Hudson hosts American Legion tournament
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Hudson - In baseball parlance, the American Legion state baseball tournament held earlier this month at Riverside Park in Hudson can best be described as a homerun.

Fans lined the field for every game, enjoying the beautiful weather and the top-notch baseball. Brockton won the tournament and advanced to the New England Regional with a punishing 17-6 victory over Swampscott in the final.

"We're very, very pleased with how the tournament went," Hudson American Legion General Manager Brian Davis said. "Everyone in town and on the committee thought the tournament was a huge success, and I've had a chance to talk to state and regional Legion officials and they had lots of really flattering things to say about the facilities and how smoothly the tournament ran."

While Legionnaires throughout New England had nothing but praise for the running of the tournament, Davis had nothing but praise for the more than 50 volunteers who helped make the weeklong event the success it was.

"There's no question this couldn't have happened without the hard work and dedication of everyone who helped out," Davis said. "People think you just show up one day and have a tournament, or that you plan for about a month, but the truth is we've been meeting and planning since before Christmas. It takes a lot of work to pull something of this magnitude off . There are a lot of families from town that worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the last month or two to help pull this off ."

Davis said he has targeted one area that he would like upgraded before Hudson and Riverside Park play host to another Legion tournament, be it another Massachusetts state championship or a New England Regional.

"I think for a prestigious tournament such as this or a regional, I think we need one more bank of lights installed," Davis said. "We have six banks of lights now, but a seventh would really brighten up the field. If we're lucky enough to have the chance to host a regional, I've already been told we'd have to add a seventh bank of lights."

Davis was also pleased with Hudson's eff ort on the baseball diamond. The host team may have been eliminated quickly, due to losses to Mil- ton and eventual champion Brockton, but it proved that it could play with the other seven teams - considered among the best programs in the state - in the tournament.

"That wasn't exactly chopped liver we were up against out there," Davis said. "The kids did a good job against both teams; we just had a bad inning or two in each game. That's been our Achilles' heel all season.

"That's an experience issue," Davis said. "We had a ton of games this season where we played very well, but had a bad inning or two. For the most part the kids on this team - and this is a pretty young team from an age standpoint - are young. They needed the experience they received from playing all season and in the state tournament. That's going to help them - and the entire team - so much next season."