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American Legion Baseball

The American Legion Baseball League started in 1925 with the Rayson-Miller team joining the league in District 7 in 1973. The team is comprised of young men from 13 to 19 years of age recruited from Pittsford Mendon HS, Pittsford Sutherland HS, McQuaid Jesuit HS, Aquinas Institute, Batavia Notre Dame HS, Honeoye Falls-Lima HS and Gananda’s Ruben A Cirillo High School. Tom Sapienza has been the team manager and coach since its inception. The Rayson-Miller Post Baseball team looks for commitment in its players. Rayson-Miller Post 899 understands that faith, parents, work, and school are priorities; however, the candidates must also understand that dependability and commitment to the team are also very important aspects for making the Rayson-Miller roster and also for making RM Baseball special.


2022 Rayson-Miller Baseball Season!

The Rayson-Miller baseball team is looking forward to supporting the Greece American Legion Post 468 Baseball Team has they play in the state tournament.

The Rayson-Miller baseball team finished 9-11. Greece Post was the local power. RM’s high point was beating Greece 2-1 in the semi's of the District 7 championships – it was Greece Post’s first loss. The Greece Post team then won the rubber game versus Rayson-Miller Post and went on to take 2/3 from Ely-Fagan to win American Legion district VII. The Greece Post team have now qualified for the NYS final four to be playing the week of July 25th. Hope they win NYS tournament!



Rayson-Miller Post 899 Baseball Hall of Fame

Rayson-Miller Post 899 started a Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. That year Mike Carl Jones and Danny Mendick were inducted. In 2021 Ernie Clement and Jarrod Rampey (posthumously) were inducted.

 

Rayson-Miller Post 899 Baseball Hall of Fame

2021 Baseball Hall of Fame Night

2019 Inductee - Mike Carl Jones

Jones attended Pittsford Sutherland HS. He is now retired from Major League Baseball as a pitcher. He played during four seasons at the major league level for the Kansas City Royals. He was signed by the Royals in the 1st round (21st pick) of the 1977 amateur draft. Jones played his first professional season with their Rookie league Gulf Coast Royals and Class A-Advanced Daytona Beach Islanders in 1977, and his last season with the Baltimore Orioles' Triple-A Rochester Red Wings in 1990.

He played during four seasons at the major league level for the Kansas City Royals.

2019 Inductee - Danny Mendick

Mendick attended Pittsford Mendon High School in Pittsford, New York and played college baseball at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 22nd round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.

Mendick made his professional debut with the Arizona League White Sox, he played 2016 with the Kannapolis Intimidators (with whom he was named a South Atlantic League All-Star honors, Winston-Salem Dash and Charlotte Knights. He played 2017 with Winston-Salem, earning Carolina League All-Star honors and the Birmingham Barons, and after the season played in the Arizona Fall League. Mendick played 2018 with Birmingham, earning a selection to the Southern League All-Star Game. He started 2019 with Charlotte.

On September 3, 2019, the White Sox selected Mendick's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his major league debut that night versus the Cleveland Indians as a pinch runner.

On May 17, 2021, Mendick hit his first career grand slam off of Derek Law of the Minnesota Twins.

2021 Inductee - Ernie Clement

Clement attended Brighton High School in Rochester, New York, where he played baseball and ice hockey. Undrafted out of high school in the 2014 MLB draft, he enrolled at the University of Virginia where he played college baseball.

Clement was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round of the 2017 MLB draft. He signed with Cleveland and made his professional debut with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League. He began 2018 with the Lake County Captains of the Class A Midwest League and was promoted to the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League and Akron RubberDucks of the Class AA Eastern League during the season. He returned to Akron to begin 2019. He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox following the season. Clement did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indians added him to the 40-man roster on November 20, 2020. To begin the 2021 season, he returned to Columbus, now members of the newly-formed Triple-A East.

On May 30, 2021, Clement was promoted to the major leagues for the first time as the 27th man on the Indians' roster for the second game of their doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays; he did not make an appearance in that game and was optioned back to Columbus the next day. Clement was recalled by the Cleveland Guardians (formerly the Cleveland Indians) on June 13, 2021. He made his major league debut that same day as a pinch hitter against the Seattle Mariners, striking out in his first major league plate appearance.

2021 Inductee - Jarrod Rampey

Taken from the Binghamton University Bearcats Memorial.

Rampey pitched for the Bearcats for two seasons in 2005 and 2006 before earning his bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics & Law. He transferred to Binghamton from Wofford College (S.C.) and between the two schools, Rampey won 14 collegiate games and amassed 192 strikeouts as a weekend starter. As a junior in 2005, he made 12 starts and led BU with five wins and a 3.94 ERA. On a staff that featured future MLB pitcher Scott Diamond and Hall of Fame member Zach Groh, Rampey was the workhorse with 80.0 innings. He got the ball to start Binghamton's historic first America East postseason game when the Bearcats advanced to the conference tournament for the first time. Rampey made nine more starts in his senior season and notched a pair of wins and a save.

"Jarrod was a gifted pitcher, tremendous competitor, great teammate and above all, an outstanding young man," 29th-year head coach Tim Sinicki said. "His infectious smile and willingness to do whatever he could for the success of the program and his teammates will never be forgotten."

He was a four-year scholastic standout at Pittsford-Sutherland in Rochester, earning all-state and league player of the year accolades. Rampey was Section 5 Player of the Year as a senior after winning seven games, posting a 1.00 ERA and leading his team to the sectional final. The team captain and two-time team MVP also hit .547 and played shortstop when not on the mound.

After beginning his career in the highly-regarded Southern Conference, Rampey came back to New York State and made a strong impression on his teammates.

Sadly, Jarrod Rampey lost his battle with colon cancer on January 24, 2021.

RM Baseball Team and Sponsor's Banquet

December 27, 2018 - photos courtesy of Bill Rahn

Rayson-Miller Post 899 hosted a banquet for our RM Baseball players, coaches and our wonderful sponsors who generously donated to provide new uniforms this past season for our team.



2018 Gallery of Team in Actions




  • 2018 Rayson Miller Baseball in Action
 
 
112 - Here's what we need to do.

About the players

Our present team consists of 17 members.

Number Name
1 Jesse Countryman
2 Joey Kench
3 Lukas Haefner
4 Owen VanNewkirk
5 Pete Taylor
6 Colin Smith
7 Grant Rodriguez
7 Ian Read
8 Hayden Smith
9 Max Countryman
10 Andrew Sanchez
13 Peyton Parmeter
15 Anthony Puma
15 Donald Varrenti
22 Zach Ochs
24 Vinny Mason
- Sam Leonardo

Impact of American Legion Baseball

The American Legion Baseball league has had and continues to have positive impacts within Major League Baseball such as turning out many MLB players, managers, and commissioners, and has more than sixty program graduates in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Legion Baseball also has a reputation for serving the young people who play in the league. In college scholarships, the league annually awards a minimum of $25,000; $500 for a player selected from each state based upon leadership, character, scholastic achievement, and financial need. Some individual states may also award even more. Truly a character building youth program of the American Legion.

And did you know that American Legion Baseball is the oldest organized baseball program in our country. For detailed information visit American Legion Baseball.

2017 Rayson-Miller Baseball Team

2017 Rayson-Miller Baseball Team Photo

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Donate

Rayson-Miller American Legion Post 899 supports the community's youth programs and our initiative of Veterans Supporting Veterans with donations.

Please consider donating today!

For any generous donation of $25 or more receive this beautifully embroidered 4 inch patch as our Thank You gift.

Rayson-Miller Post 899 is a 501(c)(19) not for profit organization. Your donations are tax deductible.

Veterans Supporting Veterans patch