YORK COUNTY, Pa. — The Keystone State Games are huge.

Very huge.

With nearly 8,000 of Pennsylvania's best amateur athletes converging on York County this week to compete in 38 Olympic-style events, one baseball team will have a distinct Butler County flavor.

The Great Lakes region 17-and-18 year-old baseball team roster is dotted with Butler County players — 11 of the 18 to be exact.

They come from Butler, Zelienople, Harmony, Karns City and SlipperyRock.

They include Darren Blakley, Bradley Marra, David Steighner and Dallas O'Donnell of Butler HighSchool; Matt Brittner, Mark Haney, Kyle Helisek and Jake Ellis of Seneca Valley HighSchool, Adam Brydon of SlipperyRock High School and Brett Green and Saxon Parker of Karns City HighSchool.

And they are all competing in the Keystone Games, which began in 1980.

"It's a very big event," said Great Lakes coach Terry Stiehler. "We are guaranteed to play five games."

Great Lakes will begin actionFriday morning at 8:30 a.m. It will play two games on Friday, two more on Saturday and one on Sunday.

The Sunday game could be for the championship of the 10-team tournament, broken up into two divisions, depending on how things go onFriday and Saturday.

"It depends on the pitching," Stiehler said. "All these kids are coming from other teams, and you don't know what kind of shape their arms are going to be in or even if they are available to pitch.

"We have some stickers, though. We have some kids who can swing the bat and field the ball."

The tournament will be played exclusively with wooden bats. All of the players are accustomed to playing with aluminum bats.

"That's going to be interesting — to see how they adjust," Stiehler said. "I'd like to see all levels go to wooden bats."

This is Stiehler's first season as the team's coach. His son, Terry Stiehler II, is his assistant.

Stiehler, who coached the Karns City American Legion team, traveled all over the region, which stretches into Erie County, but as it turned out, most of his players came fromButler County.

"We had four different tryouts," Stiehler said. "We went all over the area."

Today, there will be a baseball showcase, which provdes a chance for the players on the team to show what they can do for a slew of college coaches who depend on the Keystone Games every year.

Stiehler said that event is much more important that the actual games.

It's also a chance for him to see what his players can do.

"There are scouts and over 40 college coaches there," Stiehler said. "I told the kids do your thing during the showcase, play well, and play hard in the games, and everything will be OK."

Stiehler hasn't had his entire team together yet for a complete practice. The first time he will have his whole team together will be today.

"It makes it tough," he said.

Stiehler, who is helping coach the junior division team, which has already started play in York, said he is in awe of the size of the Games.

The Keystone State Games are designed to promote physical fitness and amateur athletic competition.