History of the Rye Little League
In May of 1957, while at a Lions Club meeting, John Hayes,
Sr., Norm Brown, Chester Seaward and Donal Hall decided to
start a Little League program in Rye. Sam Allen wrote a
check in the amount of $300 for part of the application
fee. Sam lived with his family on the corner of Sea and
Central Roads. He had a son with a disability and wanted to
do something that would allow his son, Waymond Allen, to
have socialization. In the middle 30’s he built a
baseball diamond in his back yard. He supplied bats, balls
and gloves. Rye locals that included Jack Hayes, Jr., Phil
Drake and Dick Locke played there religiously. They had
pick-up games with teams from Portsmouth and North Hampton.
On June 11, 1957, they made application for a franchise and
for the right to conduct a baseball program under the name
“Rye Little League.” The population within the
league boundaries was 2,700. There were four teams, fifteen
players on a team, and a schedule of eighteen games.
The founding fathers included:
President: Norman D. Brown
Vice President: John P. Hayes, Jr. (pictured below on the
2006 Opening Day)
Secretary/Treasurer: Chester Seaward
Player Agent: Donal Lee Hall
Braves Manager: Donal Lee Hall
Cardinals Manager: Robert Lovett
Dodgers Manager: John Scully
Pirates Manager: Irving Jenness
Baseball
games were first played at the Rye Junior High School. They
moved to the Rye Elementary School when the new addition
was completed. In 1974, proceeds from the previous season
provided two of the teams with new uniforms. Prior to this,
only one team was outfitted every four years. The
“snack shack” was constructed thanks to Bob
Patton. The fence running from third base to the left field
corners was moved, allowing the players the opportunity to
catch fly balls in foul territory. Bleachers were built
into the hill along the third base line, thanks to Dick
Tompkins. An electric “Ball-Strike Out” board
was added in right field, thanks to Dan Denman, Howard
Noyes and Joe Mills.
In 2001, the Rye Little League Board of Directors
created an award for outstanding volunteer
service. This award is presented to those dedicated
individuals who have volunteered their time, efforts and
abilities to the Rye Little League in such an outstanding
fashion as to be worthy of lasting recognition and
gratitude. John Sexton was the first recipient and it was
named after him---the John Sexton Award. At that
time, Mr. Sexton was honored for his 22 years of volunteer
service. He has never had a child in the league, yet
he gives his time so readily. The second recipient
was Brian Berry.
In 2003, the Rye Little League was the New Hampshire State
Champions and in 2005 the Rye 11/12 All Stars won the
District 2 championship.
In July 2006, the Rye Little League hosted the New
Hampshire Little League state championship games for the
first time.
(History compiled by Susan Record)