The Pine Richland Rams finished pool play as the No. 1 seed for the playoff rounds at the 2012 Beast of the East Tournament and used a monumental comeback in the finals to win the 16U Championship.

Jamie Switalski (recently named as one of the top prospects at the Prep Baseball Report Western PA Top Prospect Showcase in June) scattered five hits in over five innings of relief to lead the Rams to victory. Pine Richland defeated the Erie Arsenal to claim the 42 team tournament. The Arsenal were led offensively by Ted DeSanti and Mitch Fife.

The Arsenal exited pool play as the No. 6 seed and had to win two games on the final day of the tournament just to get a shot at topping the top seeded Rams. They nearly pulled of the trifecta by jumping out to an early 7-1 lead, but Switalski's pitching and a total team effort offensively allowed the Rams to climb back into the game and eventually led to the 11-8 victory.

The Beast of the East Tournament takes place yearly the weekend prior to July 4th and draws top teams from West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Kentucky and Canada. Next year will mark the 25th Anniversary of the tournament.