The Baseball Circuit

Top Baseball Towns in Massachusetts

Ranked on championships won since 2000 — high school state titles and Little League district, section and state titles counted together, with recent wins weighted more heavily. 118 towns have won something.

Pittsfield leads Massachusetts, scoring 20.53 almost entirely on youth titles, though Boston is close behind on 17.44. 118 towns have won something since 2000.

The top ten in Massachusetts are Pittsfield, Boston, Taunton, Braintree, Middleborough, Walpole, Westfield, Leominster, Seekonk and Holden. Between them they account for 36% of every point scored across the 118 towns on this list.

Size is doing a lot of work here. Seekonk is in the top ten on a population of 15,912, while Boston has 673,458 to draw on — roughly 42 times as many people. That is why the tables below are also split into population bands: a town should be measured against places its own size before it is measured against a city.

Holden is in the top ten on youth baseball alone: 10 Little League titles and no high school championship since 2000.

Recency matters in this table — a title's weight halves every 12 years, so the standings drift on their own every season. Pittsfield, Boston, Taunton and Braintree have won something in the last two seasons, which is why they sit where they do.

One caveat worth reading before you argue with the order. The youth half of this score is Little League only, because Little League is the only organisation that publishes a championship archive — every district, section and state champion back to the 1950s. Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth publish nothing below the World Series. 40 towns in Massachusetts run Cal Ripken or Babe Ruth ball with no Little League program at all, and they score zero youth points here no matter how much they win. Towns that run both lose the Cal Ripken half the same way. If your league has a record we're missing, tell us and we'll add it.

#TownScorePopulationHS titlesLL stateLL districtWon by
1Pittsfield MA
Berkshire County
20.5343,1213321Taconic High · Pittsfield Little League
2Boston MA
Suffolk County
17.44673,4585118Boston College High School · English High School +4
3Taunton MA
Bristol County
13.4661,936314Taunton High · Taunton East Little League +1
4Braintree MA
Norfolk County
12.7739,1343111Braintree High · Archbishop Williams High School +1
5Middleborough MA
Plymouth County
12.6424,8473110Middleborough High · Middleboro Little League
6Walpole MA
Norfolk County
9.8926,391128Walpole High · Walpole Little League
7Westfield MA
Hampden County
9.8440,403117Saint Mary's High School (Westfield) · Westfield Little League
8Leominster MA
Worcester County
9.6644,209117Leominster High School · Leominster Little League
9Seekonk MA
Bristol County
9.4815,91232Seekonk High · Seekonk Little League
10Holden MA
Worcester County
7.9420,32619Holden Baseball Program, Inc
11Milton MA
Norfolk County
7.7728,81125Milton High · Milton National Little League
12Danvers MA
Essex County
6.5428,590210Saint John's Preparatory School · Danvers High +2
13Newton MA
Middlesex County
6.3890,70029Newton Southeast Little League · Newton Little League
14Peabody MA
Essex County
6.2455,418129Bishop Fenwick High School · Peabody Western Little League +1
15Wellesley MA
Norfolk County
6.0931,24226Wellesley Youth Baseball & Softball
16North Andover MA
Essex County
5.7632,13517North Andover High · North Andover Little League
17Worcester MA
Worcester County
5.67211,286212Joe Schwartz Little League · Jesse Burkett Little League
18Shrewsbury MA
Worcester County
5.539,62027Saint John's High School · Shrewsbury Little League
19Lynn MA
Essex County
5.24103,48933Saint Mary's High School · Wyoma Little League +1
20Westwood MA
Norfolk County
5.0416,53342Xaverian Brothers High School · Westwood High +1
21Plymouth MA
Plymouth County
4.9966,6633Plymouth North High
22Needham MA
Norfolk County
4.9532,93114Needham High · Needham Baseball & Softball
23Melrose MA
Middlesex County
4.7529,9386Melrose Little League
24North Reading MA
Middlesex County
4.416,37921North Reading High · North Reading Little League
25Georgetown MA
Essex County
4.348,5582Georgetown High School
26Andover MA
Essex County
4.0836,92717Andover Little League
27Canton MA
Norfolk County
3.6325,16312Canton Little League
28Bridgewater MA
Plymouth County
3.3729,1670.504Bridgewater-Raynham Regional · Bridgewater Little League
29Cohasset MA
Norfolk County
3.258,53222Cohasset High School · Cohasset Youth Baseball & Softball Association
30Hingham MA
Plymouth County
3.1624,41412Hingham High · Hingham Little League
31Norwood MA
Norfolk County
2.9931,76414Norwood High · Norwood Little League
32Swampscott MA
Essex County
2.9315,6585Swampscott Little League
33Auburn MA
Worcester County
2.9117,3232Auburn Senior High
34Everett MA
Middlesex County
2.951,8257Everett Little League
35Medford MA
Middlesex County
2.8859,8988Medford National Little League · North Medford Little League
36Millbury MA
Worcester County
2.8314,1731Millbury Junior/Senior High
37North Chelmsford MA
Middlesex County
2.831Chelmsford High
38Ashburnham MA
Worcester County
2.66,5221Oakmont Regional High School
39Westminster MA
Worcester County
2.68,5091Oakmont Regional High School
40West Springfield MA
Hampden County
2.5829,0282West Springfield High

By town size

A championship out of a town of 6,000 is a different achievement from the same title in a city of 600,000. Same scoring, ranked against places of the same size.

Under 10,000

  1. 1GeorgetownMA4.34 · 9k
  2. 2CohassetMA3.25 · 9k
  3. 3AshburnhamMA2.6 · 7k
  4. 4WestminsterMA2.6 · 9k
  5. 5HadleyMA2.25 · 5k
  6. 6EssexMA2.19 · 4k
  7. 7Manchester-by-the-SeaMA2.19 · 5k
  8. 8BoxfordMA1.72 · 8k

10,000–25,000

  1. 1MiddleboroughMA12.64 · 25k
  2. 2SeekonkMA9.48 · 16k
  3. 3HoldenMA7.94 · 20k
  4. 4WestwoodMA5.04 · 17k
  5. 5North ReadingMA4.4 · 16k
  6. 6HinghamMA3.16 · 24k
  7. 7SwampscottMA2.93 · 16k
  8. 8AuburnMA2.91 · 17k

25,000–75,000

  1. 1PittsfieldMA20.53 · 43k
  2. 2TauntonMA13.46 · 62k
  3. 3BraintreeMA12.77 · 39k
  4. 4WalpoleMA9.89 · 26k
  5. 5WestfieldMA9.84 · 40k
  6. 6LeominsterMA9.66 · 44k
  7. 7MiltonMA7.77 · 29k
  8. 8DanversMA6.54 · 29k

Over 75,000

  1. 1BostonMA17.44 · 673k
  2. 2NewtonMA6.38 · 91k
  3. 3WorcesterMA5.67 · 211k
  4. 4LynnMA5.24 · 103k
  5. 5New BedfordMA1.78 · 101k
  6. 6LowellMA1.06 · 120k

How this is scored

Only titles since 2000 count, each one's weight halves every 12 years, private-school titles count for 0.75 of a public one, and a regional school's championship is split between the towns it serves.

Full method, sources and what the rankings can't see →

By county in Massachusetts

Counties with enough towns on the board to rank. Smaller counties are folded into their state list rather than given a page of three rows.