Legion Baseball Built on Wall-August 14, 1987

There is the Great Wall of China, and then there is Pete Wall, legendary coach of the Norwood American Legion baseball team. You might be hard-pressed to find a common link among them, but look closely, and the similarities are striking. Like the famous monuments preceding him, Pete Wall has become the foundation and cornerstone—a living symbol of the consistently successful squads he guides year after year. This weekend, Wall leads Norwood against traditional rival Natick in the semifinal round of the Massachusetts State American Legion Tournament. The state winner advances automatically to the New England Regionals, a familiar route for both Wall and Norwood. Over the past two years, Norwood claimed back-to-back state crowns and reached the semifinals of the New England Regional.

“I really think we will win the Mass tournament,” said Wall. “We have the experience and the tradition. That counts for a lot.” Norwood also possesses elite pitching depth, anchored by one of the state’s premier talents in Bob Baxter (13-1). The standout left-hander previously earned All-Ivy League honors as a freshman for Harvard University. In his most recent postseason outing, Baxter hurled a brilliant one-hitter while striking out nine batters against Reading. Backing up Baxter is the formidable lefty-righty tandem of Scott Generazo and Jim McCready, both carrying 7-2 records. It was McCready who polished off Reading with a convincing three-hit, nine-strikeout performance to sweep the Eastern Sectional series.

To the 24-year Legion head coach, raw numbers and statistics often seem meaningless, though figures certainly bear witness to his unprecedented success. This season, Norwood posted a 27-5 record, following up on stellar marks of 35-6 and 33-5 in preceding years. Furthermore, as the Norwood High School varsity coach for the past 19 years, Wall secured the milestone 300th win of his career this past spring. Yet, characteristic of his humble demeanor, he remarked, “It just really doesn’t mean that much to me.” Across 24 years at the helm, Wall has remarkably yet to endure a single losing season.

“Coaching is hard work, but I think the players at Norwood pay a price compared to other teams,” Wall explained. “I have a saying that goes, ‘If you don’t play to win, why keep score?'” While Wall finds comparing his annual rosters difficult, unmistakable tell-tale signs define each club’s grit. Recalling a dramatic regular-season matchup against Westwood, he noted, “We were playing Westwood this year in the second game of a doubleheader and losing by six runs in the final inning. We came back to score nine runs in the top of the seventh to win. I knew we had something special.” His players remain true mirror-images of their demanding coach: tough, fiercely competitive, and hardworking. “We’ve been playing baseball since March and I would like to keep it going,” Wall added. Opening game action against Natick—which eliminated Milford—gets underway tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at Mark Devlin Field in Lawrence.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger