One of the photos snapped in the aftermath of Hopewell winning the Beaver County American Legion championship was of catcher Adam Zimmerman hugging a teammate.

It captured Hopewell's season perfectly.

Zimmerman, a 2007 Hopewell High School graduate who played at Grove City College this past spring, could have played baseball in a number of different leagues this summer.

Instead, he decided to play one more season of American Legion ball. And no matter what happened to Hopewell in the Region 6 tournament this past week, he was going out a champion.

"I was a sophomore [in high school] when we won it the last time," said Zimmerman, who smacked a two-run homer in the 6-0 victory against Blackhawk in the third game of a best-of-three series that decided the championship. "That was my first year [of Legion ball] and to win [the county championship] in my first year and my last year is nice.

"But it's great for all the guys who had never won it before. It's something they'll remember."

Zimmerman knew all along he would come back and play for Hopewell this summer, just as Jim Rubino and Elliott Riley knew they would return after a year in college.

Hopewell Legion manager Joe Colella, who also coaches the high school team, understands their reasoning.

"It's not so much what you do as it is who you do it with," he said. "They're playing with their buddies. It's not like they are on a team for the first time and don't know anyone."

Hopewell won its first two games in the Region 6 double-elimination tournament at Blackhawk, but dropped a 4-3 decision to Plum in a thriller Monday night and then lost to Blackhawk, 10-9, in a wild 10-inning contest Tuesday.

"You get so close that you want it," said Colella, who understood how tough it would be for his team to come back and win the Region 6 title. "We had our chances ... that doesn't make it any easier."

Winning the Beaver County title -- it was Hopewell's 13 championship since 1980 -- helps make up for what was a disappointing high school season. Colella thought the high school squad was good enough to challenge for the Section 3-AAA title or at least make the WPIAL playoffs. But injuries early on proved costly and Hopewell finished 9-9 overall, 4-8 in the section and failed to make the playoffs.

Ten of the 17 players on the Hopewell Legion roster will return to the high school squad for the 2008-09 school year, most notably pitcher/infielder Brad Kubis, pitcher/outfielder Max Vogel, first baseman Kevin Welsh and pitcher/outfielder Dylan Schwegler.

Colella said there is definitely a carryover effect between the Legion and high school seasons.

"To win, you have to learn how to win," he said. "This is learning how to win and you hope it pays off next year."

Speaking of next year, Zimmerman won't be at Grove City College. He will take classes at Community College of Beaver County in the fall and plans to then transfer to another area four-year school, possibly La Roche or Penn State Beaver, and play baseball.

He said the secret to the Legion team's success is simple: "We have a solid lineup one through nine, we're pretty resilient and we have a good time playing the game together."