Huntingdon Valley American Legion Team Sports at the Beach Bound

Despite not qualifying for the Lower Montgomery County American Legion playoffs, Huntingdon Valley’s season isn’t over just yet.

After narrowly falling short of the .500 mark, coach Evan Horn decided he didn’t want his team’s summer to come to an end. That’s why he and the rest of the boys will embark on a trip to Georgetown, Del. for the annual Sports at the Beach Tournament.

Horn took over a 5-16 team from the previous year and made drastic improvements as the team scratched and clawed to try and have a winning record. Even though its schedule said the season is over, Horn had other plans.

“After the successful season we had I wanted to have the kids keep playing,” Horn said. "Going to this tournament is going to be fun for them. The competition will be better then what we are use to, that is for sure.  I am losing four players (Jarred Licht, Jesse Goldstein, Brian Camp, Bobby Leonard) after this season and they are the main reason for this trip to the tournament. They really made it easy to do this.”

Ten of the players from the HV Legion team will make the trip, along with additions Mario Incollingo, Matt Terrenzio and Lance ‘Dip’ Goodman.

HV will be one of five teams in the 18-19 age-group pool. Going under the name HV Predators, the boys from the Valley will square off against the GoWags Orioles, Potomac River Pirates, Bulldogs, Central Jersey Crush, and the Long Island Mariners. In the eight age groups that Sports at the Beach offers, HV will play in the oldest bracket.

None of these teams has ever seen each other, so the competition is totally foreign. Another changeup will be the use of wooden bats.

“Well to be honest it hurts us but they will be in the same boat as us,” Horn said about not knowing anything about his opponent. “After the first inning our coaching staff (Todd Goodman) will have figured out if they are use to playing with wood bats or not. We are a 100-percent wood-bat team so it will help us.”

Even though it finished one spot out of the playoffs in the Lower Montco division, the fact it yielded is something to smile about.

“After having such a great turn out on the all-league team I feel that we might have under achieved,” Horn said with a smirk.

HV will play two pool-play games on Friday and Saturday. Based on the results, it could qualify for the one-day playoff round on Sunday. On Friday, HV takes on the GoWags Orioles (3 p.m.) and the Central Jersey Crush (6 p.m.). On Saturday, HV takes on the Long Island Mariners (10:30 a.m.) and the Potomac River Pirates (1 p.m.).

For directions to Sports on the Beach, click here.

“I really want my boys to experience what it is like to just hang out as a team and have a good time,” Horn said. “This is a great experience for them and a great way to send the four players that are leaving out on a good note. Having a good time is just as important as winning.”