By Matt Wilson

For the FCT

Some baseball players from Russellville High School are not going to be taking it easy this summer.

For the second year, two teams from Russellville will be representing Post 64 in the American Legion Baseball league.

Grant Atkins, commander of American Legion Post 64, said American Legion Baseball is nothing new, but he is glad it is back in Russellville.

“We are glad to be associated with the team,” Atkins said. “Coach Heaps does a good job with those guys.”

Russellville High School head baseball coach Chris Heaps manages the two teams from Post 64.

“We have a 17-and-under team that will be playing through the month of June this year and a 15-and-under team that will be going as far as they can,” Heaps said.

District tournaments begin the first weekend of July. Winning teams progress through sub-state tournaments at the end of July before state championship tournaments at the beginning of August.

The Southeast Regional tournament is held August 7-11 in Asheboro, N.C. The American Legion World Series is hosted in Shelby, N.C., August 14-18. The winning team receives a trip to the Major League Baseball World Series that same year.

American Legion Baseball was started in 1925 and has grown in numbers and popularity ever since.

According to the official website for American Legion Baseball, the program registers over 5,400 teams in all 50 states. Almost 100,000 youths between the ages of 15 and 19 participate annually.