There are 22 junior American Legion baseball teams in the state for players ages 13-17-years-old, but none of them plays its home games in Manchester.

“I wouldn’t be in support of having a junior Legion team because we’re perfectly happy with the Manchester Babe Ruth League,” said Dave Flurey, head coach of the Sweeney Post senior American Legion team. “Having said that, we just don’t have the numbers on the senior level to support junior Legion baseball.”

Flurey said Sweeney Post will enter this season with an 18-player roster. The city’s other Legion teams, Jutras Post and Post 79, have 17 and 16 players, respectively.

“This isn’t like Goffstown or Hudson, where you have one town and one high school team,” said Flurey. “In Manchester, we’ve always had a gentlemen’s agreement that the Babe Ruth program would be the feeder system for American Legion baseball. It’s worked out great for us, and we have no intention of ever breaking that agreement and switching over to junior Legion. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

Flurey acknowledged having a junior circuit has been beneficial to Legion baseball overall, but, he said, “The flip side is, American Legion’s gain has come at the expense of Babe Ruth baseball across the state. If you look around the state, Babe Ruth baseball is watered down. Many of the communities who have junior Legion baseball either don’t have Babe Ruth baseball or don’t have enough players to support all three age (junior) levels of Babe Ruth.”

All told, Babe Ruth baseball includes four age divisions: 13, 14, 13-15 and 16-18, or senior. The chairman of New Hampshire American Legion Baseball, Gary Webster, said he would like to add Manchester to his junior circuit.

“Six years ago, we started with six teams, and now we have 22, including Nashua, which just joined us this year,” said Webster. “The surrounding Manchester towns have junior Legion baseball. Maybe someday we’ll get Manchester to develop one team. At least that’s my hope because it’s good baseball.”

The surrounding towns to which Webster referred are Hooksett, Raymond, Hudson, Derry, Goffstown, Bedford, Merrimack. They’ll be competing in the state American Legion Junior Baseball Tournament, which takes place July 27-31 at Gill Stadium — in Manchester.

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Flurey said former Sweeney Post coach Paul Lemire has agreed to re-join the program as an assistant to George Smith, the post’s athletic director and business manager. “It’s great to have Paul around, but nothing happens without the stamp of approval from George,” said Flurey. “And speaking for Paul, we wouldn’t want it any other way.”

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American Legion baseball fans in the Manchester area will notice that the league is using only wooden bats this season.

“It’s only a state rule, which means any New Hampshire team which qualifies for the regional tournament and beyond will be able to use aluminum bats,” said Webster. “In 2010, the overwhelming majority of American Legion teams in our state voted in favor of using only the wooden bats. By 2015, we will also require that any 19-year-old player from college must be a roster player when he graduates from high school to play in our league. The days of any 19-year-old college player who decides he wants to join and play in our league for one season will be over.”

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So, what's it feel like to fall one win short of earning a berth in the NHIAA Division I state baseball championship game at the Northeast Delta Dental Stadium?

“Very disappointing,” said Manchester Memorial head coach Aaron Abood, whose squad lost to Concord, 2-1, in the semifinals last week.

Concord meets Merrimack today at 4 p.m. in the state finals.

“We had a great group of players, including eight seniors who worked hard all season,” said Abood. “No one, including the (New Hampshire) Union Leader, mentioned us as a contender when the season started back in April. We fell one run short, and, to be honest, it hurt to ask the players to return the uniforms this week. The loss to Concord will stay with me until we open the 2013 season.”

Graduating seniors Zack Beckwith, Mike Torres, Chaz Newton, Ryan Boulay and Tyler Burke will play for Sweeney Post this summer. Brandon Hammerstrom will not. He’s a standout shot putter who will be attending Springfield College in the fall.

Abood said his seniors should go far in American Legion this season with Sweeney Post.

“That team is going to be talented, with Luke Reynolds, Chris Martin, Mike Beaudet and Jake Mills all back. Dan Quinn, who couldn’t play with us because of an ACL tear, is now cleared to play with Sweeney. Dave Flurey is definitely going to have many quality arms on his team this summer. They should be fun to watch.”

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Flurey noted that Sweeney Post will be without the services of standout pitcher/infielder Vinny Langella, who injured his pitching arm late in the season while playing for Memorial. The talk of Division I baseball during a span in which he allowed just two runs (both unearned) in 28 innings as a starter this season, Langella will need rest and rehab over the summer.

“Vinny had a lot to do with us being a good team this year,” said Abood. “Last year he wasn’t very interested in pitching, didn’t think he had the stuff to retire varsity players. He shows up this year and we had him throwing in practice. He looked good, so we used him in relief against Concord and Nashua South. He impressed us so much that we started him against Alvirne (of Hudson), and he just took off with four straight solid starts. He hit a wall against Winnacunnet (of Hampton), and we had to pull him in the first playoff game against Salem.”

Abood said Langella “gradually declined because, until this year, he never pitched this much in his life. He’s a great kid, great competitor, and he’s at the top of my list when it comes to playing with heart. He was definitely one of our key players this year.”

John Habib’s “City Sports” column appears Saturdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email him at jhabib@unionleader.com.