Hartford has had a senior-level entry in Vermont American Legion baseball for decades, overseen and supported in the old days by Post 26. That affiliation ended a few years back, and more change has come to the program, which has altered its uniform colors and is now linked to Post 84 out of White River Junction’s Veterans Administration Hospital.
After playing as an independent during recent years, Hartford advanced to the 2015 state title game with a roster comprised almost exclusively of Hartford High students. Depth proved an issue in falling short, however, and head coach Jarrod Grassi and assistant John O’Hara felt the team was drifting without a post to play for.
“What caught our eye was how (Post 84) was doing a ton of community involvement, and we wanted that for the kids,” said O’Hara, a former high school and senior Legion head coach in western Massachusetts who moved to the Upper Valley three years ago. “It’s not just about developing skills on the baseball field, but giving back and understanding what it means to represent those in a post.”
Post 84 was chartered in 2011 and is named for Jeffery S. Holmes, a White River Junction native born in 1984 and a U.S. Marine who died in combat on Thanksgiving Day 2004 in Iraq. Its baseball program will, for now, be completely self-supporting, and O’Hara said fundraising efforts for the roughly $21,500 needed for this summer are within $1,700 of being fulfilled.
The Post 84 baseball team has an operating committee comprised of parents and local high school coaches. An emphasis has been made by O’Hara, the organization’s president, to make the program representative of the region, not just Hartford. For that reason, the team is listed on all schedules as “White River Junction” and its colors now resemble those worn by the University of South Carolina Gamecocks — black, white and a dark red known as garnet.
Thirty-six prospects from 10 area Vermont high schools showed up for a recent tryout, and the rosters for Post 84’s senior and junior teams will soon be announced. Grassi will continue to coach the former squad with O’Hara’s assistance, while former Hartford and Castleton University player Mat Pause will coach the latter in its first year of existence. He will be assisted by Thetford Academy head coach Phil Chaput and rising Colby-Sawyer senior Justin Devoid, another Hartford High graduate.
The senior team will have 18 players and play 26 games, and the junior squad will feature 15 players and play 20 contests, O’Hara said. The seniors will continue to play in Vermont, while the juniors will play in New Hampshire because the Green Mountain State doesn’t have a junior Legion league. The teams will play home games at the Maxfield Sports Complex on days and nights when the Upper Valley Nighthawks summer college team is on the road.
“It’s really difficult to develop baseball skills in New England,” O’Hara said. “March, you’re inside. April, it’s really cold. May, you finally get warm weather and the season is over. June and July are when you really develop as a player.”
Welcome to the Team: The Post 84 senior team’s pitching staff is expected to be bolstered by the arrival of one newcomer and one returnee. Hanover High’s Moises Celaya didn’t play Legion ball last summer, and Phillips Exeter Academy’s Steve Cerrone suited up for Lebanon Post 22’s senior roster.
Celaya, who pitches and plays third for Hanover, can’t compete for Post 22 because that organization doesn’t allow its players to also roster with another team, even if it’s one in another organization such as AAU. O’Hara said Celaya will be competing for such a team in Manchester during some weekends but is free to join Post 84 for its weekday games.
Cerrone, who previously attended Hartford High and played for the town’s Legion entity before leaving for prep school and Post 22, graduates from Phillips Exeter on June 5 and plans to wrestle at Trinity (Conn.) College as a freshman. Playing with Post 84 reunites him with many of those he competed alongside in youth baseball.
New Blood: The job of coaching the Post 22 junior team came open earlier this spring when John Grainger resigned after two seasons. Grainger, now the first-year head coach at Hanover High, said doing both jobs, along with his 9-to-5 employment at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center, would leave too little time to spend with his two young children.
New Junior Coach: The job of coaching the Post 22 junior team came open earlier this spring when John Grainger resigned after two seasons. Grainger, now the first-year head coach at Hanover High, said doing both jobs, along with his 9-to-5 employment at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center, would leave too little time to spend with his two young children.
Grainger’s replacement is 30-year old Travis Pelletier, the fourth-year coach at Kearsarge High and a former Post 22 player. Pelletier played three varsity seasons at Lebanon High and also saw action at Keene State. He coached his alma mater’s junior varsity for four seasons and guided Rivendell’s varsity for a year before he landed at Kearsarge in 2013.
Pelletier will be assisted fulltime by Dan Griswold. The coaching platoon of Dustin Broughton and Carlos Fleming will likely work with both the Post 22 junior and senior teams.
Compression Impression: American Legion’s national organization has moved its national championship tournament up one week, meaning states need to do the same with their own championship events. This results is that an already compressed schedule becomes even more jam-packed.
Post 84’s senior team plays its first game June 14 at Essex and concludes the regular season July 21 at Lakes Region. Post 22’s senior squad starts the same day and ends on July 18, meaning it has to cram 18 games into 35 days and hope for little rain.
The Vermont Legion senior tournament is scheduled for July 23-27, primarily at Castleton University.
The New Hampshire Legion senior state tournament is scheduled to run from July 22-26 at Nashua’s Holman Stadium. The junior version is slated for July 20-Aug. 2 at Manchester’s Gill Stadium.
Notes: The Post 84 seniors will play road games in Connecticut and Massachusetts in an attempt to face stronger competition and become battle-tested for the state tournament. O’Hara said the combined record of Post 84’s senior nonleague foes last year was 101-51… Former Post 22 players and rising college sophomores Brady Bates of Newport and Cam Broughton of Lebanon have aged out of the Legion program. … Andrew Houde, a Post 22 standout last summer who later enrolled at Keene State and played in eight basketball games for the Owls, is no longer listed on that team’s roster, nor on that of the KSC baseball squad. St. Pierre said he hopes Houde will return to Post 22 this summer. … O’Hara works the overnight shift as a machine operator at a local engineering and manufacturing company. … Post 84 charges players $200 each per season while Post 22’s year-round fundraising means it doesn’t require such a fee.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.