Ryan Encapera had been a Fayette County League veteran of more than a decade, but he always felt something was missing.

A California native who went to California Area High School and attended California University of Pennsylvania, Encapera wondered why the town never had a franchise in the league.

Encapera had taught at the high school, helped coach at the high school and college.

He still lives in California today even though he teaches social studies in the East Allegheny School District.

He had played for various teams over the years -- Charleroi, Fredericktown, Mario's, Brownsville ... but never one christened for the town he was born, grew up in and calls home.

"We've had a pretty good high school tradition and always had good ballplayers," Encapera said. "And they always had to find another place to go."

Until now.

Encapera, 27, took it upon himself to start his own California franchise. Dubbed the "Tribe," it is the newest entry in the nine-team semipro Fayette County league. The team is 6-8 in its inaugural campaign heading into its doubleheader with Bud Murphy's today.

"It was something that people always talked about in the past but nobody ever had the means to do it," said Encapera, adding it takes in excess of $2000 to start a team from scratch.

"I had to put some of my own [money] into it to start to get it running, which I am starting to get some of it back now after we had some fundraising. We have players; they didn't have anywhere to play."

At least 10 of the Tribe's players are California High School alums and at least six have ties to California University. Many of them jumped at the chance to play for a team representing their home town, even if it meant they had to incur extra expenses like buying their own uniforms and participating in additional fundraising activities.

The Tribe is a generally young team -- Encapera, who is among the team's leading hitters and ERA leaders, is the oldest player -- which includes Jason Britton, Mike Galis and Matt Hartman from the California High School team that recently completed its WPIAL Class A championship season.

Galis has two brothers on the team -- 2004 California graduate Rob and center fielder Andy, who bats leadoff and leads the team in hitting at .389. Rob took a redshirt season during his just-completed freshman year at California University.

Other California High School alumni include second baseman Jason Dayner (.359), pitcher Matt Morich (who played at Penn State-Beaver), outfielder Parke Bongiorno (Thiel College) and Brian Dunn, who played at Penn State-Fayette and leads the Tribe in innings pitched and is batting .308.

California University players who are on the Tribe's roster are: include Beth-Center graduates infielder Garrett Balas (who took a redshirt as a freshman this spring) and pitcher Bob Winwood, Brian Kabana, Serra Catholic alum pitcher Larry Christinis and Frank Muir, the the all-time leading home run hitter at Thiel College who is a graduate student at California.

Infielder/pitcher Matt Stay leads the team in pitching appearances. He recently graduated from Beth-Center and will play football at Washington & Jefferson College this season. Presidents' outfielder Nate Hopkins was a recent addition to the Tribe roster.

Encapera said the Tribe is aiming to at least post a .500 record in their first season. He definitely wants to avoid placing eighth or ninth -- so the Tribe is not forced to play in a preliminary-round playoff game -- but at 6-8 at the midway point of the season, a winning record is within reach.

"I think in the playoffs, we can make some noise," Encapera said. "We are the kind of team that people don't know what to expect from us. But our bats are pretty good -- we're hitting .296 as a team -- and our pitching is average.

"If they have a good game, we can win. The bats can keep us in enough game to get some wins."