In 1951, Little League® baseball was organized in Lexington, with six teams and 102 players at Woodland Park. The next year, 1952, the league was expanded to three leagues: Northern, Southern, and Eastern. Eastern Little League thus traces its roots to 1952, making it the oldest continuously organized Little League® in Lexington. For many years, Eastern Little League played its games behind Morton and Cassidy Schools. In the 1970s, Eastern moved it's home field to Ecton Park on Turkey Foot Road. In 2005, Eastern was the baseball home of over 300 boys and girls, ages 7 to 12, competing in our Rookie, Minor and Major divisions. In 2006, Eastern added Tee Ball for children ages 5 and 6, and later Wee Ball for children age 4. Eastern began playing games at Lansdowne Merrick Park in 2011 and played the first game under the newly installed lights at Upper Merrick field in 2014. In 2020, more than 600 boys and girls, ages 4 to 12, competed in Eastern's various divisions at Ecton and Lansdowne Merrick Parks.
In just its second year of operation, 1953, Eastern won the Kentucky State Little League® championship, advancing to the South Region Tournament in Greenville, North Carolina. In more recent years, Eastern All Stars have continued to compete at the highest levels of State Little League® baseball. In 2017, our 11-12 year old team won the state championship, advancing to the Great Lakes Regional Tournament in Indianapolis, IN, competing on national television. In 2021, Eastern teams won all five district tournaments and advanced to their respective state tournaments, with the 7 year old team finishing as state runner-up, the 8 year old team winning the League's third consecutive coach-pitch state championship, the 9-10 year old team finishing as state runner-up, the 10-11 year old team winning the League's third consecutive state championship in this age division, and the 11-12 year old team finishing as state semi-finalists.
While we are proud of the achievements of our all star teams, Eastern Little League is not “all about all star tournaments.” To everyone familiar with Eastern Little League, Eastern combines all the best aspects of youth baseball: a safe, neighborhood park, friendly parents and players, an emphasis on teaching the fundamentals of baseball, teamwork and good sportsmanship, and, yes, some pretty good baseball.
Come join us. You’ll like what you see. Eastern Little League, a league where it's truly all about the kids.