Talk about your dream days.
Two teams from Jersey City youth baseball traveled to Yankee Stadium Monday morning to play in Major League Baseball’s RBI (Rebuilding Baseball in the Inner-City) Regional championships.
That alone is something that these youngsters will hold near and dear for the rest of their lives.
It certainly inspired the two coaches.
“It was very exciting and not just for the kids,” said Mike Hogan, the head coach at Ferris and the manager of the 18-and-under Senior RBI team. “It was exciting for all of us. We were playing in a major league ballpark. We were in Yankee Stadium.”
“To me, it was the best opportunity ever,” said Danny Suarez, the head coach at Hudson Catholic and the manager of the 15-and-under Junior RBI squad. “We’ll never ever forget this and kids will take it with them for the rest of their lives. At family parties, at get-togethers, they can say that they played at Yankee Stadium. I know I’ll never forget this. It feels like a dream come true. To step foot in Yankee Stadium and going into the locker room, then on the field. You can see the smiles on the kids’ faces. It means everything to them. It means everything to me.”
And the teams were able to wear Yankee uniforms for the games, right down to the very last pinstripe and interlocking NYs.
Wait, it gets better. Both teams managed to win their games Monday to move on to the RBI National Championships in Jupiter, Florida this week.
The Jersey City RBI Junior squad held a 6-0 lead for most of the game, then squandered it in the last two innings, but rallied to score three runs in the eighth inning to take a 9-6 victory against a team from Philadelphia.
“That’s the beauty of baseball,” Suarez said. “The game wasn’t over yet. Philadelphia had a very good team and they could swing the bats. But we came right back and did a tremendous job.”
It was memorable for a lot of the Jersey City players. Starting pitcher Michael Doran was brilliant for six innings and then Scott Donaghue, who made two major league plays at third in one inning, came in and earned the save on the mound. Both Doran and Donaghue are sons of decorated Jersey City police officers.
“It was amazing for me, because I hadn’t pitched in over a year,” Donaghue said. “This is incredible.”
Another of the Jersey City contingent had a moment he’ll never forget. Jose Arias smacked a pitch over the left field wall for a home run. Imagine being a 15-year-old kid and saying you hit a homer at Yankee Stadium? That kid has bragging rights to last a lifetime.
“I lucked out to get a chance to coach a team like this,” Suarez said. “They’re all very respectful and represent Jersey City very well.”
The elder group fell behind to Boston in the title game early, 3-1, and things didn’t look good. But former St. Mary’s pitcher and basketball star Juan Cruz settled down and didn’t allow Boston to cross the plate again en route to a 5-3 victory. Cruz went the distance for the win.
“Juan was getting hit hard early on, but he’s such a competitor that he used his good stuff to get us through,” Hogan said. “This is a very good group of kids. There isn’t a bad player on the team, but only nine can play. Usually, there might be a problem with egos, but for the most part, they understand that everyone can’t play. I know I can’t make them all happy.”
Added Hogan, who is a lifelong Yankee fan, “I coached in an All-Star game once at the old Yankee Stadium, but this was more meaningful, because we won the game and had something to play for. This was definitely more memorable. It was just an awesome day and it was great that both Jersey City teams won.”
There was no time or room for celebration. Both teams left the next morning at the crack of dawn Tuesday to head to Florida.
And they weren’t the only local team to celebrate an RBI regional title last weekend. The Jersey City RBI softball team also captured its regional tourney and will head to the nationals. The team was presented with their banner at Yankee Stadium Monday, but their national tournament won’t start until next week.
We’ll have more on their success in next week’s editions…
The EXTRA INNINGS weekly feature focuses on the best stories that come from local baseball and softball leagues throughout the area.
If you have any noteworthy information to contribute to the EXTRA INNINGS, feel free to contact Jim Hague by voice mail at 201-798-7800, ext. 751, by general mail at 1400 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, or via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com.
Please include a telephone contact name and number, in order to secure further information for a possible story. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.