In United Baseball League, boys of summer still playing the game they love

Teenage boys have been playing baseball in Lebanon County for more than a century. The benefits they receive from the athletic activity – physical fitness, life lessons, cooperation and camaraderie – are as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago.

Over the years, where the game is played, when the game is played, and how the game is played have all changed and evolved. But perhaps the most important thing is that local boys are still playing baseball.

Fifth Ward Athletic Club, at 750 North 15^th Ave., Lebanon, sponsors a scholastic-level baseball team made up of 20 city teens ages 16 to 19 who compete in the United Baseball League. Greg Kreiser has been coaching the club for seven years.

“Baseball teaches the concept of being a team and working together,” said Kreiser. “It keeps kids out of trouble, for sure.

“They’re all Lebanon city kids. They’re all the kids I coached in high school (at Lebanon High). Some are in college. A lot of them love the game.”

The Fifth Ward/Lebanon franchise was a member of the Lebanon County American Legion Baseball League since the league’s inception in the 1920s. But that was before the local summer baseball league disbanded in 2023.

In 2024, instead of giving up on the game – and the local boys who played it – Fifth Ward joined the United Baseball League, an eight-team, high-school-level circuit that includes former local legion baseball teams from Richland, Myerstown, and Schuylkill and Berks counties.

“We wanted to play baseball,” said Kreiser. “We were going to play baseball somewhere. It’s about continuity and making our high school program better. They (the Schuylkill County and Berks County entries) had just left legion baseball in 2022; their first year was 2023. We looked into doing the Lanco League. It’s (the United Baseball League) basically the same as legion baseball, but with high school rules.”

Along with Richland and Myerstown, Fifth Ward is a member of the United Baseball League’s West Division. Fifth Ward had compiled a 4-3 record over its first seven games this summer games in the UBL, which plays a 17-game regular season that sets up a playoff tournament that includes all eight teams and concludes in early August.

“We’re pretty competitive. Even the games we lost we’ve been competitive,” said Kreiser. “As far as the competition goes, it’s pretty similar (to the former Lebanon County American Legion Baseball League). Almost every pitcher is a college player. This league is a little more relaxed. In this league, we get to play teams we normally wouldn’t get a chance to play.

“There’s plenty of opportunities to play baseball if you pay to play. It’s Lebanon County. It’s Lebanon city. These kids can’t really afford to pay to play. We try not to charge them to play baseball at Fifth Ward.”

According to Kreiser, when the Lebanon County American Legion Baseball League disbanded, former entries Fredericksburg and Annville joined a similar league in Lancaster and the Campbelltown/Palmyra outfit aligned itself with a circuit in Dauphin County.

“I think we just got tired of trying to cram 18 games into one month,” Kreiser said of the demise of the Lebanon County American Legion Baseball League. “Now, we don’t have to be done until August. It was also starting to be more of a cost thing. You could only use wooden bats (in American Legion baseball) and because we broke so many bats it was costing us hundreds of dollars each year.”

“It had a lot to do with a lot of the legion rules,” he added. “Everywhere else in the country, legion plays with aluminum bats. They also started to require background checks for players over 18. They’re kids and the kids were going to have to pay for the background checks. I felt that wasn’t right.”

History will show that Fifth Ward captured the final championship in the Lebanon County American Legion League. For Fifth Ward, it was its first local summer baseball title in 40 years.

Over the life of the Lebanon County American Legion Baseball League, thousands of local boys were afforded opportunities to compete against one another, to make memories and to play the great game of baseball.

“It is sad,” said Kreiser. “I wish it would’ve never come to disbanding legion baseball. They (Pennsylvania American Legion officials) didn’t want to change, and we didn’t want to change. If they would’ve met us halfway, we’d still be playing.

“If legion ever wants to come back to Lebanon County, they need to advance with the times. It’s always been about playing baseball with me. I love the game. I try to teach these kids to play baseball the right way.”

More information is available online.

 

Lebanon County American Legion League
Past Champions

• 2023 – Fifth Ward
• 2022 – Annville
• 2021 – Myerstown
• 2020 – Not contested (COVID-19)
• 2019 – Campbelltown
• 2018 – Richland
• 2017 – Fredericksburg
• 2016 – Annville
• 2015 – Myerstown
• 2014 – Myerstown
• 2013 – Campbelltown
• 2012 – Campbelltown
• 2011 – Annville
• 2010 – Campbelltown
• 2009 — Fredericksburg
• 2008 — Fredericksburg
• 2007 — Richland
• 2006 — Richland
• 2005 — Richland
• 2004 — Annville
• 2003 — Fredericksburg
• 2002 — Richland
• 2001 — Fredericksburg
• 2000 — Fredericksburg
• 1999 — Fredericksburg
• 1998 — Palmyra
• 1997 — Fredericksburg
• 1996 — Fredericksburg
• 1995 — Fredericksburg
• 1994 — Fredericksburg
• 1993 — Fredericksburg*
• 1992 — Palmyra
• 1991 — Palmyra
• 1990 — Fredericksburg
• 1989 — Fredericksburg
• 1988 — Palmyra
• 1987 — Fredericksburg
• 1986 — Fredericksburg*
• 1985 — Myerstown
• 1984 — Richland
• 1983 — Lebanon
• 1982 — Lebanon
• 1981 — Fredericksburg*
• 1980 — Richland
• 1979 — Fredericksburg
• 1978 — Myerstown
• 1977 — Fredericksburg
• 1976 — Fredericksburg
• 1975 — Myerstown
• 1974 — Lebanon
• 1973 — Fredericksburg
• 1972 — Myerstown*
• 1971 — Myerstown*
• 1970 — Annville*
• 1969 — Annville*
• 1968 — Myerstown
• 1967 — Myerstown
• 1966 — Myerstown
• 1965 — Myerstown
• 1964 — Richland
• 1963 — Lebanon
• 1962 — Richland
• 1961 — Richland*
• 1960 — Not Contested
• 1959 — Fredericksburg
• 1958 — Fredericksburg
• 1957 — Fredericksburg
• 1956 — Lebanon
• 1955 — Myerstown
• 1954 — Jonestown*
• 1953 — Myerstown
• 1952 — Palmyra*
• 1951 — Palmyra
• 1950 — Palmyra
• 1949 — Annville
• 1948 — Myerstown*
• 1947 — Lebanon
• 1946 — Myerstown
• 1945 — Not Contested (World War II)
• 1944 — Not Contested (World War II)
• 1943 — Not Contested (World War II)
• 1942 — Not Contested (World War II)
• 1941 — Lebanon*
• 1940 — Myerstown
• 1939 — Myerstown
• 1938 — Myerstown*
• 1937 — Lebanon*
• 1936 — Lebanon
• 1935 — Annville
• 1934 — Annville
• 1933 — Myerstown
• 1932 — Lebanon*
• 1931 — Orioles*
• 1930 — Fifth Ward
• 1929 — Progressive

* Denotes regional champions
Note — The 1937 Lebanon squad was the only team from the county to win a state title. The 1981 Fredericksburg, the 1948 Myerstown, and the 1938 Myerstown clubs were all state runners-up.