(April 17, 2015) After only drawing about “half a team’s worth” of prospective players to the first tryout last month, according to Coach Otis Elzey, the American Legion has scheduled an additional session on Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m. at the Northern Worcester Athletic Complex in Berlin.
After nearly a half-century absence on the lower shore, the American Legion will once again play host to its own baseball league and team, the OC Marlins.
“We’re looking for any interested kids to get this up and running,” Elzey, head coach at Wicomico High School and coach of the OC Marlins, said.
Participation in the tryout and league are free, organizers said, in an effort to provide an alternative to what they see as costly travel teams that own this part of the calendar. Players will need their own gloves, cleats and transportation, but organizers said everything else, such as hats, uniforms and equipment, will be provided.
“The season is going to be on us before we know it, and the last session really didn’t do anything because of the weather,” Elzey said.
Ideally, Elzey would like to “double” the number of players he already has on the roster.
The team is expected to carry 18 players, League co-chair Jack Hyle said, between the ages of 14 and 19 determined by player age at the time of registration.
“The only requirement is that players go to high school in Worcester,” Hyle said. But, he continued, there is some flexibility built into the system on that point.
The league will include Worcester, Somerset, Wicomico, Dorchester, Talbot and Caroline counties, Hyle said, and may include some legion posts in Southern Delaware, but that hasn’t been finalized yet. Hyle said the league is expected to run a regular season of 16 games plus playoffs and championships.
At the end of the season, the top team of the league will advance to playoffs competing for regional and state championships. The winner will qualify for the American Legion World Series in North Carolina.
League play will begin after school ends, Hyle said, likely sometime in early July.
Pre-registration for the tryouts is not required, interested players just need to show up to the session.
