Legion team opts out of tourney

Post 12 ended with forfeit

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   The Somerville-Manville American Legion baseball team elected not to participate in the Pyramid League’s post-season tournament.
   While the top three teams in the North and South divisions qualified for the state playoffs, the rest of the league was eligible to compete in a double elimination tourney.
   Manager Gregg Snyder and coach Robert Snyder, the Manville father-son combo that runs the Post 12 squad, decided not to enter the tournament after forfeiting the July 8 season finale at Alpha. Somerville expected to field a full team but when only seven players showed up at Alpha, the Snyders felt it was best to end the season right there.
   "We’re upset," Robert Snyder said. "You don’t want to forfeit. It was a bad way to end the season."
   The league tournament was still running this week, with Ridge (3-0) leading the way and Hillsborough, Montgomery and North Warren alive with one loss. Somerville defeated some of those teams during the season and certainly could have done well in the tourney. The coaches simply felt too many players had lost interest and weren’t confident they could put a full team on the field.
   "When you’re losing, it’s tougher to get the kids there," Robert Snyder said. "Losing makes everything more difficult."
   Two years ago, Post 12 was evicted from the league after exceeding the maximum of three forfeits in a season. Somerville won its last three games to finish 10-10 last summer, its best season since Gregg Snyder took command in 2002.
   This summer, the team had high hopes and great expectations but never recovered from a slow start. Losing was bad enough, but the forfeit really stung the Snyders, who hadn’t experienced that sour feeling since the ugly ending to the 2005 season.