The Baseball Circuit

Top Baseball Towns in New England

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. 365 towns have won something.

Fairfield leads New England, scoring 38.70 almost entirely on youth titles, and not narrowly — Fairfield is clear of Warwick by 15.28 points. 365 towns have won something since 2000.

The top ten in New England are Fairfield, Warwick, Bangor, Pittsfield, Boston, Goffstown, Wallingford, South Burlington, Essex Junction and Cranston. Between them they account for 16% of every point scored across the 365 towns on this list.

Size is doing a lot of work here. Essex Junction is in the top ten on a population of 10,787, while Boston has 673,458 to draw on — roughly 62 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.

Recency matters in this table — a title's weight halves every 12 years, so the standings drift on their own every season. Fairfield, Warwick, Pittsfield and Boston 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. 76 towns in New England 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
1Fairfield CT
Fairfield County
38.765,3002912Fairfield Warde High School · Fairfield National Little League
2Warwick RI
Kent County
23.4283,5541716Bishop Hendricken High School · Toll Gate High School +1
3Bangor ME
Penobscot County
20.7232,4467312Bangor High School · John Bapst Memorial High School +1
4Pittsfield MA
Berkshire County
20.5343,1213321Taconic High · Pittsfield Little League
5Boston MA
Suffolk County
17.44673,4585118Boston College High School · English High School +4
6Goffstown NH
Hillsborough County
17.418,488469Goffstown High School · Goffstown Junior Baseball
7Wallingford CT
New Haven County
17.3844,38972Lyman Hall High School · Mark T. Sheehan High School +1
8South Burlington VT
Chittenden County
17.1921,713467South Burlington High School · South Burlington Youth Baseball & Softball
9Essex Junction VT
Chittenden County
16.0210,787548Essex High School · Essex Junction Little League
10Cranston RI
Providence County
15.8484,4483414Cranston High School West · Cranston Western Little League
11Bedford NH
Hillsborough County
15.1823,856159Bedford High School · Bedford Little League
12Cumberland RI
Providence County
14.9237,509158Cumberland High School · Cumberland Youth Baseball Softball League
13Lincoln RI
Providence County
14.8923,5071810Lincoln Senior High School · Lincoln Little League Baseball
14Waterford CT
New London County
13.8519,910514Waterford High School · Waterford Little League
15Taunton MA
Bristol County
13.4661,936314Taunton High · Taunton East Little League +1
16Saco ME
York County
13.0421,0641310Thornton Academy · Saco/Dayton Little League
17Braintree MA
Norfolk County
12.7739,1343111Braintree High · Archbishop Williams High School +1
18Middleborough MA
Plymouth County
12.6424,8473110Middleborough High · Middleboro Little League
19Portland ME
Cumberland County
12.5169,568823Cheverus High School · Deering High School +1
20Madison CT
New Haven County
12.4917,688117Daniel Hand High School · Madison Little League
21South Royalton VT
Windsor County
12.417White River Valley High School
22Searsport ME
Waldo County
11.312,6857Searsport District High School
23North Kingstown RI
Washington County
9.9927,938213North Kingstown Sr. High · North Kingstown Wickford Little League
24Walpole MA
Norfolk County
9.8926,391128Walpole High · Walpole Little League
25Cumberland ME
Cumberland County
9.868,83253Greely High School · Cumberland / North Yarmouth Little League
26Westfield MA
Hampden County
9.8440,403117Saint Mary's High School (Westfield) · Westfield Little League
27Portsmouth NH
Rockingham County
9.7322,9387Portsmouth High School
28Old Town ME
Penobscot County
9.77,43135Old Town High School · Old Town Little League
29Leominster MA
Worcester County
9.6644,209117Leominster High School · Leominster Little League
30Seekonk MA
Bristol County
9.4815,91232Seekonk High · Seekonk Little League
31Providence RI
Providence County
9.39194,7065Central High School · Classical High School +2
32Monmouth ME
Kennebec County
9.064,2364Monmouth Academy
33Biddeford ME
York County
9.0522,370127Biddeford High School · Biddeford Little League
34Bristol CT
Hartford County
8.2662,19541St Paul Catholic High School · Bristol Little League
35Londonderry NH
Rockingham County
8.0627,1015Londonderry Senior High School
36Concord NH
Merrimack County
7.9844,674213Concord High School · Concord Little League
37Holden MA
Worcester County
7.9420,32619Holden Baseball Program, Inc
38Ellsworth ME
Hancock County
7.938,82227Ellsworth High School · Ellsworth Little League
39Exeter NH
Rockingham County
7.9216,2054Exeter High School
40Orange CT
New Haven County
7.914,4312.3314Amity Regional High School · Orange Little League Baseball CT

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. 1SearsportME11.31 · 3k
  2. 2CumberlandME9.86 · 9k
  3. 3Old TownME9.7 · 7k
  4. 4MonmouthME9.06 · 4k
  5. 5EllsworthME7.93 · 9k
  6. 6NewmarketNH7.48 · 10k
  7. 7GrayME7.36 · 9k
  8. 8LitchfieldNH7.08 · 9k

10,000–25,000

  1. 1GoffstownNH17.4 · 18k
  2. 2South BurlingtonVT17.19 · 22k
  3. 3Essex JunctionVT16.02 · 11k
  4. 4BedfordNH15.18 · 24k
  5. 5LincolnRI14.89 · 24k
  6. 6WaterfordCT13.85 · 20k
  7. 7SacoME13.04 · 21k
  8. 8MiddleboroughMA12.64 · 25k

25,000–75,000

  1. 1FairfieldCT38.7 · 65k
  2. 2BangorME20.72 · 32k
  3. 3PittsfieldMA20.53 · 43k
  4. 4WallingfordCT17.38 · 44k
  5. 5CumberlandRI14.92 · 38k
  6. 6TauntonMA13.46 · 62k
  7. 7BraintreeMA12.77 · 39k
  8. 8PortlandME12.51 · 70k

Over 75,000

  1. 1WarwickRI23.42 · 84k
  2. 2BostonMA17.44 · 673k
  3. 3CranstonRI15.84 · 84k
  4. 4ProvidenceRI9.39 · 195k
  5. 5StamfordCT7.7 · 139k
  6. 6ManchesterNH7.62 · 116k
  7. 7NewtonMA6.38 · 91k
  8. 8WorcesterMA5.67 · 211k

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

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.