Peters Township American Legion baseball manager Ken Lozecki is faced with a very delicate situation and it all centers around a window of opportunity.
Simply put, when the Peters Township High School season stretches into the playoffs, the more that team wins, the window to play Legion games becomes that much smaller.
"I want the high school team to win everything, I want them to go as far as they possibly can, there is no question about that," said Lozecki, in his fourth season leading the Legion squad. "But when they win, it definitely shortens our season and we have to play a lot of games in not too many days."
Case in point, the last two years when the Peters Township High School team made a pair of runs to the PIAA championship. During those two Legion seasons, Lozecki's team had to twice play 24 games in 25 days, sometimes forced into doubleheaders.
That sort of schedule takes its toll, especially on the pitching staff.
"You end up throwing guys out there on the mound who aren't pitchers," Lozecki said. "That is when you can struggle a little bit."
But this season, after Peters Township High School went 14-0 through the regular season, the Indians stumbled against Hampton in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL playoffs and didn't qualify for the PIAA postseason field.
That said, the high school season ended for the Legion players on May 23, allowing them a few days respite before they had to go, full-bore, into Legion ball.
That elongated season has been a benefit to the Legion team.
Peters Township enjoyed another winning season, before being eliminated from the Allegheny County playoffs Tuesday night. It lost to Shaler, 9-6, ending its season at 16-7.
A big reason as to why Peters Township has had success -- in both high school and American Legion -- has been the play of catcher Kevin McGuire. A Marietta College recruit, he has one of the strongest arms around and isn't afraid to flash it when a would-be base stealer has sites set on a theft.
"There are very few people who attempt to run on him anymore," Lozecki said of McGuire. "He has proven that he can throw the ball, get it there and throw runners out. The word is definitely out that it is tough to run on him."
In addition to McGuire, Jordan Jankowski, who will be a junior in the fall, has been yielding big dividends. As he was for the high school team, Jankowski is the ace of the Legion staff and has shined.
"He has been throwing in the upper 80s all the time," Lozecki said. "He is a special player and will even get better.
"We have those two, but we also have a lot of other players who have played very well this year."
First Published: July 20, 2006, 4:00 a.m.