A year ago, Ben Sierra, who is the coach of the Roberto Clemente Little League 12-year-old All-Stars, developed a friendship with John Ward, one of the hardest-working and dedicated youth baseball coaches in the city. Ward spends most of his free time coaching in the Pershing Field Cal Ripken League in the Jersey City Heights.
Last September, Sierra took his 10-year-old All-Stars from Clemente up to Pershing Field to face Ward’s 10-year-old All-Stars in a friendly three-game series.
“We’d play on Christmas Day if there was a field,” Ward said. “We just wanted to give the kids another chance to play.”
So this summer, when Clemente won the District 7 12-year-old Little League title and Pershing Field captured the 12-year-old District 6 crown in Cal Ripken Baseball, the decision was easy. It was time for a true championship showdown between the two leagues.
“We met each other last week at a Stop and Shop and said, ‘You know, it would be great if we could play again,’ ” Ward said. “Considering that we were both champions, it makes for a good contest if we played again, right here in Jersey City.”
Sure enough, it would pit the best local 12-year-old Little League team against the best Cal Ripken team in the area. It would be a best-of-three showdown with the two best All-Star teams in Hudson County.
So the battle for local 12-year-old supremacy will begin Monday night at Roberto Clemente Field, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 of the series will be Tuesday night at Pershing Field and if a third game is necessary, it will return to Roberto Clemente Field for the deciding game on Wednesday.
“We wanted to do something that would make it exciting for the kids,” Sierra said. “The kids love it. They didn’t want to return their uniforms yet. They wanted to keep playing.”
After the kids from Clemente – who won the District 7 title in such thrilling fashion, coming back from nine runs down in the title game to defeat Hoboken North – lost in the Section 2 tournament in Hoboken, they were sure that their season was over.
“That’s what they thought,” Sierra said. “But as soon as I told them about this series, they were very excited. It’s the best of Jersey City. There’s nothing really on the line. It’s just a chance for the kids to keep playing baseball. Of course, we’re glad to be playing. If I had my way, I’d take these kids to play baseball every day of the week if they let me. We’re still having fun with it and that’s all that matters.”
Sierra said that he’s happy to get his team another chance to play because they seemed to be somewhat overwhelmed at the state sectionals.
“The kids weren’t as hungry as they were when the played in the districts,” Sierra said. “That’s why it’s good we’re having this series, to give them another chance to prove themselves.”
Nothing better than proving yourselves in a series against a rival league in the same city, a bunch of kids from Downtown taking on a group of youngsters from the Heights.
It should be exciting.
Many years ago, the Jersey Journal used to sponsor a Little League tournament called the Tournament of Champions, where all of the respective league champions from all over Hudson County would play each other to determine the best Little League team.
It was really an exciting time for the players, getting a chance to extend their respective Little League seasons into August.
Back then, there was only Little League baseball to choose from. There were no alternative leagues like Cal Ripken, which is a subsidiary of the Amateur American Baseball Congress (AABC).
But you would have 14-to-16 teams that won their respective Little League crowns knocking heads to determine the best Little League team in the county. The tourney just faded off into the sunset about 15 years ago or so. Ward tried to bring back the tourney in some capacity last year, but found that the interest for such a tourney waned throughout.
Now, you have a mini-Tournament of Champions, pitting the two district champs against each other. It will definitely be something to remember for the youngsters involved.
And imagine, it all took place because two dedicated men decided to go grocery shopping at the same time.
“We like to think we have the two best programs in the area,” Ward said. “The kids all want to play ball. We’re just giving them a chance.”
And giving them to create memories that could very well last a lifetime.