Men’s Adult and Senior Baseball Leagues seeking new players
By Ben Olson Reader Staff
There’s nothing that compares to the feeling of putting on a uniform, trotting onto the diamond and playing baseball. It’s a sport that continues to captivate people of all ages, but after high school and college, the opportunities to play competitive hardball diminish drastically.
That is, until the Men’s Recreational Baseball League came along. The national organization is entering its 30th year of offering adult and senior men the chance to relive the glory days on the baseball diamond.
The Inland Northwest Mens baseball league is actively seeking new players across Bonner and Boundary counties for the 2026 season, with hopes to form a North Idaho team.
The league is separated into four divisions, including 18+, 30+, 45+ and 60+. Play across all four divisions spans from May to October, with nationally-sanctioned tournaments held throughout the year. Each division concludes with playoff games and, for two lucky teams, a chance to play in the World Series games held in Arizona and Florida every fall on professional-level fields.
Courtesy photo
The league is open to anyone with a love of baseball to participate. Winter workouts start in January at the Spokane’s Airdrome NW Sports Complex, which has both fielding and batting areas available for practice.
League tryouts and draft will be held on April 12 at Hart Field in Spokane and all skill levels are welcome to tryout. Both full- and part-time players are welcome, and games are played on local high school and college fields.
Greg Peterson founded the local league in 1996 and served as its first president until 2001. For Peterson, playing recreational hardball was a great way to connect back to his glory days while also making good friends along the way. It has become Peterson’s passion to expand the league, as well as to find enough players to form a North Idaho team.
“I say play until you can’t play no more,” he told the Reader. “Putting on that uniform, playing the games and having a beer and something to eat with the guys afterward, that really makes you feel young again. You’ve got truck drivers, accountants, all different professions. We have fathers and sons playing together. … We even had four guys in their 70s, one was 78 and the other 79, who carpooled from Coeur d’Alene to play baseball.”
Peterson is also hoping to schedule a tryout session here in Sandpoint. Check the Reader events calendar to see when it will be held.
Peterson said the league utilizes courtesy baserunners after the hitter reaches first base, and players avoid collisions at all costs.
“We’re a recreational league,” he said. “It’s just like softball, but we’re playing hardball.”
The future looks bright, Peterson said, to add another team from North Idaho, with Toby Fry of Priest River already slated as manager.
“We’ve had thousands of players coming through our league over the years,” Peterson said. “We expect 350 to 400 players this year alone. Don’t be intimidated by the tryouts. If you come, you will get on a team. We’ll get you on the baseball field.”
Learn more and sign up at playhardball.org, or contact League President Bret Fink at 208-641-9255 or [email protected]
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