Just look at the records of its seven-man pitching staff and it's easy to see why the Plum Legion baseball team is one of the favorites in the Region 6 playoffs.

Plum takes a 25-1-1 record into the competition this weekend at CCAC-Boyce.

Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette Plum American Legion player Clint White winches after being hit by a pitch in an Allegheny County playoff game Sunday against Lincoln Place. Plum won the game, 9-2 Click photo for larger image.

"Pitching has played a big part in our success," said Plum coach Bill Holmes. "We've used six different starters, due to various injuries, and all of them have been effective."

Troy Besterci (3-0, 1.36 ERA) missed a month of the season with a shoulder injury, but returned to record victories in Plum's regular-season finale against Penn Hills and its first Allegheny County League playoff game against Robinson.

"Troy collided with Clint White trying to catch a foul ball," said Holmes. "Troy missed a month with a separated shoulder and Clint missed four games with a back injury."

Zane Wallace (3-1, 4.03 ERA) pitched five scoreless innings in Plum's next Allegheny County playoff game against Houston. Scott McGough (1-0, 6 saves, 1.62 ERA) pitched the last two innings.

Mike Navari (8-1, 1.46) capped Plum's Allegheny County playoff run with a complete-game victory against Lincoln Place on Sunday.

"Mike has been our workhorse," said Holmes.

Also seeing time in Plum's rotation are White (3-1, 2.68) , Nick Ferracano (4-1, 2.57) and Rich Navari (5-2, 3.17).

Plum will face the Fayette County League champion in its Region 6 opener. Uniontown and Charleroi are tied, 2-2, in a best-of-five championship series.

"This is the fifth time in six years we've qualified for the regional playoffs," said Holmes. "Our goal is to win and qualify for the state playoffs."

Catcher Anthony Defabio leads the team with a .454 average and 44 runs batted in. Others with a .400 or better average are McGough (.449) and White (.423, 42 RBI).

Pitching marathon

It's unusual to see a pitcher used 12 innings at any level. It's even more of a rarity to see two pitchers throw 12 innings in the same game. But's that's what happened when Hempfield East met Kiski Valley in the second game of the Westmoreland County League championship series on Saturday.

"What a pitching duel," said Hempfield East coach Scott Smith. "Both teams scored one run in the first inning, then both pitchers were unscored-upon for the next 10 innings."

Alex Naggy allowed only five hits and one run, while striking out 12, to lead Hempfield East to a 3-1 victory, thus clinching the Westmoreland County League title. Kiski Valley's Blake Pavlik was the loser. He allowed eight hits and three runs, while walking six and striking out eight. The two combined for more than 300 pitches.

"We had a great crowd and the kids kept them on the edge of their seats the whole game," said Smith. "Kiski had a few opportunities, including a bases-loaded situation in the seventh inning, but Alex worked out of them. He pitched a great game."

Hempfield East's winning rally began with a walk to Jared Manley. Andrew Ziegler followed with a single and both runners moved up on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly by Pat Costello provided the deciding run. Casey Teagarden's double to left-center gave Hempfield East an insurance run.

The victory earned Hempfield East its first Westmoreland County League playoff title. The team also earned its first Region 7 playoff berth. The regional playoffs begin this weekend at Bellefonte. Hempfield East takes a 13-game winning streak into Saturday's regional opener against the Indiana County League champion at 2:30 p.m. -->