American Legion softball still building in S.C.

South Carolina is in the midst of its fourth season of American Legion softball. The state hosted its first season back in 2021, though the sport was not officially sanctioned by the American Legion until the following fall. Since then, the league has worked hard to progress from the 10 teams it hosted in the inaugural season.

Four years later, the league has more than doubled in size, jumping to 22 teams this summer. Last year, the tri-county added two local teams in the Sumter Post 15 Lady Patriots and the Bishopville Post 29 Express. But there's still a lot of work to be done, according to South Carolina Fastpitch Chairman Bob Scherer. He notes the continued rise of travel softball as a major barrier for entry, especially without the history of the American Legion baseball programs.

"The thing that hurts us the most is travel ball, and then you have vacations, Vacation Bible School, camps and volleyball. We're fighting all that at the same time," Scherer said. "We try to tell people that ours is not like travel ball. We don't demand that they win, we just demand that they have fun. We don't want them to get all bent out of shape about having to win. We want them to play, have fun, enhance their skills, laugh and holler.

"And we try not to charge anyone to join, unlike travel ball, which is very expensive. Plus, we play 16 games in eight nights, not 16 games on 16 nights like baseball, which is great for the parents and the post."

Scherer is on the front lines of expansion, working his way throughout the state trying to help various posts jump start their programs. He credits Sumter Post 15 Lady Legends head coach Glenn Posey for his help in the Southern Division, but Scherer still spends most of his time trying find the best ways to get different posts involved, whether that means forming a team near a post that can be sponsored after being created or helping posts with the logistics of building a squad.

"I go to the different posts and district meetings trying to get people to get a team going. It's been a lot of phone calls, talking to people at conventions and conferences and trying to get district commanders to let me come down and talk to them," he said. "I'm trying to work different angles throughout the whole state."

New teams in the summer of 2024 included Chapin, Lugoff, two teams in Anderson and two teams in North Augusta, but there were a few teams throughout the state that disbanded. The total number of teams went up by two after the league included 20 teams last summer. Sumter's Post 15, for instance, went from three teams to two, as the Lady Storm did not have a team this summer. Newberry is another program that elected not to have a team this year, while Florence is taking the summer off and plans to come back next season. There are already some prospects for new squads next season, including Greer. Scherer said he expects at least four or five new teams next summer.

"I'm trying to get as many teams as I can," Scherer said.

Posey loves seeing some new teams get into the mix. His Lady Patriots opened the season at Chapin and enjoyed the trip to a new post.

"It's always fun when you go to a new ball field and you're not sure what to expect; the fun, the healthy anxiety around how strong they're going to be," Posey said. "You love strong competition, and you hope for strong competition. We love having extra teams, new teams."

There are a couple of changes outside of the number of teams this summer. The championship is moving locations this season. Instead of Lander, the state championship will be decided at Columbia College. Scherer has also seen attendance grow, a strong sign for the league as a whole.

"Each year, we're growing and growing. This year, I think we picked up over 1,600 new people coming to the games," he said. "And in the last three years, seven girls got scholarships from colleges because they came and watched our games. They saw them in high school, and then they came and watched our championship or our all-star game, and that clinched it for some of them."