2014 Legion Baseball All-Academic Team announced

2014 Legion Baseball All-Academic Team announced

The nine-player 2014 American Legion Baseball All-Academic Team was announced during the 88th American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C. The team captain will receive a $5,000 scholarship and the other eight players will receive a $2,500 scholarship, sponsored by Diamond Sports.

The players were initially nominated by their Legion Baseball team manager or head coach, and then each respective state department’s baseball committee reviewed the submitted applications and selected an overall state winner. The state winners were reviewed by the World Series Scholarship Committee, which consists of Legionnaires and academic representatives. The nine players are entering their freshman year of college.

The scholarship winners are:

Team Captain – Matthew Walsh of South Weymouth, Mass., played Legion Baseball for Post 79.

Northeast Region – Ryan Ward of Holden, Maine, played Legion Baseball for Post 211.

Mid-Atlantic Region – Drake Rivera of Newark, Del., played Legion Baseball for Post 10

Southeast Region – Tyler Garrett of Greenville, N.C., played Legion Baseball for Post 39

Mid-South Region – Tucker Sweely of Newton, Kan., played Legion Baseball for Post 2

Great Lakes Region – Joshua Crist of Elizabeth, Ill., played Legion Baseball for Post 707

Central Plains Region – Benjamin Hintz of Hebron, Neb., played Legion Baseball for Post 180

Northwest Region – Slade Heggen of Missoula, Mont., played Legion Baseball for Post 27

Western Region – Cooper Casad of Petaluma, Calif., played Legion Baseball for Post 28

Diamond Sports Co., Inc., is a leading manufacturer in baseball, softball and football merchandise, and is the official baseball used during Legion national tournaments. The agreement between the two organizations involves Diamond providing $25,000 in scholarship funds for the nine-player All-Academic Team.