The Region 2 American Legion baseball tournament has a new host site this year, as Freemansburg will be the site when the tournament gets underway July 18-July 22.

Traditionally, Boyertown, Nor-Gwyn and Muhlenberg have hosted the tournament, but Freemansburg head coach Chris Medei was happy that their venue was picked to run this year's event.

"We applied three years ago and we didn't get it," Medei said, "but we applied the following year and they awarded it to us for this summer. They knew we could handle the event and it's huge for us to be able to bring this to Freemansburg and to our area. The last time a NORCO team hosted regionals was 11 years ago, so we're certainly proud of being able to put this tournament on."

Generally speaking, between 2,000-3,000 people attend the five-day tournament, with Freemansburg able to handle roughly 500 fans per contest. The high level of summer baseball on hand attracts plenty of scouts from the college and professional ranks, which adds to the prestige of being hosts.

"I think most teams will have at least three players that will be playing in college," Medei said. "It's really a high level of baseball, so we're excited about the opportunity."

Freemansburg finished their season (5-13), falling short of qualifying for the NORCO playoffs, but since they are the hosts, they automatically gain a berth in the tournament and will likely open the tournament with North Parkland, the top-seed from the Lehigh Valley Legion, on Saturday night, July 18.

"We look at this as a second chance to our summer," Medei said. "We got a young team and we've been getting better. This is like having a second season and once you get in, you never know what's going to happen."