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Kerrigan Tourney provides release for players with pent up baseball

The Labor Day weekend tradition rolls on with even more teams than last year.

MOUNT WOLF, Pa. — It's a three day tournament with eight locations and 16 teams.  Only one is crowned the Kerrigan Memorial Baseball Tournament champion but the fact that the labor day tradition continues this year is a huge win for all of the players. 

The dog days of summer haven't seen as much action on the diamond as they would have during a normal season.

"A lot of teams couldn't play in leagues from their area," recalled Nick Brenner.  "So just to come somewhere and play in a competitive tournament, they're really excited for that."

The Tom Kerrigan Memorial Baseball Tournament were skeptical themselves, but they're back with even more teams than last year.

"We weren't sure if this season was going to happen or not," said Glen Rock pitcher Conor Miller.  "I think a lot of athletes were pushing towards it as long as we had the safety protocols in place and everyone agreed on everything.  We all just want to play baseball.  If we had to wear masks on the field, we would have done it."

The tournament has become a labor day weekend tradition for many.

"For a lot of teams in the Central League, this is circled on the calendars, especially for Jefferson and Glen Rock," added Miller.  "The league for the last six years I've been in here has been awesome.  We all like each other.  Yeah, we talk a lot of crap to one another, but it's all in good fun."

And with more teams having limited tournaments to play, the talent level this year has reached new heights.

"I would say this is probably the best in years," said Brenner.  "We had some kids yesterday who played for Pittsburgh throwing in the 90's and they both threw shutouts."

Some of the student athletes have a lot of pent up baseball in their systems.  It happened to Miller, who pitches for York College, so he knows how some of the recent high school graduates feel.

"I always tell a lot of the high school guys that the Central League is really good competition.  It's better than Legion.  You're going to face ex-pro players that might be throwing 90 or whatever.  The only way to get better is to face better competition."

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