The members of the Butler Township 11- and 12-year-old Little League baseball team paraded around Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia Sunday afternoon before the Phillies game against the Florida Marlins.

Their faces appeared on the giant scoreboard in left field and their names were announced to a crowd that was hungry of heroes after they learned BobbyAbreu was traded to the New York Yankees.

Butler Township has been hitting the baseball like the '27 Yankees.

Less than 24 hours before their parade around the Phillies' ballpark, Butler Township blasted four home runs Saturday in a 7-5 win over Berwyn-Paoli in the Little League state semifinals in Plymouth Meeting, just 17 miles north of Philly.

The win sends Butler Township to the championship game at 7 p.m. today against Lehigh Valley, which was one of the favorites to win the state title coming into the tournament.

Lehigh Valley must beat Butler Township tonight and then again Wednesday morning to win the title.

A win tonight and Butler Township will advance to the six-team Mid-Atlantic Regional in Bristol, Conn.

"No one is looking to Connecticut," said Butler Township coach John Baranchak. "No one is looking past Lehigh Valley."

That's because just to get to Plymouth Meeting, Butler Township had to beat Grove City twice. It did.

Now, Butler Township is one game away from being Pennsylvania's representative in the Little League World Series.

A win in the regional in Connecticut and Butler Township has a date in Williamsport, Little League's Mecca.

"I've been telling everyone that there is nothing in youth sports that comes close to this," Baranchak said. "This is something everyone dreams about. There's nothing in football, basketball or hockey that equates to this.

"This is the farthest any Butler County team has gone," Baranchak added. "This is a phenomenal achievement for these boys. This is a great group of boys and a great group of families."

Against Berwyn-Paoli, Butler Township showed off its own Murder's Row.

Dalton Koebler hit a two-run homer in the first inning and David Tomkins followed with a solo shot to give Butler Township a 3-0 lead. It never trailed.

Koebler homered again in the third inning for a 4-0 lead and Chris Cotton also homered.

Matt Baranchak picked up the win, striking out seven in 5X\c innings. Alex Ziegler came on with two runners on base and induced a grounder back to the mound for the final out to earn the save.

Thomas Bruce, Cody West and Michael Connelly also had hits for Butler Township, which has had nine of its 12 players hit home runs during its 12-game tournament run so far.

It may need all the runs it can get againstLehigh Valley, which is also a strong-hitting team.

"It's going to be an offensive game," John Baranchak said.

If Butler Township wins Tuesday, Baranchak would love just to travel up to Connecticut from Plymouth Meeting. Work demands, though, will not allow it.

"I've used up all of my vacation time," he said, laughing. "I just hope I have a job when all of this is through."