Rutland Baseball And The History Of The Rutland Little League

Rutland Baseball and the History of the Rutland Little League

Organized baseball has been played in Rutland since at least 1903. While no record could be found of when the Rutland Athletic Association was formed, newspaper records were found that indicated the team from West Rutland beat Paxton 18 – 1 in 1903. The Rutland Athletic Association was comprised of teams of young adult men (approximate ages 18 – 30’ish) from all areas of Rutland as “back in the day”, the areas of West Rutland, North Rutland and Rutland proper were all thriving little hamlets. The Rutland Historical Society has a rather large collection of early Rutland baseball articles and pictures. For anyone interested in local baseball history, the Rutland Historical Society is the place to visit.

In April, 1952 “The Rutland Post” recorded that the Rutland Recreational Council announced and sponsored a committee to “sound out the reactions to the forming of a boy’s baseball league this summer.” The Founding Fathers of the Rutland Boys Baseball League (the precursor to the Rutland Little League) were : Clarence Bigelow, Herbert Bigelow, Leonard Janes, Donald Marsh, Eino Mattson, Arthur Smith, Russ Erickson, Rev. Father McKiernan and the author/editor of The Rutland Post, Edward “Lefty” Story.

Two meetings about forming the Rutland Boys Baseball League (RBBL) were held in town during the month of April, 1952 and ‘At a special assembly, all interested boys within the proposed age groups witnessed a baseball movie, and then were briefed on plans of the League Committee by Edward ‘Lefty’ Story.”.

In May 1952 the first Board of Directors for the Rutland Boys Baseball League were elected : President, Leonard Janes, Vice- President, Matthew Nolan, Secretary, Herbert J. Butler and Treasurer, Marion Bigelow. Various committees were formed including “Field procurement”, “Equipment committee”, “Umpires”, “Managers”, “Coaches” and “Rules”. According to the Rutland Post, “There are over fifty young boys in town awaiting the opening day of the Rutland Boys Baseball League. The committees have laid the foundation, it’s now up to the folks of town to finish the job.” The initial practice session of the newly formed RBBL was held on Saturday, May 17th and the entire group underwent “ a strenuous two-hour drill including exercising, fielding and batting.”

RBBL practices would continue to occur right up until the opening game of the inaugural season. The opening of RBBL was held “ under a blazing sun and cloudless skies, the RBBL jumped off to a fine start Saturday, June 14th. Following the marching strains from the sound truck donated by Mr. Harold Lloyd, the four teams paraded to the Memorial Field, where the entire membership of the League stood at attention during the playing of the National Anthem.” The RBBL games were played at Memorial Field which was built in 1950 and shared playing time on Memorial Field with the Rutland Babe Ruth teams.

As noted in the November 6, 1980 “Rutland News” article written by Chris Jolie, the RBBL continued to grow over the years and the RBBL became incorporated with the state of Massachusetts as an official nonprofit organization in 1971. Per Chris Jolie’s article, “According to Carl Forsman, because of the rules and restrictions of the National Little League Association, the Rutland Boys League was formed to give boys the opportunity to play ball without having to meet a certain level of ability.” In 1971 the RBBL was comprised of ”…five leagues, consisting of, a Farm League for 7 and 8 year olds, which was an instructional league; a Minor League for 8 and 9 year olds; a Little League level for 10 to 12 year olds; and a Babe Ruth League for 13 to 15 year olds.”

In 1972 the RBBL Board of Directors met with the town officials and secured their approval to lease the land of the former town dump on Pommogussett Rd. (Rte 56). Per the November 6, 1980 “Rutland News” article written by Chris Jolie, the Little League field we know today as the Charles D. Marsh Little League field, was constructed between the years of 1972 through 1975. Creation of the field was credited, in part, to “…the hard work of Charlie Marsh, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Nelson, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Forsman and Frank Taylor.

Per an undated “Round the Towns” article (circa 1975), Mr. Charles D. Marsh, a former President of the Boys League and President of Marsh Oil Company in Rutland, said “ the Rutland Boys League hired contractors, used some volunteer help and spent $ 30,000 to convert the dump to a baseball field.” Per Mr. Marsh, “most of the money came from the Arthur Ashley Williams Foundation in Rutland with the rest being raised by the Boys League through card parties”. It took the RBBL three years to convert the dump into a baseball field with grass, a sprinkler and drainage system. The RBBL played their first full season on what was to become and is now known as Marsh Field in 1975.

According to the November 6, 1980 “Rutland News” article written by Chris Jolie, in 1980 some 200 boys and girls participated in playing ball under the Boys League in Rutland. The article went on to say that the “costs” for outfitting a team have tripled since 1965, when a team could be outfitted with all brand new equipment for about $ 275.

In 1989 the Rutland Boys Baseball League was restructured into Rutland Little League Baseball, Inc, (RLLB), and was chartered with Little League Baseball, Inc. of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Over the next 16 years Rutland Little League baseball continued to grow. The most recent highlight of the Little League program was the 2005 Rutland Little League All-Star team capturing Rutland’s first Massachusetts LL District 4 title.

After winning the District 4 title, Rutland went on to win Massachusetts’s LL Section 1, Sectional title. The Section 1 title bracket tournament included the winners of District 1, Pittsfield West of the Berkshire County area (comprising 12 Leagues) / District 2 winners Belchertown of the Northampton/Springfield area (comprising 12 Leagues) / District 3 winners North Leominster of the Athol/Leominster Corridor area (comprising 18 Leagues) and your District 4 Champions, RUTLAND LITTLE LEAGUE, of the Worcester area (comprising 23 Leagues).

In the 2005 State Tournament the Rutland Little League team finished in 3rd place and represented our town with the style and demeanor they had become known for….. “….be the best.” The 2006 Executive Board would like to extend our congratulations to each and every member of the 2005 Massachusetts State District 4, Section 1 Division Champions:

2005 President of Rutland Little League: Tom Martinelli

Manager of the 2005 Rutland Little League All-Star Team: Al Belsito

Coaches of the 2005 Rutland Little League All-Star Team: Jim Catlin and Tom Poirier

2005 Rutland Little League: Jason Belmonte Matt Kilcoyne All-Star Team roster Dave Belsito Ben Ludden Matt Black Dylan McCallum Chris Catlin Doug McKenna Dominic Grasseschi Jake Poirier Dan Hooten Zach Strasser

As of 2006 there are over 400 boys and girls participating in Rutland Little League Baseball with the League consisting of 12 Tee-Ball teams (instructional level age 5 and 6), 8 AA teams, (coach pitch teams for ages 7 and 8), 7 AAA teams (Little League Minors level, ages 9 and 10), 5 LL teams (Little League Majors level, ages 11 and 12) and 2 Babe Ruth teams (Babe Ruth Prep age 13 and Babe Ruth ages 14 and 15).

The trend noted in 1971 continues with respect to costs related to equipping teams and in 2006 Rutland Little League Baseball will spend approximately $ 11,000 for equipment and uniforms for the League. As it was noted in the 1952 “Rutland Post”, the 1980 article by Chris Jolie, and through today ……the continued support and success of Rutland Baseball depends on “….the folks of town “ .

Thank you for taking the time to read this brief history of Rutland Little League Baseball, Inc. and we hope that your interest will continue through any means of support you can provide to the children of Rutland and the great sport of baseball.

The 2006 Rutland Board of Directors would like to extend special thanks to the following folks for their help and their articles quoted / noted in this brief review of the History of Rutland baseball:

Edward ‘Lefty” Story ( circa 1952) Chris Jolie (circa 1980) Mr. Scott Davis and the Rutland Historical Society ( March , 2006 ) Research work done by : Scott Davis, Frank Jancura and Tom Oliva (March, 2006)