It was Saturday morning baseball for more than 60 Jersey City Little Leaguers who gathered at the Caven Point Athletic Complex in the city’s Greenville section on May 1. But it wasn’t any ordinary ball game. Instead, the Aquafina Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit, and Run competition was in session.
The competition for kids ages 7 to 14 tested them on three skills: pitching, hitting and running.
The pitching test meant throwing a ball six times at a designated target; the hitting portion was batting a baseball off a plastic tee three times as far as possible, and the running portion was sprinting 160 feet from second base to home plate in the shortest possible time.
“I am just happy to see all the young people come out and be active.” – Armando Roman
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More importantly, the 26 athletes who earned ribbons qualified for the sectional finals next Sunday, May 16, in Staten Island at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home to the New York Yankees’ minor league team. The top scorers from the sectional finals will go on to the third round to be held in a Major League ballpark in June.
The top scorers from the June event will then compete in the National Finals held during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Anaheim, California on July 13.
Looking to go all the way to Anaheim was 12-year-old Giancarlo Veras, who plays in the College Little League in Jersey City. Veras is one of the 26 players going to Staten Island.
“Oh yeah, I would love to go to California, but there’s going to be a lot of good players I’ll be facing along the way,” Veras said.
Play ball!
On May 1, children and their parents were already filing into the Caven Point Athletic Complex at least 15 minutes before the start of the competition.
Checking out the possible future Derek Jeters was Joe Napolitano Jr., who works for the Jersey City Department of Recreation and is the president of the Pershing Field Babe Ruth baseball league. He was also one of the organizers of the Jersey City Pitch, Hit, and Run competition.
“I thank Mayor [Jerramiah] Healy, Department of Recreation Director Joe Macchi, Major League Baseball, parents and coaches for making this event happen,” Napolitano said. “Because this is really about the kids having a good time in a sport they love.”
Echoing Napolitano’s sentiments was Jersey City Fire Director Armando Roman, who accompanied his 8-year-old son Matthew, a player in the Downtown Jersey City-based Roberto Clemente Little League.
“I’m thrilled to see him compete because he’s a good player,” Roman said. “I am just as happy to see all the young people come out and be active.”
The pitching portion started with the boys aiming for a target, and having various degrees of success.
Deandre Loving, 12 years old, who plays for the Giants in the Jackie Robinson Little League, hit the target a few times but said pitching was not his “strong suit.”
Even some girls
After the boys finished their pitching session, then it was the girls’ turn – all four of them.
Amanda Acuna, her sister LeeAnn and their friends Sarah Beckner and Mariela Bello represented College Little League as they did the underhanded toss. They all qualified for the May 16 sectional.
But 11-year-old LeeAnn wished there was more female competition.
“It’s cool being out here, I just wished more girls would have come out,” Acuna said.
The hitting portion was at times hit-and-miss for the competitors. Yet some stood out, like 11-year-old Calvin Araujo from Jackie Robinson, who smacked some long shots that elicited “oohs” and “ahhs” from his peers. The feats earned him a high enough score to qualify him for Staten Island.
The speed running portion was completed by everyone, but dominated by a handful. One speedster was 9-year-old Tyler O’Connor from the Dead Serious team in the College Little League, who after clocking a run in a little over seven seconds, said he felt “great.”