It used to be that the top dog of youth baseball in the summer was the local American Legion team.

These days, there's a new summer league in town, one that is making a niche for itself in Western Pennsylvania in general and Beaver County specifically.

The Western Pennsylvania Elite Baseball League recently completed its second season. The League comprises 10 teams, two from Beaver County. The Beaver Valley Red Sox and White Sox are products of the Beaver Valley Baseball Club and are made up of high school players.

The Red Sox finished with a 20-11 record, while the White Sox were 12-13. The teams played their home games at Penn State's Beaver Campus outside Monaca.

"It was a great season for our guys," said Red Sox manager Pat Cutshall, who was a standout player at Blackhawk High School and Mercyhurst College. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 17th round in 1997 and played in the minor leagues for three years.

"We lost in the first round of the playoffs and we're done for the year. The guys we had did a great job and we'll have most of them back next season. I'm looking forward to that."

Teams in the Western Pennsylvania Elite Baseball League are, for the most part, all-star squads.

For example, the Red Sox have three players from North Allegheny High School, two from Seneca Valley and Bishop Canevin, and players from Mars, Center, South Side Beaver, Monaca, Mt. Lebanon, Pine-Richland and Central Catholic high schools.

The White Sox, managed by Jory Coughenour, had more Beaver County area players, including two from New Brighton, two from Sewickley Academy and one each from Freedom, Riverside and Monaca.

The idea behind the two teams and the WPEBL, which completed its second season earlier this month, is to provide players with a higher level of competition.

The league had a scout day at La Roche College's field this month at which 25 scouts showed up.

"It's just another way for players to get noticed," said Cutshall, who works during the day at the Beaver County Courthouse. "That's the whole idea behind what we do. We want to give the players the best instruction possible and play against teams that will challenge them."

Cutshall was quick to point out that American Legion ball is also challenging. But D.J. Cannon, a second baseman for the Red Sox and a recent Mars High graduate who will play baseball at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, said the caliber of play in the WPEBL is better than American Legion.

"I think it is and that's why I didn't play Legion ball," said Cannon, who hit .427 for the Red Sox. "It's just a cut above."

Others who hit well for the Red Sox were Richie Doyle of North Allegheny (.395), Quinten Williams from Central Catholic (.397), Eric Harvey from Seneca Valley (.372), Nate DeFilippi of Center [.356] and T.J. Kuban of Pine-Richland [.348]. Nick McClelland of Mt. Lebanon was 5-0 with a 7.48 ERA and Anthony Lamont of South Side was 4-0 with a 7.00 ERA.

It used to be that players in the Beaver County area who were looking for higher-caliber of ball had to go to Youngstown, Ohio, in the summer. But with the WPEBL, trips across the state line are no longer necessary.

"All the teams [in the WPEBL] are really all-star teams with players from all over, so players are going against the best in the area," Cutshall said.

Beaver Valley Baseball also has a Sports Zone team that's composed mostly of high school freshmen and sophomores.

The teams are associated with the Beaver County Sports Zone, a 9,000-square-foot indoor facility in Ambridge. It has five batting cages, two pitching mounds, three pitching machines and a softball pitching machine.

In the offseason, Cutshall and Coughenour spend a lot of hours at the facility.

"We've been going strong since the winter and now it's time to relax a little," Cutshall said.