West Mifflin American Legion manager Tom Simcho has 17 players on his roster, but only 11 have shown up on a regular basis.

"We live and die with who we have," Simcho said. "And most of them play on two other teams that I'm involved with. They are playing baseball every night of the week. It's a very dedicated group of kids. I really appreciate their dedication to baseball."

It's also a talented group of kids. West Mifflin entered Tuesday's game against Mount Washington with an 8-4 record.

"We have five games remaining," said Simcho, during a Monday evening interview. "I'm not sure where we are in the [Mon-Yough League] standings, but we should be near the top. Our goal coming into the season was to qualify for the [Allegheny County] playoffs, and we're closing in on reaching that goal."

Simcho is in his third year with West Mifflin's Legion team. He shared the coaching duties with Lenny Milko the previous two years. Milko has since stepped out of the picture to coach a West Mifflin Colt League team.

"We qualified for the playoffs last year and the year before," Simcho said. "We lost to West Allegeny and Shaler in last year's playoffs. We also lost to West Allegheny [in the playoffs] the year before."

All but one of Simcho's 11-player active roster were West Mifflin Area High School players during the 2009 season. The only non-Titan is Mike Uhouse, who recently graduated from Seton-LaSalle. Uhouse, a right fielder, has a .303 average and 10 runs scored.

Uhouse is joined in the outfield by left fielder Anthony Ogletree and center fielder Scott Commander. Both are recent West Mifflin graduates. Ogletree, who bats eighth, has a .345 average and nine RBIs. Commander, the No. 2 hitter, has a .294 average and 10 runs scored.

Simcho uses a three-man pitching rotation.

"Billy Bendgen is our No. 1 pitcher," said Simcho, referring to another recent West Mifflin graduate. "He has a 4-1 record, a 4.27 ERA, and 31 strikeouts in 211/3 innings pitched. Billy also has a .412 average at the plate."

The other two pitchers are Jeff Ziegler and Josh Dawida. Ziegler, who will be a senior, has a 2-1 record, a 4.04 ERA, and 13 strikeouts in 171/3 innings pitched. Dawida, a recent graduate, has a 1-1 record in 12 innings of pitching.

"Josh pitched a no-hitter last Thursday against Carrick," Simcho said. "The game was called after six innings because of lightning."

Bendgen is one of four West Mifflin hitters with a .400 or better average. The others are catcher Billy Hodgetts, third baseman Mike Mroz and first baseman Jesse Clayton.

"Billy leads our team with a .467 average," said Simcho, who has been a varsity assistant at West Mifflin for eight years. "It's a big surprise, because Billy only hit .117 for the high school team. Nobody expected him to hit this well."

Hodgetts was a junior at West Mifflin. Mroz and Clayton are recent graduates. Mroz has a .440 average with 11 runs scored, and 10 RBIs. Clayton has a .417 average, 10 runs and nine RBIs.

"Mike [Mroz] is the best hitter I've seen at West Mifflin," Simcho said. "He bats third for us, and Jesse bats sixth."

Mroz and Clayton are joined in the infield by Brian Ripper and Kevin Quinn, a pair who recently finished their junior years at West Mifflin.

Ripper, a shortstop and No. 5 hitter, has a .270 average, 13 runs scored, nine RBIs and seven stolen bases. Quinn has a .235 average and 10 runs scored.

"Kevin is our leadoff hitter," Simcho. "His average is deceiving. He has a .437 on-base percentage, which includes 10 walks and three hit by pitches. Kevin knows the strike zone well."

Simcho has enjoyed coaching his small squad.

"It's a fun team to coach," Simcho said. "And all but one are eligible to come back next year."

Simcho likes the balance he has on offense.

"We have seven kids with seven or more RBIs," Simcho said. "That's great balance,"

Simchos' biggest concern is injuries.

"I've tried not to think of it," Simcho said. "But it's obvious that we must stay healthy with such a small roster."