Legion baseball preview: Belchertown Post 239 eyes District 3 three-peat, Northampton Post 28 geared for success

For the last two years, the Belchertown Post 239 Senior American Legion team has been the cream of the crop in Western Massachusetts. Post 239 breezed through their regular season schedule without a loss in 2024 before earning a 6-5 win in the District 3 championship over Aldenville Post 337 for their second consecutive title.

With 10 players back from that team, Belchertown has its eyes set on yet another successful summer – and the hope is to cap it off with a three-peat. But Post 239 is well aware of the large target that’s plastered on their backs across the region. It’s going to take a full team effort to get back to a third straight District 3 final.

“We have an expectation, a high expectation, of ourselves,” Post 239 head coach Todd McDonald said. “We’re going to be competitive, and I think that’s the goal this year. There are a lot of good teams in the league, as there has been traditionally. I don’t think anything’s a guarantee, but there’s still an expectation that we’re going to compete night in and night out.”

Belchertown’s roster of 18 is made up of players from Belchertown, Granby, Amherst and Hadley. McDonald said his team last year was chock-full of veterans, highlighted by a handful of players returning from college to play their final years of Legion baseball.

In 2025, McDonald still describes his team as experienced, however in this case it’s because all of his players are coming off high school seasons where they were full-time starters for their varsity programs. Post 239 may not be as old this year as they were last, but they have plenty of firepower in the lineup.

Jake Smith (Williston) is a versatile athlete who can play multiple positions for Belchertown, Chace Earle (Hopkins) is a strong pitcher and solid bat, while Belchertown High School’s Ian McDonald, Jake Waller, Josh Misiaszek, Evan Ferguson and Thatcher Rudnik are all in the mix again.

“The make up of our team last year was cool because, at any given point, depending on the situation, every guy from top to bottom could contribute,” Todd McDonald said. “Every player played almost every game, all the way through the state tournament. I don’t see why this year’s team won’t be similar. We got a make up of guys who played significant innings last year who are mature because they’ve just finished their high school seasons and are looking to play in college next year.”

Belchertown Post 239 begins its season Monday night when it travels to West Springfield Post 207 for a 5:45 p.m. game.

Post 28 looking to take another step forward

In each season under head coach Adam Krol, the Northampton Post 28 Legion team has continued to improve little by little. A few years ago, Northampton was pulling up kids in eighth grade to play so it could fill out its roster. Now, Post 28 has an influx to choose from as players from Northampton, Easthampton, Westhampton, Hatfield, Hadley and Huntington make up the squad this summer.

Last season, a winning streak toward the end of the year catapulted Northampton near the top of the standings. Post 28 finished the regular season 11-5-1 and have a good chunk of players returning from that team.

“We’ve been building our culture over the years, and I think given the growth of our players that the expectation is that this team is going to compete every game,” Krol said. “Game in and game out, every single inning, every single at-bat, we’re going to compete. This team wants to win. And they can win. But we need to go out there and earn it, and that comes through hard work and being disciplined.”

Liam Flynn returns from his freshman year at Houghton University, and he’ll be a Post 28 captain alongside returners Trey Kuzmeski (Wilbraham and Monson) and James Lavallee (Smith Vocational). Krol said he is expecting big summers from that trio not just as some of the team’s top players, but also as leaders in the dugout.

Northampton High School standouts Aiden Keeling-Lococo and Matthew Walko – two players who have been on the Post 28 roster since eighth grade – are back after finishing their sophomore seasons and have improved their games as well.

While victories and defeats are important, and Krol emphasized that he and his team care a lot about winning, his goal over the course of the summer is to develop his players both on and off the field – regardless of the outcomes of each game.

“As far as our staff goes, we want to develop good human beings,” Krol said. “We want to instill good fundamentals on the field and create good human beings off of it. At the end of the day, I want these people to be leaders in our communities in the future, and I think we have a really unique opportunity to help develop their character and their growth. We’re fortunate to have a great group of guys. I’m proud to coach each and every one of them.”

Northampton kicks off its season on Monday at 5:45 p.m. at Arcanum Field in Florence against Longmeadow.