American Legion launches plan for local baseball team

Pawhuska American Legion Post 198 is looking for a few good men to help launch the city’s first-ever American Legion Baseball program, according to team manager Floyd Brown.

Brown said he intends to put a squad on the field this summer in an American Legion classification for ages 14 and 17. He said players are being recruited from all around Osage County, including Fairfax, Shidler, Bowring, Wynona and Burbank.

Tryouts and practices will be getting under soon after the current high school baseball seasons conclude, said the manager. Dewayne Dagenais is to be one of the team coaches, Brown added.

“I definitely believe we’ve got the players around here to make a go of it,” said Brown, a Pawhuskan whose aim is to establish a long-term Legion diamond program in the community.

Brown said the team will be using the ball field at Pawhuska High School this summer.

“But, we hope it won’t be too long until we will have our own field,” he added.

The team manager said program organizers are looking forward to construction of a new playing field as part of a sports complex being proposed for piece of property located near the Osage County Jail.

More than $50,000 in community funding already has been donated toward construction of the sports complex, according to the organizers.

A project proposal currently under consideration by the Osage County Commission calls for the sports complex to be built on vacant, county-owned land adjacent to the former Pawhuska hospital.

Brown said anyone interested in playing on the team should call him at 918-287-1714. Other contact numbers for persons to find out more information about the American Legion baseball program are 580-763-2595 and 580-763-7858.