Butler's Kyle Yost, left and Tyler Rekich, display the East Zone championship banner as members of the Youngstown Class B all-star team. The pair will be playing in the PONY World Series this weekend in Washington, Pa.

BUTLER TWP — Tyler Rekich and Kyle Yost crossed the state line to play baseball this summer.

The Butler residents have earned themselves spots in this weekend's PONY 14-year-Old World Series in Washington (Pa.) as a result.

Both played for the A-2 Athletics in the Youngstown B League this season. Yost was a catcher-shortstop, Rekich a pitcher-outfielder for their team, which finished 19-2 before settling for second place in the league playoffs.

Both were among six players on that team to join the Youngstown B League All-Stars for postseason tournament play.

“My dad signed us up for that league this year,” Rekich said. “I got called up (as a 13-year-old) to play in a few games there last year, but this was my first full season.”

Yost and Rekich made their seasons count.

Leading off in the batting order, Yost was hitting .750 entering the final five games of the season “when I cooled down a little bit,” he said. He stole a lot of bases as well.

When it comes to the PONY World Series, Yost isn't certain what position he'll be playing.

“We have players on the team at catcher and shortstop with comparable skills to mine,” he said. “I guess I'll play wherever they need me to go.”

Rekich hit .500 this season and hit third or fifth in the batting order most of the year. He struck out more than 40 batters in 30 innings of pitching. He added 12 more strikeouts in nine innings of tournament play.

“I'm excited about these games coming up,” Rekich said. “We've got a really good team and I feel like we have a chance to do well.”

The Youngstown team faces a team from Vienna, Austria, in its first game at 7 p.m. Friday. There are 10 teams in the double-elimination tournament.

Youngstown had to finish among the top two teams in the district tournament at Mount Lebanon — where it finished second — to qualify for the East Zone Tournament in McCandless. Only the Zone champion qualified for the World Series.

“We had to win seven games altogether to make the World Series,” Yost said. “This is the first time I've been on a team that's done anything like this.

“It's been fun playing ball with different kids, meeting them and getting to know them. Once we figured out how everybody plays the game, we really came together.”

Yost and Rekich have been playing organized baseball since age 6.

“I like it a lot,” Rekich said of playing for the Youngstown B League All-Stars. “It's been fun playing with new kids.”