The Senior Division is divided into two separate programs - American Legion and Babe Ruth. In our area, the Legion baseball program tends to have the higher level of competition. Administration of the Legion program is split between two different organizations. BMBL administers the Junior Legion and Junior Legion Prep teams as well as the 17U Showcase team. Boyertown Area Youth Baseball LTD administers the Senior Legion team. The two organizations work together to make sure we are One Boyertown.

BMBL offers separate teams for the Legion and Babe Ruth programs in the Spring Season. Players can switch between programs from season to season, provided they meet tryout requirements, where applicable.

Each program is described in more detail below

Legion program
Babe Ruth program
Fall ball

The American Legion baseball program is a national organization for players between 13 and 19 years of age. The goal of the Boyertown Legion baseball program is to provide players with the highest level of competition in our area while also giving those interested in playing at the next level the tools and instruction they need to achieve their dreams. Teams in the Legion program play in the Spring Season and require a tryout to participate.

The Legion program can be thought of as three different levels. Junior Legion Prep and Junior Legion are the youngest level, for 13-16 year-olds. At this level, the focus is on helping the player adapt to the full size field and identifying a primary fielding position for the player based on their skill set. Junior Legion Prep and Junior Legion coaches work with each player to master the fundamentals of their focus position.

The next level is the 17U Showcase team. At this age, players interested in playing collegiately start identifying and reaching out to target schools. The 17U Showcase team is designed to facilitate the college recruiting process while each player continues to receive instruction to help them to master their specialty position. This team plays in 2-3 regional College Showcase tournaments in the Spring Season to give players an opportunity to get in front of college coaches.

The most senior level is the Senior Legion team. At this level, players interested in playing collegiately have already engaged with target schools and perhaps committed to a school. This level is focused on continued instruction and development for each player's position while playing high-level baseball to gain experience.

The following graphic shows the age groups associated with each Boyertown team in the Legion program. Boyertown has two Junior Legion teams. The Grizzlies have players from the geography associated with Boyertown Middle School East and the Bear Cubs have players from the geography associated with Boyertown Middle School West. The age cut-offs for all teams in the Legion program are based on the player's age on December 31 of the year that they play for the team.

A tabular summary of the different Boyertown teams in the Legion program is shown below. Click the team name link to find out more information about that team. Players that meet the residency requirement for a team but attend a private school are still eligible to participate.

All teams in the Legion program require a tryout for participation. Tryout schedules are designed to ensure that players that are cut from one team will have an opportunity to tryout for the other team(s) in their age group or the Babe Ruth Kodiak team for their age group. An overview of Legion and Kodiak team tryout options for each age group can be found here.

The Boyertown Junior Legion Prep Team is called the Bear Paws. Participants must tryout for this team and must be 13 or 14 years old on December 31 of the calendar year that they are on Bear Paws. The Junior Legion Prep level is the first time most players are playing on the major league-sized field, and so the program is focused on reinforcing the fundamentals of the game in a competitive but fun atmosphere.

The Bear Paws play their home games at Mackey field at Boyertown Park and participate in the Montgomery-Berks-Chester (MBC) Junior Legion Prep league. The team will also try to enter one or two tournaments, in addition to post-season play at the league and state level (if advancing). The MBC league is a wood bat league. Tryouts occur in early April with weekend practices but no games during the school season. Games start after the school season ends (around Memorial Day), concluding with state playoffs the last week of July/first week of August.

Bear Paws was formed in 2003 and was state runner-up in 2018.

Coach - Pat Maloney 215-778-3308

The Boyertown Junior Legion Team for players from the eastern side of Boyertown School District is called the Grizzlies. Eligible players live within the geographic area associated with Boyertown Middle School East. Participants must tryout for this team and must be 13 through 16 years old on December 31 of the calendar year that they are on Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies play their home games at Boyertown Middle School East and participate in the Twin County Junior Legion league. The team will also try to enter one or two tournaments, in addition to post-season play at the league, regional, and state level (if advancing). The Twin County league is a wood bat league. Tryouts occur in late March with weekend non-league games during the school season in April and May. Twin County league games begin after Memorial Day, and the season concludes with the state playoffs the last week of July/first week of August.

Grizzlies won a state championship in 1993 and 2019.

Coach - Jeff Miller

The Boyertown Junior Legion Team for players from the western side of Boyertown School District is called the Bear Cubs. Eligible players live within the geographic area associated with Boyertown Middle School West. Participants must tryout for this team and must be 13 through 16 years old on December 31 of the calendar year that they are on Bear Cubs.

The Bear Cubs play their home games at Mecherly field just west of Boyertown on Route 73 and participate in the Berks County Junior Legion league. The team will also try to enter one or two tournaments, in addition to post-season play at the league, regional, and state level (if advancing). The Berks County league is a wood bat league. Tryouts occur in late March with weekend non-league games during the school season in April and May. Berks County league games begin after Memorial Day, and the season concludes with the state playoffs the last week of July/first week of August.

Bear Cubs was formed in 1977 and has 14 state titles in 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2016.

Coach - Neil Fox  484-880-5433

The Boyertown 17U Showcase Team is called the Blue Collars. This team is part of the Legion program. The goal of the Blue Collars is to put in the work to prepare players for baseball beyond the high school level. College recruiting typically occurs during players sophomore and junior years, and so this team participates in 2-3 College Showcase tournaments with out-of-state travel likely. In addition to the college showcase tournaments, the team also plays in a local league. The Blue Collars practice with the Senior Legion team, and players can be dual rostered on the Blue Collars and the Senior Legion Bears.

Eligible players live within Boyertown School District. Participants must tryout for this team and must be 16 or 17 years old on December 31 of the calendar year that they are on Blue Collars.

Coach - Dave Raifsnider

The Babe Ruth program offers a lower-pressure Spring Season alternative to the Legion program. Eligible participants are 13-18 years old on April 30 of the year that they intend to participate.

BMBL fields both non-tryout and tryout Babe Ruth teams. Babe Ruth tryout teams, called Kodiak teams, are formed if sufficient numbers of qualifying participants are available. All Babe Ruth teams participate in a local league. Kodiak teams may participate in local tournaments and represent Boyertown in Babe Ruth playoffs at the district, state, regional, and national level.

Babe Ruth is divided into two age groups. Junior Babe Ruth is for participants that are 13-15 years old. Senior Babe Ruth is for participants that are 16-18 years old. Senior Babe Ruth teams are called Bruins.

The following graphic illustrates the Babe Ruth teams available for each age group in the Spring Season.

Additional information about Babe Ruth Kodiak teams can be found below.

An overview of Legion and Kodiak team tryout options for each age group can be found here.

The tryout-based team for Babe Ruth is called the Kodiaks. BMBL will form one Kodiak team for the Senior Babe Ruth level (16- to 18-year-olds) and one or more Kodiak teams for the Junior Babe Ruth level (13- to 15-year-olds). The number of Junior Babe Ruth Kodiak teams and the age groupings per team is dependent on the numbers. The participant's age group is determined by their age on April 30 of the calendar year that they are on Kodiaks.

The Senior Babe Ruth Kodiaks play their home games at Boyertown High School and participate in the Chesmont Babe Ruth league. The team will also enter one or two college showcases and tournaments, in addition to post-season play at the league, district, state, regional and national level (if advancing). Tryouts occur in early April and games start in late May, concluding with state playoffs in mid July or early August if advancing to the World Series.

The Junior Babe Ruth Kodiaks play their home games at Mackey field at Boyertown Park or Boyertown Middle School West and participate in the Tri-County Babe Ruth league. The Kodiak team or teams may also play in local tournaments, in addition to post-season play at the league, district, state, regional and national level (if advancing). Tryouts occur in early April and games start in late May, concluding with state playoffs in mid July or early August if advancing to the World Series.