This summer, a Media baseball team became just the 3rd team from Delaware County to make it to the Little League championship since the first one was played in 1947. In Newtown and Edgmont there are still many people who fondly remember the last time a Delco team got that far.
Little League for pre-teen boys started to catch on after World War II. In Newtown, Sun Oil – gave land to be used for Little League fields in the early 1950’s. The explosion in suburban population had not yet occurred then, and so Newtown Township with a population of 3518, threw in with neighboring Edgmont Township, population 1048, to form the Newtown Edgmont Little League, and began play around 1953.
The Newtown Edgmont Little League (NELL) had an amazing team in 1967 that bulldozed their opponents on the way to Williamsport. In July an all-star team was selected to compete in regional playoffs. The NELL team had everything – pitchers who threw no-hitters, batters who launched balls over the fences, and fielders who could catch and throw. They were coached by local fathers Jack Daly and Ken Johnson. And they were dominant – one newspaper article referred to their “Murderers Row” that mauled a Chester County team 12-2 to win the District 19 title. No-hitters by Neil Powers and Mike Allen took them to the Pennsylvania state championship, and the same pitchers then threw one-hitters with Powers adding a home run in a 1-0 victory in the Eastern Regionals that sent them to the 8-team World Series playoffs, the first Delaware County team since Upper Darby in 1956.
NELL won their first game against Tampa, before falling by 4-1 to eventual champion West Tokyo. In the consolation game, they beat Linares, Mexico 2-1 to claim 3rd place – in the world! All of the teams then flew to Montreal to visit the Expo ’67 World’s Fair, and then the NELL boys flew home to a heroes’ welcome: 200 people met them at the airport, and then a 40-car caravan (supplied by supporter Frank Videon) brought them home to Newtown with a police escort the whole way. At Media Line Road, the high school band and the fire department joined the parade to the Newtown Square shopping center. During the festivities, with 3,000 residents present, a helicopter descended from the sky to the median strip, and a representative from the Governor read a proclamation celebrating their achievements.
What amazing experiences for 10-12-year-old boys, who then found themselves back in school the following week. But with memories and relationships that would last a lifetime. On the 50th anniversary of that championship season, the players gathered again at their field of dreams in Newtown Square, bonded for life by what they had done together as boys.
For more history on Newtown Square, Delaware County, and membership information, please visit our website at nshistory.org.
