Mike Vukovcan The Regional Tournament to qualify for the 2025 Pony League World Series gets underway tomorrow in Mt. Lebanon.
The local 376 Team will play their first game tomorrow at 1 PM as they take on a team from Butler. Game No. 2 will take place Friday at 1 PM with the opponent to be determined by whether or not they win.
This is a double-elimination tournament that runs through Sunday.
This team is comprised of players from the 376 Beaver County Pony League. Here are the coaches and players that will comprise this 2025 376 Beaver County team.
Coaching Staff: Brian Haney, Chris Hamilton, Matt Harvey and Sean Kearney
Roster: Brandon Woefel, Brody Lindsey, Caleb Haney, Colby Cutshall, Cole Harvey, Dylan Hamilton, Gavin Latchaw, JJ Kearney, Noah Kraus, O.C. Burkhead, Andrew Arzberger and Luke Vukovcan.
Vikings Sports Now had the opportunity to talk with Team 376 Head Coach Matt Harvey about this tournament and his thoughts on the eve of the opener.
“I’ve had the advantage of playing in this tournament one other time with my other son so I have an idea what to expect,” Coach Harvey told VSN. “I believe that this team that we’re taking into this tournament is a special group of kids from top to bottom, honestly. We have 12 players and 10 of them can pitch which honestly, which is important, because this tournament is all about pitching. If you can have effective pitching and timely hitting, your team can make a pretty good run at this. I believe we have that and really believe this is a special group of players.”
“I’ve had a chance to watch a lot of these players throughout the rec season and I’ve known a number of these players before this season, so I have a comfort level with these guys. I’ve coached a lot of them, especially my Beaver players. I feel like I know what this group of kids is capable of doing and it’s why I think we can succeed in this tournament.”
Having been involved in this type of tournament in the past and being familiar with some of the teams that are entering, Coach Harvey knows that the competition will be stiff.
“The competition that we’re playing against are All-Star teams basically and very advanced All-Stars, said Harvey. “A lot of these kids play on travel ball teams and are able to tell me what we should be doing before I have to say anything, which is great. These kids really know the game, which is impressive.”
Coach Harvey tells me that he’s going to go into tomorrow with a couple of different games plans in terms of his use of pitchers. One of the things that he pointed out is that all teams will need to be careful in terms of their use of pitchers. Reason being is because their is a pitch count and a players availability to pitch in another game will be dictated by the number of pitches they throw. Team 376 will go in with a plan of who specifically they plan on using but will be willing to adjust based on how the game is playing out.
Bottom line is that regardless of what happens over the next few days, this will be a special opportunity, win or lose, for this group of players and coaches. Coach Harvey will be relaying this to the team but don’t want them to become overwhelmed with the moment.
“I’m going to word things very carefully with them because I don’t want them to feel any pressure,” said Harvey. “We’ve talked a little bit about it at practices and a little bit about it about our hitting session last night. We’ll talk about it before the game but like I said, I don’t want them feeling pressure and feeling like the weight of the world is on them. We’ll have fun and I’m excited for things to start.”
Here are the 13 teams that will be competing: 376 Pony League, Mt. Lebanon, Founders League All-Stars, South Hills Pony League, NCAA, Butler, Youngstown, Plum, Pittsburgh Pirates Nike, Peters Township, Johnstown, Mon Valley and Western PA Pony League.
