By Kameron Towle
[email protected]
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. – Summer baseball is now in full swing, and there’s no better place to see young, local talent play than the highly competitive Southern Vermont Legion Division.
White River Junction Post 84 provides American Legion baseball to the players of the Upper Valley and surrounding communities and develops its players by providing a competitive summer baseball schedule.
Of the 35 games scheduled this summer, they will be participating in the Punch Out Cancer Tournament held in Burlington, VT and the ITRI Square Cranston Classic in Cranston, RI. Post 84 players will have the opportunity to compete against some quality opponents from New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Montreal, Quebec.
For Post 84, they will be relying on a young core of players to keep them competitive in the division, with only two post-grads and one senior on the roster.
“We have nine players on the roster that have never played legion baseball,” said Post 84 coach John O’Hara. “I try to tell our new players that learning the ‘speed’ of the game is essential to their success. Each one of them needs to understand that there are no divisions in legion baseball. It doesn’t matter if you played D1, D2, D3 or D4 in high school. Legion baseball teams are made up of the best players from each teams’ recruiting area, including players from college if they are age eligible.”
Post 84’s roster is made up of five high schools: Hartford, Windsor, Woodstock, Thetford, and Springfield. This year’s returning players from last summer are Hunter Perkins (sixth season), Kyle Hamilton (third season), Robert Slocum (third season), Brady Clark (third season), Alex Bushway (second season), Walker Albrect (fifth season), Ryan Pepe (second season), and Alex Emerson (second season).
Coach O’Hara knows he’s preparing his guys to go against stiff competition this season, saying, “Knowing that most teams, if not all legion teams, have tryouts, they will be facing the best talent every day and it gets them better as a baseball player. I’m excited to watch our new players be challenged and grow this summer.”
Windsor’s Robert Slocum and Springfield’s Brady Clark are two local players who will serve as big factors for Post 84, as they are going into their third summer together in the program.
The pitching staff will be led Slocum who plans to attend Norwich University in the fall.
“He’s a fierce competitor and a great teammate,” said coach O’Hara on the former Yellow Jacket. “We are excited to have him back this summer.”
Slocum will be joined by two of his Windsor teammates, Grayson Frazer and Ethan Belvin, as they step into their first Post 84 experience.
Post 84 will welcome other newcomers Tom Bissaillon (Woodstock), Sam Mitchell (Woodstock), Owen Spann (Woodstock), Nate O’Donnell (Thetford), John Moore (Thetford), Curtis Barry (Hartford), Drew Martin (Hartford), and Jacob Dwinell (Hartford) to the program this summer.
Shaping up the rest of the pitching staff with Slocum will be Bushway, Mitchell, Albrect, Bissaillon, Clark, Frazer, Barry and Emerson. Post 84 will look to Hunter Perkins, Kyle Hamilton and Brady Clark to lead the offense. Perkins, a Castleton University commit, returns from Bridgton Academy to bolster the lineup, while both Hamilton and Clark had strong offensive numbers during their high school seasons.
THE SCHEDULE
Wednesday, June 19
WRJ Post 84 at Rutland Post 31, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 20
Bellows Falls Post 37 at WRJ Post 84, 7 p.m.
Friday, June 21
WRJ Post 84 vs. North Providence, RI (Cranston, RI), 11 a.m.
WRJ Post 84 vs. Rockland, NY (Cranston, RI), 2 p.m.
Saturday, June 22
WRJ Post 84 vs. SD Ireland (Cranston, RI), 8 a.m.
WRJ Post 84 vs. Aubrun, RI (Cranston, RI), TBD
Monday, June 24
WRJ Post 84 at Randolph Post 9, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 26
WRJ Post 84 at Brattleboro Post 5, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 27
WRJ Post 84 at Randolph Post 9, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 29
WRJ Post 84 host Rutland Post 31, 12 p.m., 3 p.m.
Tuesday, July 2
WRJ Post 84 host Brattleboro Post 5, 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 5
WRJ Post 84 host SD Ireland, 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 6
WRJ Post 84 at Lakes Region Post 50, 12 p.m., 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 7
WRJ Post 84 at Bennington Post 13, 12 p.m., 3 p.m.
Monday, July 8
WRJ Post 84 host Bellows Falls Post 37, 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 11
WRJ Post 84 at Randolph Post 9, 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 13
WRJ Post 84 at Bellows Falls Post 37, 12 p.m., 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 14
WRJ Post 84 at Rutland Post 31, 12 p.m.
Monday, July 15
WRJ Post 84 host Concord, NH Post 1, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, July 16
WRJ Post 84 host Lakes Region Post 50, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 17
WRJ Post 84 at Brattleboro Post 5, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 20
WRJ Post 84 host Bennington Post 13, 12 p.m., 3 p.m.
Tuesday, July 23
WRJ Post 84 host Randolph Post 9, 7 p.m.
2019 Vermont State Tournament, July 27-31 at Colchester, VT
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