Bridgeport Legion set to return after four years
American Legion baseball will be returning to Bridgeport this summer for the first time since the program was folded following the 2018 season.
Bridgeport Post 11 will rejoin Zone 4 at the 19U and 17U levels, and will be headed by Tyrone Kingwood as coach.
“I was born and raised in Bridgeport. I was a Bassick High School graduate in 1984,” Kingwood said. “I was a two-sport athlete there, basketball and baseball. Then I went on to play some professional baseball, but my roots are in Bridgeport.”
Kingwood was a firstround MLB draft pick in 1987, selected 28th overall by the Montreal Expos. He played six years of minor league baseball and made it as high as the Triple-A level.
After months of pushing for a potential return of Bridgeport Legion, Kingwood joined with Fairfield Legion General Manager Sarsfield Ford have made it a reality.
“It means a lot. I can recall when I was a youth looking for somewhere to play baseball,” Kingswood said. “I was told to always give back no matter how much money you make or how far you make it in life, always come back to your community to help the next generation. I reached out to Sars. I have been reaching out for about a year and a half about this. It was in my heart, I wanted to do it. This is one of my ways of giving back to my community. It is all volunteer and I am excited to be put in a place to be able to lead the program.”
Legion programs have been on the decline in recent years while AAU travel programs have gained popularity, but travel costs, tournament fees and even the costs of joining AAU programs are too expensive for many high school athletes.
The return of the Bridgeport Legion program will provide a cost effective opportunity for local baseball players to continue their development over the summer.
“It is affordable, there is less traveling, and less stress,” Kingswood said. “It gets some of those college coaches in to see what these kids are going through in Bridgeport, and to be able to adapt with them. It is very important to be be able to see the beauty of Bridgeport. Our ultimate goal is for boys to become men, teach them how to be responsible. Teach them how to advocate for themselves, how to live in the world and how to work. Those are our goals for their futures.”
According to the Connecticut Legion Baseball website, Bridgeport is the second winningest program at the 19U level in state history with nine championships, trailing Bristol Post 2, which has 14.