Narberth's five baseball teams draw families and fans into the bleachers

Mary Brown has spent the summer in the bleachers.

A longtime board member of the Narberth Athletic Association, Brown wrote in a Sunday column for Mainline Media News that the women and families filling the stands at American Legion games are as much a part of the program as the players on the field.

The NAA sponsors five teams under the Harold D. Speakman American Legion Post 356 in Narberth: Connie Mack, Prep Legion, Junior Legion, Senior Legion and a DELCO 18-and-up semi-pro squad called the "Outsiders." The program is in its 101st year nationally, and formal hardball at the field at Wynnewood and Haverford Roads dates to the 1920s, according to Brown.

The crowd tells the story.

What struck Brown at the 2026 Region 3 Tournament, held July 17–21 at Marple Newtown High School in Newtown Square, was who showed up. She described nearly a dozen young women from Fort Washington and Nether Providence in the stands on a hot summer afternoon, watching intently alongside families.

"It moves me every time I hear those young men say the words," Brown wrote, describing the pregame Code of Sportsmanship that players recite in unison along the base paths after the National Anthem.

The pledge asks players to "keep the rules, keep the faith with my teammates, keep my temper, keep myself fit, keep a stout heart in defeat, keep my pride under in victory, keep a sound soul, a clean mind and a healthy body." The home team is responsible for enforcing the recitation before every game.

The program's official guidance instructs coaches that their "big job is to keep uppermost in the minds of the players at all times, the citizenship lessons learned from participating in the program," Brown noted. Winning games is secondary to character.

Brown's husband serves as president of Main Line American Legion Baseball. Both sit on the NAA board.

Whether any Narberth team advanced past the 2026 Region 3 Tournament has not been confirmed. But the broader American Legion season continues. The 2026 American Legion World Series runs Thursday, August 13 through Tuesday, August 18 at Veterans Field, Keeter Stadium in Shelby, North Carolina. Eight teams compete in round-robin pool play before Monday semifinals and a one-game championship on Tuesday. Games stream on ESPN3, with Sunday, Monday and Tuesday contests airing nationally on ESPNU.