Kids & Family
West Nyack Little League Celebrates 60 Years!
60th Opening Day scheduled for Saturday, March 30 at 9am
This season marks the 60th Anniversary of West Nyack Little League, which was founded in 1959, as they broke away from the Clarkstown Little League. Four major league teams played that first season – Braves, Pirates, Red Sox, and the Yankees, who emerged as the 1959 season champions. 60 years ago, West Nyack played their games in Dexter Stadium off Route 303 thanks to four sponsoring organizations - Dexter Press, who donated the property adjacent to their premises, West Nyack Lions Club, Manganelli and Farrell, and the West Nyack Fire Department.
Today, West Nyack Little League supports hundreds of players from ages 5 to 16 each season, and has hosted a countless number of summer tournaments since its inception. The league has also won 38 county and district tournaments over the years.
Three graduates of the West Nyack Little League program have their major uniform numbers retired:
• John Flaherty, 1980, MLB player from 1992-2005, WNLL Twins #6 retired in Sept. 1995.
• Tom Foley, 1981, New York City Firefighter, lost his life saving others 9/11/01, WNLL Twins #15 retired Apr. 2002.
• Patrick Kivlehan, 2006, MLB player 2016-present, WNLL Braves #49 retired Nov. 2017.
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Opening Day ceremonies for the 2019 season is scheduled for Saturday, March 30 at 9am, weather permitting.
60 years ago…
On Sunday, May 31, 1959, West Nyack Little League held its first ever opening day. At 2pm, the first pitch was thrown in a game between Braves and Pirates at the old Dexter Field off of Route 303 in West Nyack. The original Dexter Field was located behind Dexter Press in what is now the Palisades Center Mall. There were four teams in the original season. Bill Morina headed the Braves, Al Pisano the Yankees, Pete Daniels the Red Sox and Ken Martin the Pirates. In that opening game, the Braves won 4-3 as Richie Gardineer pitched the victory. In the second game, the Yankees downed the Red Sox, 8-4. Michael “Spike” Peterson led the way with a two-run double. The Yankees eventually won that first championship.