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Legion ball returns to Loudoun
After a five-year hiatus, Loudoun County is back in the game of American Legion baseball, as two local franchises debuted against each other June 11 at Park View High School.
Chartered by Congress in 1919, the American Legion has served communities throughout every part of the United States through its beneficence toward military veterans and their families, a 2.8 million-member organization dedicated to mutual helpfulness.
Past and present service members and their families can use an array of services through the Legion, from financial advice to Thanksgiving baskets to simple handyman work. American Legion posts exist to serve their communities.
But many people know of the Legion instead through its famous baseball program.
Since 1925, thousands of American Legion posts have sponsored the development of millions of young ballplayers with serious aspirations. More than 75 percent of American-born major leaguers once played Legion ball.
Forty-six current Hall-of-Famers are Legion alumni. Professional and college scouts frequently comb Legion rosters for talent. American Legion baseball is a quality product with a highly respected history.
Loudoun returned to making some of that history when Purcellville Post 293 took on Leesburg Post 181, with Leesburg winning 13-4 before about 250 onlookers.
It was the first Legion ballgame featuring a Loudoun-based post in half a decade, since the Purcellville team ceased operations. Sterling Post 150's team stopped action earlier this decade, and Leesburg has never before sponsored a team.
"I'm so thrilled, this is unreal," said A.D. Carter, former Virginia 16th District Commander and current finance officer of Post 181 as he surveyed the field before him. "I want to go home and get my cleats -- I want to play some ball!"
The young men wearing cleats and playing ball that night for the two nascent ballclubs are easily recognizable by Loudoun varsity baseball fans, including Cole Shain of Broad Run, Geoff McCowat of Dominion, Brenton Peters of Heritage, Alex Owens and Beattie Southerland of Loudoun Valley, and Mike Palmer, Brian Wheaton, Matt Irwin and Mike Stancik of Stone Bridge.
Several college players who hail from Loudoun, such as Kyle Irish, Jordan Taylor and Steven Hershey, dot the Leesburg roster. The Dulles District's two most recent Players of the Year, Potomac Falls' Aaron Sweger and Park View's Dylan Smith, sport the uniforms of the Knights of Post 181.
Each member of both teams autographed the baseball used for the game's first pitch. That ball will be placed on display at the headquarters of Purcellville Post 293.
"To have [Legion ball] back in Loudoun County is wonderful, and to have two teams in the County is great," remarked Knights' manager Tom Whipple. "It is top-notch baseball to be a part of and to watch."
"We used to have a team out of Purcellville for years, so this means a lot," said Charlie King, 16th District Commander and former commander of Post 293. "It gets more camaraderie between posts, and helps the boys learn sports. They can learn to be better people."
The seed of bringing Legion ball back to Loudoun was planted six months ago by Jim Grenier, a former manager of the McLean Post 270 ballclub and current de facto athletic director of Post 181.
"He basically put everything together," said Dirk Huck, Post 181 commander.
"It's amazing after six months to have a team out there," Huck added, looking out over the field where some three dozen young men were working to improve their baseball skills under a clear twilight sky. "It's amazing, to come from nothing."
Grenier wanted to give young Loudoun athletes who had graduated beyond the maximum age for other leagues a chance to compete at a high level of baseball in their home community.
"Some guys didn't really have a place to play. Legion gives me an opportunity to give the kids a competitive level," Grenier said. "It's like playing college ball. Just look at the kids we got out there on the field."
Grenier touts the funding the teams receive through their posts, the American Legion's national baseball organization and Major League Baseball, as advantageous over more expensive travel squads. The cost per player to participate on a Legion team -- if his skills prove worthy of a roster spot -- is $150.
"The best players get there no matter their circumstances," Grenier said. "They get an opportunity to play some very high level of ball."
The young men also get an opportunity to ascend to a higher level of maturity and reach a greater sense of responsibility to the community.
"Loudoun County can take pride in that these players will continue along as good citizens," Whipple said. "They will respect their team, the post, the American Legion, the community and the game, like gentlemen."
Grenier emphasized the importance of having ball teams to the posts and the communities they serve.
"There you have the important thing," Grenier said. "We're trying to bring people together so we can do things for the community, for the troops and their families, for homeless vets."
Huck agreed.
"With this first game tonight, we hope to start getting the members out, start getting interest from Loudoun County in what we are doing for the community," Huck said. "This is a good first step."
Carter spoke of the family aspect of Legion ball, noting that when a post has a baseball team, it acts as a conduit for veterans' families and the services that the post offers.
"It's for the family," Carter said, mentioning that admission to Legion ballgames is free. "For those with family members serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, [if] they need deeds done around the house, windows painted, doors fixed, whatever, they can talk to us."
Carter sees a great future for American Legion baseball in Loudoun County over the next few years.
"The stands will be full," Carter declared emphatically. "Ain't no question about it."
Huck added, "I think they might be able to get full this season. It's just starting. We haven't really gotten the word out to the community yet. As we get the word out, people will start showing up."
The two ballclubs will play a 30-game two-month schedule, as each squad plays the other 12 16th District members at least twice. The Knights of Leesburg Post 181 will rotate their home contests between Park View, Stone Bridge and Heritage High Schools, while Purcellville Post 293 will call Fireman's Field home. The teams will face off with Front Royal, Manassas, Winchester, Vienna, Stafford and Rockingham, among others.
The Web site for Virginia Legion baseball is www.scorebook.com/dvalb.
Purcellville will attempt to avenge its loss to its Loudoun neighbors July 9 at Fireman's Field, which also will be the site of the district tournament July 25-27. The winner will proceed to the state tournament in Stuarts Draft, near Staunton, which determines who will advance to the American Legion National Baseball Tournament in Fargo, N.D.
Watching Purcellville and Leesburg do battle on the diamond in Sterling Park, Carter reflected on the return of American Legion baseball to Loudoun County.
"Having watched it come to fruition from a concept, when Jim said, 'Let's put a baseball team together,' we have been supporting him every way we possibly could," Carter said. "This is a new era here."
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