JEFFERSON TWP — Championships and playoff appearances are nothing new to the current crop of Knoch High School and Saxonburg legion baseball players.

So they decided to chase something different.

An undefeated season.

“We would love it,” said Logan Hickey, one of a handful of players from Knoch's 2015 state title team still playing together for Saxonburg legion. “This is the last summer we'll be playing together. Why not go out with a bang?”

It's not out of the realm of possibility.

Saxonburg is off to a 10-0 start this season and has outscored its opposition 108 to 19. Two of its wins are by one-run margins, 5-4 and 2-1.

Half of its wins are by double-digit margins. And the team is two-time defending Butler County legion league champion.

That goes with a Knoch High School record of 52-15 over the past three seasons, including the state title and a WPIAL semifinal appearance.

“These guys are all friends and just enjoy playing ball together,” Saxonburg manager Mike Hickey said. “Most kids break off and go play AAU ball over the summer.

“This team could beat a lot of those AAU teams.”

League president Jerry Piroch, who is umpiring games this summer, said he wishes the BCAL was affiliated with the state legion program this year “because that team could definitely play at the next level.”

One BCAL umpire said Saxonburg “could compete favorably in the Eagle County league. They are solid in all phases of the game and know how to do the little things right to win.”

Logan Hickey and Alex Stobert, 2016 Knoch graduates, both came back to the Saxonburg legion team this year. Hickey played for Butler County Community College this spring while Stobert pitched for Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College.

“I threw 63 innings down there, so I got a lot of work in,” Stobert said. “But all I did was pitch. I missed grabbing my glove and playing a position every day.

“I wanted to come back here and do that, play with my buddies again ... It's almost like a reunion.”

It's a reunion party that hasn't tired of winning.

“Believe me, these guys are still hungry,” Coach Hickey insisted.

They're pretty relaxed as well.

“It's just that we've been playing together for so long, it's like we're playing a pick-up game together,” said shortstop Mike McCarty, who is headed to John Carroll University to further his baseball career. “We do play relaxed.

“This is a bunch of good guys with good talent. We enjoy baseball and we enjoy winning.”

Saxonburg has welcomed a Freeport player, James Flemm, into the mix. An outfielder, all he did was collect 10 RBI in a recent win, slamming a pair of three-run homers in the process.

Flemm followed up that performance with a 3-for-3 game and two more RBI in a win over East Butler. Saxonburg played that game without stalwarts Dom Bucko and Dylan Swarmer, who were unavailable.

Flemm took Bucko's center field position, Jeff Smolen took over behind the plate — and Saxonburg posted a 7-0 victory.

“These guys have made me feel welcome,” Flemm said. “Everybody has been nice to me and they include me in everything.

“That 10-RBI game was a once-in-a-lifetime. I couldn't believe it was happening. But you get a lot of chances to drive in runs with these guys.”

Saxonburg is averaging just under 11 runs per game while giving up two per contest.

Yet when this summer baseball season ends, most of these players and longtime buddies will finally be going their separate ways.

“I'm not going to handle that well,” second baseman Derek McGill said. “It's going to feel weird. It's going to feel like a high school relationship break-up.

“I wish it wouldn't end, but we've all generated some lifetime memories through playing baseball together. That is for sure.”