Boyertown

Boyertown, the pre-tournament favorite, ran its way past North Allegheny, 16-4, yesterday in the opening round of the state American Legion Tournament at Quakertown. The Bears (42-6) stole 16 bases and outhit their baseball opponents, 14-7. They are seeking their 13th straight Legion state title. Phoenixville, a hot-hitting team entering the tournament, failed to come up with clutch hits against St. Mary's lefthander Joe Wilson and lost, 7-2, in the double-elimination tourney.

About 50 Ku Klux Klan members paraded through the middle of Boyertown yesterday, past hundreds of curious onlookers - and some vocal protesters - in what was billed as a recruiting effort for the Klan. The Klansmen - most dressed in white robes and hoods, with a few in street clothes and a couple in battle-fatigue pants and gold helmets - took just 13 minutes to march the eight blocks through the center of the Berks County borough. Nearly twice as many police, armed with emergency gear, were present to keep the peace as the parade wound through the streets of modest brick rowhouses.

The American Legion Mid-Atlantic Regional baseball tournament is scheduled to begin today at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, and eight teams, including host Boyertown, will be trying to advance to the World Series, which is set for Aug. 20-24 in Corvallis, Ore. Here is the schedule for the regional tournament. Today Game 1: Newburgh (N.Y.) vs. Chester Post 342 (N.J.), 9:30 a.m. Game 2: Winchester Post 21 (Va.) vs. Morgantown Post 2 (W.Va.), doubleheader. Game 3: Central Delaware vs. State College (Pa.)

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Boyertown finally got to play its opening game in the American Legion World Series yesterday morning, taking a 5-3 victory over Bryant, Ark., in a game that was pushed back from Friday night by rain. Garret Crable went all nine innings for the Bears (53-8), scattering 10 hits and striking out five to raise his record to 13-2. Cody Culp was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Alex Neiman and Nole Saylor each had a double among two hits. Aaron Davidson struck out 10 in his seven-inning start for Bryant (42-10)

Two years removed from winning a PIAA Class AAA girls' basketball championship, Archbishop Carroll will try to add a Class AAAA title to its collection when it faces Mount Lebanon at 6 p.m. Friday at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. The Patriots, who moved up to Class AAAA this season, earned their way into the championship game by rolling to a 65-41 victory over Boyertown on Tuesday night at Spring-Ford. Carroll (23-5) picked up its 18th win in its last 19 games as junior Rachel Pearson, missing for more than two months of the season because of a stress problem in her left ankle, scored 13 points.

A young, underrated Boyertown team almost shocked powerful Brooklawn last night in the second round of the American Legion Mid-Atlantic Regional at Bear Stadium. But the New Jersey state champion, favored to win this event by virtue of its 48-1 record coming in, played like a champion in crunch time, taking advantage of a Boyertown (38-16) mistake to score five unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game before winning it, 9-8, on Matt Furman's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th.

West Chester Henderson won the meet's final event in record time yesterday to best Boyertown for the PIAA District 1 Class AAA boys' swimming championship at La Salle University. The Warriors took the 400-yard freestyle relay in a meet-record time of 3 minutes, 7.93 seconds to finish with 231.5 points, six more than the second-place Bears and 23.5 more than defending champion Upper Dublin. The other district championships didn't end quite so dramatically. Springfield of Montgomery County won the boys' Class AA title with 334 points to easily outdistance Harriton.

Downingtown came close to being eliminated from contention for the Ches- Mont crown Saturday, but took advantage of Great Valley mistakes to score 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 7-6 win. Downingtown is now 8-2 in the league and meets Boyertown, the league leader at 9-1, on Wednesday. The Whippets play at West Chester Henderson this afternoon. "At least our destiny is in our own hands," said Whippets coach Mike Morgan. "We don't have to worry about anybody else winning to help us. " Should Downingtown win both games, and Boyertown beat Owen J. Roberts this afternoon, it would force a playoff for the league title.

Boyertown and Brooklawn (N.J.) will meet today at Breslin Field in Lyndhurst, N.J., for the American Legion Mid-Atlantic Regional title, with Boyertown needing two victories to capture its eighth regional crown. Boyertown remained in contention yesterday by earning an easy 15-5 victory over Clifton (N.J.). Brooklawn also won, coming back with five runs in the eighth inning to top Spring Valley (N.Y.), 6-3. Brooklawn (49-8-2), the New Jersey state champion and the only undefeated team left in this eight-team, double-elimination tournament, edged Boyertown, 2-1, on Thursday.

Boyertown will open play in the American Legion World Series in Bartlesville, Okla., this afternoon against the Bryant (Ark.) Blacksox. Bryant, 41-9 overall, emerged from the Mid-South with a 4-1 tournament record, while Boyertown, at 52-8, went 5-1 in capturing the Mid-Atlantic crown at West Lawn, Pa. Both teams have been hot at the plate. Boyertown's average was a hefty .359 in tournament play, while Bryant hit .358. Today's winner will advance tomorrow against the winner between Eden Prairie (Minn.

  Team Record Records are through Tuesday. Last week's rankings in parentheses. 1. Malvern Prep (1) 26-5 2. Council Rock S. (2) 16-1 3. La Salle (3) 15-2 4. Downingtown E. (5) 15-3 5. Bensalem (6) 15-3 6. Neumann-Goretti (7) 14-3 7. Penn Charter (8) 23-5 8. Hatboro-Horsham (9) 17-3 9. W.C. Henderson (10) 13-6 10. Arch.

A registered sex offender already accused in a federal indictment of exploiting a child to produce pornography, has been bound over for trial on charges of raping the toddler in Montgomery County. Police said Robert Knappenberger, 41, of Boyertown, Berks County, was being held at the Montgomery County prison when he could not post $15,000 bail. He is accused of rape, statutory rape, indecent assault, corruption of a minor, and endangering the welfare of a child. The child was 1-year-old at the time of the alleged crimes.

A registered sex offender already accused in a federal indictment of exploiting a child to produce pornography, has been bound over for trial on charges of raping the infant in Montgomery County. Robert Knappenberger, 41, of Boyertown, Berks County, was being held at the Montgomery County prison when he could not post $15,000 bail, police said. He is accused of rape, statutory rape, indecent assault, corruption of a minor and endangering the welfare of a child. The child was one-year-old at the time of the alleged crimes.

Owen J. Roberts' Andrew Kinney entered Saturday's District 1 Class AAA Section 4 wrestling tournament at Boyertown coming off a rare loss. But that didn't deter the top-seeded 145-pounder as he captured his weight class and lead the Wildcats to a rout in the team standings. The senior (36-5) captured the 145-title with a 3-2 decision over Octorara's Brandon Arnsberger. Owen J. recorded nine individual champions to total 234.5 points. Joining Kinney were Aston White (106 pounds)

Pennsbury used its precise shooting touch from behind the arc Saturday afternoon to upset visiting Coatesville, 81-76. Kieran Bolger had a game-high 25 points for the Falcons and knocked down six threes. Jerrel Burke hit five three-pointers and scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half. Chris Miller led Coatesville, which dropped to 14-3 and is undefeated in the Ches-Mont League. Pennsbury improved to 14-6. In other nonleague action, Raheem Harvey recorded a triple double as Glen Mills rolled at West Chester Rustin, 59-45.

Pennsbury used its precise shooting touch from behind the arc Saturday afternoon to upset visiting Coatesville, 81-76. Kieran Bolger had a game-high 25 points for the Falcons and knocked down six threes. Jerrel Burke hit five three-pointers and scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half. Chris Miller led Coatesville, which dropped to 14-3 and is undefeated in the Ches-Mont League. Pennsbury improved to 14-6. In other nonleague action, Raheem Harvey recorded a triple double as Glen Mills rolled at West Chester Rustin, 59-45.

Highlights of Saturday's contests can be found at: www.philly.com/rally Wrestling HARRITON RAM DUALS Championship Upper Dublin 48, Academy Park 18 Third Place Harriton 48, Upper Merion 20 Fifth Place Franklin Towne Charter 36, Delco Christian 24 Preliminaries Upper Dublin 56, Harriton 18 Upper Dublin 72, Franklin Towne Charter 6 Upper Dublin 72, Upper...

Boyertown's Max Marcus needed just one quarter to turn a close game into a rout. With the score tied at 21 entering the fourth quarter, the tailback rushed for three touchdowns in the fourth to lead the host Bears to a 42-21, Pioneer Athletic Conference win over Upper Perkiomen on Thursday. Marcus finished with a game-high 169 rushing yards. His longest touchdown was a 40-yard scamper to increase the lead to 35-21. This was the last game for Upper Perkiomen coach Keith Leamer, who resigned earlier this week after eight seasons at the helm.

Boyertown's Max Marcus needed just one quarter to turn a close game into a rout. With the score tied at 21 entering the fourth quarter, the tailback rushed for three touchdowns in the fourth to lead the host Bears to a 42-21, Pioneer Athletic Conference win over Upper Perkiomen on Thursday. Marcus finished with a game-high 169 rushing yards. His longest touchdown was a 40-yard scamper to increase the lead to 35-21. This was the last game for Upper Perkiomen coach Keith Leamer, who resigned earlier this week after eight seasons at the helm.