Legion Baseball
American Legion Baseball, founded in 1925, has taught thousands of young men the importance of sportsmanship, good health, and active citizenship. Open to players from ages 13 through 19, millions have participated including countless who have gone on to play college and professional baseball. Today, more than half of Major League Baseball players are graduates of American Legion Baseball, including 81 members of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
We at Post 27 in Londonderry have proudly sponsored and managed American Legion Baseball annually since 1996. Our program operates in conjunction with Londonderry High School Baseball and serves as the primary summer development program of its junior varsity and varsity players. We also created and are a co-sponsor of the LHS indoor winter workout program whereby the high school coaching staff conducts ten weekly training sessions leading up to tryouts for the upcoming season.
We charge our players only the actual cost of operating our teams and playing intensive, challenging 4-6 week summer schedules leading up to very competitive state tournaments in both the junior and senior divisions. Open to players from 13-17, Junior Legion Baseball functions as a very high-level junior varsity league. Senior Legion Baseball features many of its teams populated by multiple high schools and offers a high-level caliber of varsity baseball.
Our senior teams in 2005 and 2009 each won their state tournament, tremendous accomplishments for teams comprised of players from just one high school, LHS. Players from both teams had played together since they were 6 years-old and stuck together through many years of school and summer baseball. With a history of winning at all levels, they expected to play their best baseball when it mattered the most and frequently did just that---surprising everyone but themselves. Stopping by frequently to watch our teams play in later years, several players have commented that the most fun they ever had playing was alongside their long-time friends for Post 27.
That's what our brand of summer baseball is for---to have fun while developing your skills, getting better, and working with your teammates toward a common goal. And plenty of opportunities have always been there for nearly one hundred of our graduates who have gone on to play at all levels of college baseball. We've even watched a former player dominate and close out a World Series!
