By Dominic Konareski
Voice Writer
The year 2026 marks the 75th anniversary of little league baseball in West Haven. Being established in 1951, the West Haven Little League has gone through thousands of players and numerous changes throughout three-quarters of a century.
And those changes have mirrored events that have taken on regionwide and even nationwide significance for amateur baseball.
To celebrate year 75, the league will be showcasing a special logo and will have raffles, giveaways and food on their opening day Saturday. Opening day ceremonies will start at 10 a.m. as players prepare to take on newly renovated ball fields thanks to the city’s partnership with The Grind, an Orange-based baseball training facility that has become one of the largest in Connecticut
In fact, it is this type of training facility-type operation that has changed the face, and character of youth baseball.
Back in 1951 the idea of organized athletics for youngsters was just formed in the national conscience. In the post-war Baby Boom, a need for activities for the influx of youngsters was necessary.
Founded prior to World War II in 1939, Little League Baseball and Softball began as a way to teach boys – and later girls, the fundamentals of the national game. After World War II the program, which has its international headquarters in its founding town of Williamsport, PA, exploded. West Haven filed for and received a charter in 1951.
Taking its home at Morse Park, the league saw a steady expansion over its history until very recently. Beginning with one field, then two, the league expanded to more than 40 teams through the 1990s, adding a softball component for female players, and a Unified League for those with special needs. Like many town leagues, the shift to inter-town play has become the rule for many programs.
But as with many leagues around the country, the rise of training facilities began to siphon off the talent, while other sports, like soccer and lacrosse fished players out of the same pond. Baseball had a period of being a slower, more deliberate sport, in a culture that craved speed.
A resurgence of the sport, though, has seen not a rise in leagues such as West Haven Little League, but play-to-pay operations that offer travel, more games, and the lure of getting noticed by scouts and college coaches.
In Connecticut, most baseball teams play under the names of training facilities with full-time coaches and a year-round operation, offering baseball in the spring, summer, and fall. The era of specialization has led to athletes concentrating on one sport, and staying with that program has harmed other venerable programs as well.
American Legion Baseball has taken a severe hit with the rise of year-round programs. Once the pinnacle of young baseball players’ accomplishments, legion teams are fighting to keep up with the new paradigm.
For leagues like West Haven Little League, the drop off was steady, to the point only nine teams remain under the league banner in baseball, softball and T-ball.
League Vice President Michelle Ferro originally started her role as a parent volunteer in 2006 and has done a little bit of everything from helping to organize parade walks, cooking in the concession stand and recruiting more volunteers.
“Everything we do is for the kids,” said Ferro, who has had her own three kids go through the league over the years.
Ferro also stated how the league has also been blessed with local support over the years from business, allowing the league to operate correctly, saying,
“We’ve been blessed in recent years to have an outpouring of support from many local business, who have graciously offered their support, and we truly could not do this without them,” she said.
Over the offseason, The Grind entered a long-term licensing agreement with the city to renovate and manage the Morse Park baseball fields and batting cages. The renovations saw the reconditioning of the infields and outfields, along with also installing artificial turf and updating sprinklers. The Grind will maintain fields 2,3,4 and 6, with the city continuing to maintain fields 1 and 7.
The Grind has quickly grown to being one of the biggest private baseball organizations, being part of the overall country-wide rise of private leagues as public leagues continue to become defunct.
The agreement between the city and The Grind allows WHLL to continue playing games at Morse Park. The Grind will be hosting games and tournaments, working around the schedule of the West Haven Little League.
Ferro largely credits league President Amin Rubirosa for keeping the league as a big part of the town, saying, “He is the most dedicated person I know, when it comes to children’s sports.”
West Haven Little League is stronger than ever when looking at the past years, she said, thanks to partnerships and especially the dedication of its officials and volunteers.
The league welcomes any parents, grandparents, aunts, or uncles to be volunteers or possibly even a coach. Anyone interested in volunteering can sign up via the West Haven Little League website, westhavenlittleleague.com.