Roberto Clemente Little League won the unofficial 12-year-old baseball championship of Jersey City last Tuesday, defeating Pershing Field in two straight games in what was scheduled to be a best-of-three series between the two champions.
The Clemente All-Stars, winners of the recent District 7 Little League tournament, defeated Pershing Field, winners of the District 6 Cal Ripken tourney, 7-1 in the first game and 6-4 in the second.
However, if you ask the participants, the coaches, the spectators, anyone involved in the first-ever youth baseball showdown for Jersey City bragging rights, they would all tell you the same thing.
“There were no losers at all,” said Ben Sierra, the head coach of the victorious Roberto Clemente squad. “We are both champions. It was a beautiful thing for Jersey City and for baseball in general. We forgot about the score and just went out to have fun.”
“Everyone was a winner,” said John Ward, the coach for Pershing Field. “Everyone was happy. The attendance for the games was solid. The games were intense. Even though we were playing for fun, there was a little bit of pressure on the line. No one likes to lose. But it was outstanding. Our main focus was trying to bring baseball together in Jersey City, and I think we did that a little. This was a natural fit, the two champions playing. I think it helped to bring peace and helped to build a relationship.”
If that’s the case, then the game of baseball was the big winner from the unofficial city championship. The sport of baseball has been taking some bad hits in recent years It doesn’t help that the World Series is played at night when most youngsters are in bed. It doesn’t help that learning the game of baseball takes patience, perseverance, pride. It’s easier for kids to do other things these days, like sitting in front of the Xbox instead of sitting on a curveball.
Kids don’t want to take the time to learn the fundamentals of what used to be known as America’s pastime. But here are two groups of kids, two teams who just love the game and want to play. They have dedicated coaches who love the game and want to give their teams every chance possible to play.
“I just want the kids to play baseball,” Ward said. “A lot of the All-Star teams could lose two games in a double-elimination tournament and be done. The coaches would collect the uniforms and pack up the ball bag and that would be it for the summer. I can’t do that. We’ve had 16-to-18 extra games, either in tournaments or single games. I do whatever I can to keep the kids playing until September.”
Sierra agreed.
“Just keeping the kids busy, that’s the key,” Sierra said. “Keep them playing. Keep them off the streets. There were no trophies involved, no medals. Just handshakes.”
Sierra said that the series displayed a sense of unity not generally found.
“Here we have kids from two different leagues,” Sierra said. “They come from two different parts of the city. They don’t know each other. They never played on the same team with each other. But when it comes to something like this, the kids all made new friends. A lot of these kids don’t have anything else to do in the summer, except play baseball. We have to find different ways to keep them off the streets and if it’s playing baseball, then it’s baseball.”
In the series opener, Clemente scored four runs in the first inning and coasted to the victory at home. Coach Sierra’s son, Ben Jr., drove in two runs with a single and winning pitcher Sammy Zaki (whose name has been misspelled more than once here in recent weeks) drove in another.
Tim Rodriguez drove in two runs on the night as Clemente earned the 7-1 win. Dan Wilson hit a two-run homer for the winners.
In the second game, Clemente came back from a 4-2 deficit to score four runs in the fifth inning, ending the series. Sierra, Jr. and Zaki had big RBI hits in the rally and Jordan Daly had two RBI.
Steven Price and Stephen Gigante had RBI hits for Pershing Field in defeat.
“No one likes to lose, especially not to a team from their own city and on their own field,” Ward said. “But Roberto Clemente is a first-class act. I wish we could have just got three more outs and we would still be playing. It would have been fitting to go to a third game, no matter who won. I tip my hat to them. They were the better team.”
Added Ward, “But it was a great experience for the kids. They made the city proud. Everything I envisioned about unity and peace came about. I hope we can do it again next year.”
There was only one bad aspect to the game Tuesday for Sierra.
“I had to tell the kids that it was the last game,” Sierra said. “They were asking, ‘Can we find another team?’ They didn’t want to hand in their uniforms. They just wanted to keep playing.”
Sierra said that he was encouraged by the talent levels for both teams.
“There was a lot of talent out there,” Sierra said. “There’s a bright future in baseball. There were others who were at the games who wanted to get involved. It was two championship teams playing a friendly game and it drew a lot of attention. It was good for everyone. Don’t get me wrong. It was competitive and we wanted to win. But it was definitely a lot of fun for everyone.”
And it was a showing of goodwill, sportsmanship and camaraderie that the sport of baseball desperately needed. Here’s to hoping it remains that way in the future, because then there will be one huge winner from all of it – the game of baseball.