What Is Legion Baseball?
DUGOUT CHAT
Tom Magedanz - 01.04.2000

Pierre American Legion & Teener Baseball Program

The Pierre American Legion and Teener Baseball Program has a long history of quality baseball dating back to the 1930s, including competition by Pierre teams at the national and national regional levels, and numerous state and regional titles over the years. Pierre American Legion Post 8 sponsors both the Legion and Teener baseball programs in Pierre, which include seventy to eighty teen-aged boys each summer. The young people who play Teener and Legion baseball represent this community around the state and are the baseball counterpart to Pierre's varsity level high school athletic teams.

Baseball Programs In Pierre

Teener baseball was originally a VFW program for players aged 13-15, with a national tournament held each year in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The VFW has since discontinued its national competition, but the South Dakota VFW continues to hold regional and state Teener tournaments open to teams that meet the age requirements. Some South Dakota Teener teams are sponsored by VFW Posts, but many are sponsored by other civic organizations. In Pierre, Teener baseball is sponsored by the American Legion. This allows the Teener and Legion programs to be administered by one unified board and lets coached work closely together, with future Legion players being developed in the Teener ranks. Some years ago the South Dakota VFW raised the age for Teener ballplayers to 16. In Pierre, this has meant that most Teener players are 15-16 and most Legion players are 17-18, although a few 13-14 year olds have opted to play Teener ball rather than in the Pony League (age 13-14, Capital City Baseball Association League), usually because of the opportunity for daily practice and a higher level of coaching and competition. Pierre's Legion baseball team is the baseball equivalent to varsity high school sports and plays a level of competition and intensity similar to high school ESD competition in other sports. The program demands commitment and dedication on the part of the players and is one of the best-run Legion baseball programs in the state. American Legion Baseball in the United States was created right here in South Dakota - in Milbank in 1927. American Legion baseball remains one of the nation's premier summer baseball programs for high school aged youth and has produced sores of major league stars, as well as providing lasting lifetime memories and experiences for generations of American youth. The Pierre Legion/Teener Baseball Program serves a significant percentage of Pierre's young people and provides summer entertainment for the entire community with good baseball in pleasant surroundings. We are proud of the Legion/Teener Baseball program and believe that it continues to offer our young people the opportunity to play an excellent brand of baseball.

Baseball Facts

-- Pierre's Hyde Stadium, maintained in large part by Legion/Teener coaches, players, and board members, is one of the best baseball facilities in South Dakota. Located next to the Capitol, it is a Pierre landmark.
-- The Legion/Teener programs include 70 to 80 ballplayers of high school age each season, including 18 Legion players, aged 16-18, and 50-60 Teener players, aged 13-16.
-- Post 8's Legion Baseball Team plays a 60 game schedule against the most competitive teams in the region, including all ESD towns, Rapid City Post 22 and other Black Hills teams, two Sioux Falls legion teams, North Dakota teams, and others from the Midwest.
-- The Pierre Teeners generally field three teams. The "A" Teener team plays a 50 game schedule against opponents similar to Legion. Two "B" Teener teams each play 25 games against teams from the surrounding area and against "B" Teener teams from larger towns. The 1999 Teeners fielded three "B" teams due to an unusually large sign-up of 13-14 year olds.
-- The 1999 State Legion Baseball Tournament was held in Pierre and provided plenty of excitement as Mitchell unseated perennial champion Rapid City Post 22. Pierre Post 8 has hosted two other highly successful State Legion Baseball tournaments in recent years (1994 and 1997) which featured several players who have gone on to play major college and professional baseball.