bench and in the dugout and were really into playing baseball again together. Legion baseball is a little less stressful than high school, but it still is competitive baseball.”
Coach Macioce said having a connection with players on this Legion roster from when he coached the Plum Junior Legion team several years back, including several of the seniors from this spring’s Plum varsity team, made it a good fit to form a team and join the District 31 League.
“I also had the idea that my older son, Frank, could come on board and coach with me,” Macioce said. “This might be the last summer team I have. But it’s nice to have this team together. We didn’t have many chances to practice before the start of the games, but I think this team will continue to come together well.”
Coach Macioce said it’s been a whirlwind for him the past several weeks getting the team ready for the season while also serving as an assistant coach for the Riverview baseball team that made a run to third place in WPIAL Class 2A. The Raiders concluded their season Monday with a loss to District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep in the PIAA first round.
There is not a Senior Legion team in the Oakmont area, so Riverview players Jake Sprajcar, Dom DelRosso and Liam Tomlinson, youthful starters for the Raiders, have joined the Plum team. They weren’t able to play against Unity on Sunday, but they were able be in uniform for Plum’s game last Wednesday against Burrell.
“I basically told the three of them not to feel bad and that we would be here when they were done,” coach Macioce said.
“We have a lot of games until the first week of July and, hopefully, beyond that. We were hoping that the first day they could participate was the day after the state championship game. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But it’s nice to have those three young kids. They are really going to help this roster. For me, it’s nice to know they are going to develop over the summer and play some good baseball.”
Riverview coach Bill Gras will serve as a Plum Senior Legion assistant along with Frank Macioce and his fellow 2023 Plum graduates in Nick Lamia and Carson Svidron.
While the Raiders made a run to the state tournament, it was another tough exit for the Plum baseball team after a season that saw it finish tied for second with Latrobe behind Penn-Trafford in the section. The Mustangs, as the No. 5 seed, fell to Upper St. Clair, 16-5, in the Class 5A first round.
But several members of the Plum varsity, JV and freshman teams — Timmy Ruggiero, Enzo Mele, Gregory Huff Jr., Joseph Verzinskie II, Connor Wilson, Ryan Lafferty, Davis Embry, Brennan Ryan, Andrew Verrengia, Andrew Monaco and Vinnie Mele — decided to stay together after their spring seasons ended.
Plum won its opener Sunday, defeating Unity, 5-1. Post 980 faced Aaron Gaskey who, pitching for Latrobe, limited the Plum varsity in a 5-1 Wildcats win in the Section 1-5A finale. Huff pitched the first four innings against Unity, and Monaco worked the last three on the mound.
“We have a nice group of experienced pitchers,” coach Dan Macioce said. “Overall, I like the mix of experience with young talent who are going to be good players and pitchers for us. All the kids are getting a lot of games in over the next few weeks, and it will help them get better.”
After Wednesday’s game with Burrell, Plum is set for a doubleheader Saturday at Homer City and a game at 14th Ward on Monday.
Each of the 10 teams in the league — Plum also will play Young Township, Hempfield East, Bushy Run, Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe — will play 18 games through July 5, with the playoffs beginning a couple of days later. The top eight teams will qualify for the league playoffs with the hopes of then advancing to the Region 7 tournament.
Bushy Run beat Burrell for the District 31 title last year and went on to win the state championship.
District 31 goes through changes from year to year, but it also is one of the more stable and longer-running American Legion leagues in the state.
“We (Plum) played in Westmoreland when we had the Junior Legion team, and it was such a positive experience that I wanted to kind of repeat that with this team,” coach Dan Macioce said.
“It also worked for us geographically. We know we are going to get a lot of competitive games against quality teams every time out.”