For the second straight season, the Youngsville Eagles baseball program is postseason bound.

This year, the Eagles (15-4, 12-4 Region 3) are after more than just being in the field as the team hopes make a run at the District 10 Class A championship over the next seven days.

The first step in that journey comes today when Youngsville — the third seed in the bracket and second-place team from Region 3 — squares off with the sixth-seeded Union City Bears at 4:30 p.m. at Allegheny College in Meadville.

“It should be a really good matchup,” said Youngsville coach Eddie Dorunda. “They’ll most likely be pitching their lefty (Luke) Racop against us. Their catcher has a nice arm too so that will make things more difficult to run the bases like we normally do.”

Youngsville and Union City (6-12, 5-11 Region 3) have squared off twice already this season and despite the large disparity in records, the games have been extremely close with the Eagles winning both times.

The Eagles defeated the Bears 7-5 on April 12 after scoring four runs after two outs in the fifth inning to erase an early deficit. Three weeks later on May 5, Youngsville controlled the game throughout, leading 7-2 before surrendering four runs in the seventh inning to escape with a 7-6 win.

“The boys need to come ready to play,” said Dorunda. “Regular season records go out the window at this point and we can’t take these guys lightly. They are well coached and it’ll be the third time seeing them this year so there won’t be any surprises.”

Youngsville enters the playoffs on a three-game winning streak, rebounding nicely from a lopsided loss to Cambridge Springs a week ago. The Blue Devils are also in the tournament as the fourth seed and play fifth-seeded Cochranton at 11:30 a.m. today in the early game at Allegheny College.

Junior centerfielder Matt DeSimone leads the charge offensively for the Eagles, leading the team with an impressive .574 batting average in 2023 with two home runs and 26 RBI. DeSimone’s 35 hits lead the team and he gets around well on the base paths as well with 32 stolen bases and 25 runs scored.

It’s hardly a one-man show for the Eagles, however, as senior leftfielder Ethan Senz enters the playoffs with a .373 batting average and 20 runs scored and junior second baseman Wyatt Dalrymple is batting a solid .358.

Offensive ability and speed are shown up and down the lineup card for Youngsville with Ian Mancuso stealing 21 bases this season, Keegan Mesel has 22 hits, 18 stolen bases and 13 RBI, James Johnson 23 runs and 20 hits and Nathan Lucks 17 RBI.

Freshman David Manning has been a pleasant surprise on the bump for Youngsville this year, compiling a 5-0 record with a 2.15 ERA and 31 strikeouts. Junior Lucks is 5-3 with a 2.60 ERA and has a team-leading 51 punch outs.

The Bears are no slouch in their own right. Junior Daithin Kent and sophomore Trevin Capela are both hitting above .400 this season at .414 and .408 respectively. Senior Bryce Drayer bats .321 and leads the team with 18 stolen bases.

From the mound, the left-handed Racop has a 3.23 ERA this season with 53 strikeouts. Senior Miles McCaslin (4.08 ERA, 23 strikeouts) and sophomore Aidan Shuman (5.14, 35 strikeouts) have also pitched significant innings for the Bears in 2023.

While Union City will most likely be starting Racop, Dorunda still isn’t totally set on who will pitch for Youngsville on Monday.

“We’re not sure who we’ll be throwing on the mound until game time,” said Dorunda. “Whoever it is just needs to pound the zone and limit the walks.”