Two baseball players in the Cal Ripken League will be honored at an awards dinner on Nov. 11 for their achievements on the ball field and in the classroom. Both will receive a $100 gift card to Modell’s Sporting Goods.
Shane Paradine and Kapil Kanakaraj were both honored with the fourth annual Bayonne Cal Ripken Scholar Athlete Award. Shane played for The Rock team, and Kapil played for the Nacirema Group team.
The award came out of the “Be Like Cal Contest,” which looks for many of the same features that made Cal Ripken great within local young people playing for the league.
“I established the award back in 2008 after thinking about the person who our league is named after – Cal Ripken Jr.,” said Cal Ripken League Vice President Mike Miselis. “I thought it would be a great way for us to honor kids who not only do it on the field, but – more importantly – off the field, as well.”
“I established the award back in 2008 after thinking about the person who our league is named after – Cal Ripken Jr.” – Mike Miselis
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Known as the “Iron Man,” Ripken broke the record set by Yankee great Lou Gehrig by playing in 2,632 consecutive games.
Each year, the Bayonne Cal Ripken Baseball League honors its own players for their work ethic both in school and on the playing field. In particular, these two students not only achieved great things on the field, but also had first honors in all of their classes at school and did not miss any games or any days at school.
The rookie
Shane Paradine was a rookie last season in the very competitive Major League Division. Despite being only 10 years old, he was considered one of the best players in the entire Bayonne Cal Ripken League.
“The young 10-year-old was one of the league’s outstanding catchers. When you think about how hard that position is, that is a terrific accomplishment,” Miselis said, noting that Shane was named most valuable player in the 10-year-old district tournament and was instrumental in helping his team of 10-year-olds win the championship.
In that tournament, Shane had nine hits in 10 at bats while driving in six runs and showing that accurate arm off as he threw out all four runners who attempted to steal.
During an interview last week, Shane said that throwing out base stealers was one of the toughest things he had to learn as a catcher, and it is something he still works on – throwing accurately to second base.
Just about 11 years old now, Shane started with the instructional league at age 4.
Although he has since moved on to attend Nicolas Oresko School, Shane attended Walter F. Robinson School last year, finishing with first honors for his schoolwork. He had perfect attendance during the baseball season, not missing one game. In his previous three years in the league while playing for Big Apple in the Rookie League, he did not miss any of his 117 practices or 36 games. So in four years, he never missed a game or a practice.
While Shane said his favorite team is the New York Mets, his favorite baseball player is Joe Mauer, catcher for the Minnesota Twins. Shane said he intends to become a Major League baseball player, and possibly also a teacher. He said his favorite subjects are math and science.
Shane said he is currently enrolled in the Fall Ball program, which is largely designed to help athletes work on their skills.
Runs in the family
Kapil Kanakaraj was 12 years old when he pitched his way into winning the award – for the second consecutive year. Just turning 13 years old, Kapil started in the league at 8, and said that the most difficult thing he had to learn was the change up pitch.
This year, he was one of the best pitchers in the league, finishing with four wins and no losses, and a 2.57 earned run average – the sixth lowest in the league.
Kapil also attends Nicholas Oresko School, where he had perfect attendance. Not only did he finish with first honors in his classes at school over the last two years, he never missed a game during that same period.
This must be something that is in his genes since Kapil’s sister, Indhu Kanakaraj, also won the award in 2009.
As with Shane, Kapil said his favorite team is the New York Mets, but his favorite player is Jose Reyes, the Mets’ stellar short stop. Kapil is also very fond of math, and hopes to become a scientist some day. He said he was happy to have won the award.
“I’m proud of myself, and I hope to win it again next year,” he said.
Miselis said Kapil was one of the most improved players from a year ago.
“He turned into one of the best pitchers in the league,” Miselis said. “Like Shane, his work ethic is much like Cal Ripken’s. These streaks show how hard these kids work, and out of 450 kids in our program, for only two kids to be able to accomplish such a feat shows how hard it is.”
While some other players come close, the award is reserved for those who meet the strict criteria.
“To keep the integrity of the award, we will not lower the standards,” Miselis said.