Three players from the Times News area will be competing on this year’s Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup team.

Pleasant Valley’s Jack Smale will be on the squad for the second year, while Jim Thorpe’s James Lordi and Northwestern’s Dylan Witkowski are making their initial appearance.

The club, managed by former longtime Palmerton head coach Ted Plessl, will open play on Tuesday at FDR Park in Philadelphia when they take on Burlington County at 4 p.m.

A win would send the team into the quarterfinals, which they would play on Friday, June 17, also at FDR Park. The semifinals and finals will be played at Citizen’s Bank Park.

Plessl’s coaching staff will feature two former area players - both from Pleasant Valley. Jeremy Gigliotti, who played collegiately at East Stroudsburg University and was drafted by the San Diego Padres, and Kenny Serfass, who also played his college ball at ESU. Gigliotti and Serfass are former LV Carpenter Cup players.