Warren and Bristol have competed against each other in athletic events since at least the 1870s.  As near as can be learned, it wasn’t until 1943 that the towns first joined forces and the combined team immediately captured the Boys Under 16 State Baseball Championship.

Six years later a decision was made to try this concept again, and Warren Post entered American Legion baseball competition with a squad composed of players from both of our communities.

Competing in the Eastern Division, they rolled through their opponents (downing Howard Rogers on a Richie Cordeiro no-hitter) and eventually defeated Fox Point to win the divisional title.  In the playoffs, they doubled the score of Stark Parker Post before edging Roger Williams twice to win the state championship.

Moving on to Torrington, Connecticut, the Henry and Joseph Correia-coached nine garnered victories over White Plains, New York and defending national champion Trenton, New Jersey to win the regional title.  The Providence Journal exulted: “Warren became the baseball capital of Rhode Island again (behind) the heavy hitting of Captain Bill Servant.”

Hindsight says that the team should have traveled immediately to Trenton for the national semifinals.  However, a combination of some bad colds, homesickness, and a local desire to honor the team brought them home to a series of motorcades and parties.  By the time they arrived in New Jersey, they were not in a proper frame of mind for playing baseball and were eliminated.  But in no way did this detract from a wonderful summer!

The team comprised Pat Abbruzzi, Joe Andrade, Bob Avila, Charlie Barrett, Tony Cembrola, Hank Correia, Dick Cordeiro, Iggy Delekta, Herm Grabert, Ron Greenwood, Dick Krawczyk, Lou Murgo, Bill Servant, Warren Seymour, Bill Smith, and Paul Vitullo, and, as noted above, was coached by Henry and Joseph Correia. 

Abbruzzi, Cordeiro, Grabert, Murgo, and Servant were named All State in one or more sports, and all five of them plus Henry Correia are members of their home town Athletic Hall of Fame.

Pat Abbruzzi was named Rhode Island Athlete of the Year in 1954, accepted the 1955 Schenley Award as Canada’s Outstanding Football Player, and coached the Warren High School football team to eight championships.  Richie Cordeiro played in the Boston Braves’ minor league system.  Herm Grabert played minor league baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals and eventually served as the Warren High principal.  Lou Murgo, the 1950 Journal-Bulletin Honor Roll Boy while a student at Colt Memorial High School, graduated from Brown University, where he was the only student-athlete in that school’s history to captain the baseball, basketball, and football teams, and later coached the Warren High basketball team during most of the 1960s.  And Bill Servant, following a stint in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system, was the Warren Community Services playground director for many years.

 Picture from Hall of Fame archives (Team picture also displayed in Archives Gallery)