Hear the interview below.
If you ask American Legion Post 4 baseball coach Larry O’Brien, the 2019 team that just wrapped their regular season run 15-2 is one of the best he’s seen in his career on the diamond.
In an interview with 97.9 WHAV FM this week, O’Brien—who works alongside co-manager and pitching coach John Trask—told morning show host Win Damon the 16 boys on the team gelled exceptionally well on and off the field.
“We had probably one of the best teams we’ve had in years and one of the best I’ve coached. The boys wanted to play baseball. They get along great and socialize together,” O’Brien said. “All season long they gave it their best.”
Speaking to WHAV ahead of this week’s best-of-three championship series, O’Brien praised the efforts of pitchers Will Carpenter, Tyler McDonald, Matt Michel and Matt Waelter for their role in propelling the team to victory.
Legion Post 4 was knocked out of best-of-three championship play Wednesday night after a 4-1 loss to Lawrence.
O’Brien tells WHAV he hopes the success of this year’s Post 4 play will help inspire some of Haverhill’s younger baseball players to try out for the junior league during tryouts in May. Legion players are able to attend any area school as long as they live in Haverhill, O’Brien said. The senior team will have at least seven vacancies next year, with several players aging out of the team, which is open to players age 15-19. Recruitment for that team also takes place in the spring, O’Brien said.
“We’ll have a ‘semi-rebuilding year’ next year,” O’Brien told WHAV.
In the meantime, Legion Post 4 plans to celebrate their season’s success at a Sunday, Aug. 4 bash, the manager said. All are welcome.
Hear the interview below.