By Richard Walker Ever since Cherryville Post 100 began its American Legion baseball program in 1937, success has often followed. Cherryville has set Area IV records for championships (18) and regular season titles (22) in addition to building one of North Carolina’s top programs with seven state titles, five state runner-up finishes and 11 state […]
By Richard Walker When the American Legion World Series makes its return to Shelby after being cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Veterans Field and Keeter Stadium will be allowed full capacity. This comes after N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper’s May 14 announcement that most restrictions put in place to control the spread of COVID-19 […]
By Richard Walker American Legion National Commander James W. “Bill” Oxford announced Monday that The American Legion World Series will be played in Shelby this year. The eight-team championship tournament will be played Aug. 12-17 at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium and is returning after being cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. “As […]
By Richard Walker Every summer, most American Legion fans expect Cherryville Post 100 to annually compete for top honors in the area, the state and possibly the nation. It wasn’t always that way. Before the 1997 season, Post 100 had won two state titles, five N.C. Area IV championships and eight regular season titles. In […]
By Richard Walker As anyone who lives in the area knows, American Legion baseball has made its World Series home in Shelby. But even before Shelby became the permanent host to Legion’s signature event, this region has been a frequent host to national tournaments – and that started 90 years ago in Gastonia. Gastonia became […]
By Richard Walker Kings Mountain High School’s Lancaster Field is set to become a first-time host of the North Carolina American Legion championship tournament The facility was granted the 2020 tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled all Legion tournaments locally, regionally and nationally. And the 2021 event is based on COVID-19 conditions and has to […]
By Richard Walker Ten teams have won more than one American Legion World Series. Gastonia was painfully close to making it 11 in 1954 in what has proved to be the last year Post 23 won a state title. It came during a summer when fans packed Gastonia’s Sims Legion Park night after night – […]
By Richard Walker With seven state titles in history, many think Cherryville Post 100 has always been an American Legion baseball power. It just seems that way, but it all started with the magical summer of 1953. That season, a first-year coach more known for his time at Gardner-Webb took over a program that had […]
By Richard Walker Cleveland, Gaston and Lincoln counties have never ranked ranked near the top of the North Carolina population. But they do have arguably the most interest in American Legion baseball as 12 local posts have sponsored teams over the years and won more than 100 championships including two American Legion World Series titles. […]
By Richard Walker Whenever you visit Cleveland County these days, you are greeted by signs proclaiming it as the home of the American Legion World Series at Shelby’s Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium. The permanent host of the ALWS since 2011, while Legion baseball started in Shelby in 1931, the community’s embrace of Legion baseball […]