
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 12, 1994                   TAG: 9405120171
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LEGION TEAM GETS NEW BASE, NEW SCHOOLS

The American Legion baseball team that has had a Giles County address for years is moving to a new base of operations and will be picking up a couple of new feeder schools this season.

The team, now known as the New River Valley Yankees, will assume new headquarters in Blacksburg and all home games will be played at Virginia Tech's English Field.

``We've been wanting to do this for a long time,'' Coach Danny Evans said. ``I think this will help us out with our support and getting players.''

The two new feeder schools will be Floyd County High and Auburn. Those are in addition to the schools that have always fed the team: Giles (which continues to be the base school), Narrows, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, and Peterstown, W.Va.

Legion Post 68 in Narrows, Blacksburg Post182, and posts in Christiansburg and Radford will form the base of financial support.

Team organizational meetings are scheduled this weeked. The first, for the convenience of the Giles County and Peterstown players, will be 1 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot at Narrows High. The other signup session will be 6 p.m. Sunday at English Field and that will be geared for players from Montgomery and Floyd Counties and Radford. Those who intend to play must be there.

Practice starts whenever the last team in the legion district's geographic area is eliminated from the Virginia High School League playoffs. New River Valley's first game will be at home June 11. There will be no regular season games after July 26 and the district tournament starts July 28. District tournament winners from around the state advance to the state tournament that opens Aug. 10 in Hopewell.

The Legion's Blue Ridge District will be divided this year (and this year only, district chairman Wayne LaPierre said) into two divisions. New River Valley will be in the North Division with Tri-Counties Post 145, Franklin County Post 6, and the three Roanoke teams (all sponsored by Post 3). The South Division includes Danville Post 325, Halifax Post 8, Martinsville Post 42, and Patrick County Post 105.

Evans says he expects to have several veteran players back for this year's team. They include Wayne Caldwell of Blacksburg, Ryan Brittle of Radford, Brian Smith of Blacksburg and Leon Hopkins of Peterstown.

by CNB