Top Baseball Towns in Rhode Island
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. 26 towns have won something.
Warwick leads Rhode Island, scoring 23.42 almost entirely on high school titles, and not narrowly — Warwick is clear of Cranston by 7.58 points. 26 towns have won something since 2000.
The top ten in Rhode Island are Warwick, Cranston, Cumberland, Lincoln, North Kingstown, Providence, Coventry, Barrington, Woonsocket and Portsmouth. Between them they account for 72% of every point scored across the 26 towns on this list.
Size is doing a lot of work here. Barrington is in the top ten on a population of 17,027, while Providence has 194,706 to draw on — roughly 11 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.
Coventry is in the top ten on youth baseball alone: 9 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. Warwick, Cranston, Lincoln and North Kingstown 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 organization 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. 2 towns in Rhode Island 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.
| # | Town | Score | Population | HS titles | LL state | LL district | Won by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warwick RI Kent County | 23.42 | 83,554 | 17 | 1 | 6 | Bishop Hendricken High School · Toll Gate High School +1 |
| 2 | Cranston RI Providence County | 15.84 | 84,448 | 3 | 4 | 14 | Cranston High School West · Cranston Western Little League |
| 3 | Cumberland RI Providence County | 14.92 | 37,509 | 1 | 5 | 8 | Cumberland High School · Cumberland Youth Baseball Softball League |
| 4 | Lincoln RI Providence County | 14.89 | 23,507 | 1 | 8 | 10 | Lincoln Senior High School · Lincoln Little League Baseball |
| 5 | North Kingstown RI Washington County | 9.99 | 27,938 | 2 | 1 | 3 | North Kingstown Sr. High · North Kingstown Wickford Little League |
| 6 | Providence RI Providence County | 9.39 | 194,706 | 5 | — | — | Central High School · Classical High School +2 |
| 7 | Coventry RI Kent County | 6.96 | 36,081 | — | 2 | 7 | Coventry Little League |
| 8 | Barrington RI Bristol County | 6.06 | 17,027 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Barrington High School · Barrington Little League |
| 9 | Woonsocket RI Providence County | 5.83 | 44,508 | 2 | — | — | Woonsocket High School |
| 10 | Portsmouth RI Newport County | 5.59 | 17,391 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Portsmouth High School · Portsmouth Little League |
| 11 | Westerly RI Washington County | 5.05 | 23,288 | 2 | — | — | Westerly High School |
| 12 | Newport RI Newport County | 4.67 | 24,482 | 2 | — | — | Rogers High School |
| 13 | East Providence RI Providence County | 4.62 | 47,961 | 2 | — | 1 | East Providence High · East Providence Central Little League |
| 14 | North Scituate RI Providence County | 3.47 | — | 2 | — | — | Ponaganset High School |
| 15 | North Smithfield RI Providence County | 3.44 | 12,899 | 2 | — | — | North Smitfield HS |
| 16 | East Greenwich RI Kent County | 3 | 14,769 | 1 | — | — | East Greenwich High |
| 17 | North Providence RI Providence County | 2.83 | 34,791 | 1 | — | — | North Providence High |
| 18 | Wakefield RI Washington County | 2.64 | — | 2 | — | — | South Kingstown High |
| 19 | Johnston RI Providence County | 2.6 | 30,363 | 2 | — | — | Johnston Senior High |
| 20 | Harrisville RI Providence County | 2.59 | — | 2 | — | — | Burrillville High School |
| 21 | Middletown RI Newport County | 2.25 | 16,610 | 1 | — | — | Middletown High School |
| 22 | Wood River Junction RI Washington County | 1.89 | — | 1 | — | — | Chariho High School |
| 23 | West Warwick RI Kent County | 1.46 | 31,326 | 2 | — | — | West Warwick High School |
| 24 | Narragansett RI Washington County | 1.42 | 14,407 | 1 | — | — | Narragansett High School |
| 25 | Pawtucket RI Providence County | 0.89 | 76,996 | 1 | — | — | William E. Tolman High |
| 26 | Smithfield RI Providence County | 0.84 | 22,535 | 1 | — | — | Smithfield High School |
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.
10,000–25,000
- 1LincolnRI14.89 · 24k
- 2BarringtonRI6.06 · 17k
- 3PortsmouthRI5.59 · 17k
- 4WesterlyRI5.05 · 23k
- 5NewportRI4.67 · 24k
- 6North SmithfieldRI3.44 · 13k
- 7East GreenwichRI3 · 15k
- 8MiddletownRI2.25 · 17k
25,000–75,000
- 1CumberlandRI14.92 · 38k
- 2North KingstownRI9.99 · 28k
- 3CoventryRI6.96 · 36k
- 4WoonsocketRI5.83 · 45k
- 5East ProvidenceRI4.62 · 48k
- 6North ProvidenceRI2.83 · 35k
- 7JohnstonRI2.6 · 30k
- 8West WarwickRI1.46 · 31k
Over 75,000
- 1WarwickRI23.42 · 84k
- 2CranstonRI15.84 · 84k
- 3ProvidenceRI9.39 · 195k
- 4PawtucketRI0.89 · 77k
How this is scored
- High school state championship — 3 points
- Little League state title — 3 points
- Little League sectional title — 2 points
- Little League district title — 1 point
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 Rhode Island
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.