County welcomes a new American Legion baseball team this summer

Magruder, Watkins Mill players will feed Post 68

The one drawback, however, is the potential weakening of other teams and the possible struggles the new post might face, pulling from two programs that have a combined record 8-14 record this season, including 1-9 for Watkins Mill. Sandy Spring’s arrival also changes from where Gaithersburg Post 104 draws as it loses Magruder, a solid contributor to the program, and picks up Richard Montgomery high school area. That in turn leaves Rockville Post 86 with only Churchill, Walter Johnson and Rockville high school areas to draw from.

‘‘It may have watered down some teams and it could be tough to get kids out,” Woodward said.

Bethesda Post 105 head coach Jonas Singer, who runs the legion squad along with manager Mike Naas, believes the issues Woodward points out could be potential problems but that the positives of adding a new squad to the county outweigh any early negative side effects.

‘‘I’m a huge fan of American Legion baseball so I’m hopeful it will generate more competition and make the league better,” he said. ‘‘Coaches can now coach out of season so I hope that inspires more coaches to coach their kids in American Legion. Sandy Spring will make the league more competitive. [Watering down the talent pool] is always a concern but what is really watering down legion baseball are some ‘showcase’ teams and profit-based teams. There will be more than enough players for quality competition. The biggest thing is getting players college exposure and fighting recruiting battles with private clubs.”

Gaithersburg Post 104 manager Joe Stolz said the loss of Magruder High from his talent pool shouldn’t hurt his program because ‘Richard Montgomery has a lot of talent’ and ‘‘last year, we only had two Magruder kids on the team. We’re not harmed.”

Stolz did add, however, that with Sandy Spring drawing from a smaller area than the rest of the legion teams, it will be able to pick up players who have been cut from the rest of the league. ‘‘You have to be careful with who you keep and with who you cut,” he said. ‘‘It will influence if you keep a college player or a ninth- or 10th-grader because you want them to stay in the program.”

The Montgomery Division now has eight teams, including Laurel Post 60, Damascus Post 171, Gaithersburg Post 295, and Wheaton Post 268, but each squad will still play 32 games with non-league, non-tournament games coming through matchups with Prince George’s County teams.