Tom Aaron never considered playing this summer in a college league. He said he wanted to help Perkiomen's American Legion baseball team repeat as Bux-Mont League champions.

        Aaron, who competed for Philadelphia University this spring, has played a pivotal role for the Indians (16-4 league, 18-4 overall), who won their final two regular season games, securing the top seed in league playoffs.

        Following a 4-2 victory over Quakertown July 1, Post 184 will host its first two games in the double elimination-tournament, which begins Thursday and shifts to Memorial Park Stadium in Quakertown on Saturday. Perkiomen will take on Doylestown, the No. 8 seed, at 7 p.m.

        The Blue Jays (13-7, 17-9-2), the No. 3 seed, will host Pennridge at 7 p.m. Thursday.

        They split a doubleheader with Nor-Gwyn (5-4 loss) and Warrington (11-2 victory) on Saturday, July 2, before losing their regular season finale against Pennridge on July 4.

        Aaron, Perkiomen's cleanup hitter who returned June 30 after missing two weeks with a right hand injury, finished with two hits, scored twice and drove in three runs in a 15-1 victory over host Souderton.

        The next night, the Indians utilized a strong pitching performance from Levi Stoudt to earn the two-run victory over Quakertown at Bonekemper Field. Stoudt fanned 11 in six innings to earn the win. Matt Schneider, fresh off a week at the beach, worked around an infield error in the top of the seventh. He struck out the final two hitters with the bases loaded to notch the save.

        According to Aaron, Post 184 has the determination and stamina required to make a strong run at another title and a return trip to the Region 2 Tournament.  "The main thing is that we stay focused on our goal," Aaron said.

        The 19-year-old will likely play a major role in any future success. In 11 games this season, Aaron is hitting .382 with 11 RBI. Manager Larry Pijanowki described the third baseman as a silent leader and the cornerstone of the team.

        "Tom never has a bad at-bat, and he always puts the ball in play," Pijanowski said. "He's come up with a lot of big hits."

        As a freshman, Aaron played in nine games for the Devils before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury.

        Aaron found himself sidelined again last month after suffering a right hand injury in a 7-4 win over Pottstown on June 15. He missed eight games.

"It was tough to sit and watch," Aaron said. "But it was fun to see the other guys do well."

        Last week Aaron returned to the lineup with a flurry against Souderton. He drove in two runs in Perkiomen's 10-run, first-inning rally without a hit, then added an RBI-single in the second inning.

        On Friday, the Indians managed nine hits against Quakertown.  Trey Livingstone, Logan Curley, Bryan Pijanowski and Brett Fullerton each delivered RBI singles.

        Post 184 overcame three errors and a shaky sixth inning, when the Blue Jays scored twice against Stoudt.

        Jacob Reed stole home to open the scoring in the sixth before Matthew Bukavich scored on an infield throwing error to get the Blue Jays within 3-2.

        "We didn't do much against (Stoudt) early, so I decided we had to make something happen," Quakertown manager Bob Helm said.

        Reed, Bukavich and pinch hitter Chet Friday delivered a hit for the Blue Jays in the loss at Perkiomen.