Latrobe looks forward to hosting Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball tournament

Years of tossing batting practice to players on his Latrobe American Legion baseball teams has trained longtime coach Jason Bush to throw strikes.

So, naturally, even at the ripe age of 51, Bush continues to play competitively — sort of, he mused — as a pitcher in the Latrobe-Derry Old Timers League for players 40 and older.

Oh, and did we mention his passion for arguably the nation’s favorite past time?

“Baseball is ingrained in me,” said Bush, who also serves as director of Region 7 of Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball, which is composed of the District 31, Cambria-Somerset and Central Penn leagues.

And while he still enjoys lobbing from the mound, his interest in coaching rages above all.

“I have a hunch I’ll coach longer than I’ll play in the old man’s league,” he said. “The body is breaking down a bit.”

Now in his 19th year as head coach and 25th on the staff, Bush each year has seen Latrobe qualify for the playoffs, part of a 32-year streak that began in 1992 and has produced five District 31 League championships, including in the past two years.

While Latrobe was in contention again this year for a playoff appearance, it already had secured a spot in the state tournament after being awarded the rights to serve as host team for the event July 24-28.

“We talked to our players about it,” Bush said. “I told them that just because we’re an automatic qualifier, we’re not trying to back-door into this thing. We’re going to try to do the best we can during the regular season.”

Known locally as the Jethawks, the team was looking for a fifth consecutive appearance in the Region 7 playoffs, where Latrobe won its only championship to qualify for the state tournament in 2013.

He credits Latrobe Post 515, the primary sponsor, for much of the team’s sustained success.

“The guys down there, in particular Jack Goldberg and Earl Penrose, are so supportive,” Bush said. “Having a continuous program since 1951 is pretty special.”

Goldberg serves as Post 515 commander, and Penrose is its first vice-commander as well as president of the Home Association.

“To this day, in 2023, we don’t charge our kids to play baseball,” Bush said. “That’s super impressive by our legion post. They’re, obviously, somebody who helps us out, financially, which is really, really, really important.”

Besides Latrobe, the eight-team field in the state tournament will include the seven regional tournament champions, two from the area: Region 7 and Region 6 (Allegheny, Beaver and Fayette leagues).

The District 31 League in Region 7, in addition to Latrobe, includes Blairsville, Bushy Run, Hempfield East, Homer City, Mt. Pleasant, Murrysville, Somerset, Unity Township and Young Township.

Meanwhile, the majority of the Latrobe roster consists of players from the Latrobe high school team, which this season won the WPIAL Section 2-4A championship with a 9-1 record.

Several other players, including outfielder Haden Sierocky, a Seton Hill commit, are high school products of Derry and Ligonier Valley, where Sierocky played his senior year in Bush’s first season as coach.

Two other Latrobe American Legion players — infielder Vinny Amatucci (Saint Vincent) and outfielder/pitcher Jake Albaugh (Westmoreland County Community College) — recently completed their first college season.

“We have a veteran team. These guys have seen a lot of wins,” Bush said.

Bush’s son, Zach Bush, is in his 13th year on the staff and serves as assistant head coach. He is joined by assistants Seth Holler, Ryan Shawley and Brian Newmeyer.

Holler, who played at Frederick (Md.) Community College, is in his sixth year. Shawley, who played at Chatham while Jason Bush was serving as an assistant and is a graduate assistant at Gardner-Webb, is in his fifth year. Newmeyer, who played at Thiel, is in his first year.

“Nobody in the past 15 years has coached for us and not been a former player for us,” Jason Bush said. “I’m so proud to have those guys want to give back to the community, like I have.”

Bush is a member of the Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2019.

“We just have a full complement of players from our 19-year-old college guys to our 16-year-old sophomores,” Bush said. “It’s a great group. They’re working hard every day, playing the game right. We have a great coaching staff, a terrific baseball team, an outpouring from our community. … It’s a great community situation.”

The state tournament will be preceded July 23 with a banquet at Huber Hall in Latrobe, where six new members will be inducted into the state Hall of Fame.

“It’s a really big deal for this tournament to return to Western Pennsylvania,” Bush said. “It’s only been in the western part of the state a handful of times in the last 25 years. It’s great for us and the western side.”

Boyertown Post 471 in Berks County served as host of the 2022 state tournament. Boyertown is 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t realize how great the state championships are, and we’re going to be introducing Legion baseball to Westmoreland County and the western part of the state,” Bush said. “We’re glad the state has given us the opportunity to do it, but a lot of responsibility comes with it. The community has been fantastic.”

The top two teams will advance to the national tournament Aug. 2-6, in Morgantown, W.Va., in advance of the American Legion World Series on Aug. 10-15, in Shelby, N.C.