If Kearny is known as "Soccertown, USA" for its success on the soccer field, then West New York could very well lay claim to being "Baseballtown, USA," for the incredible array of diamond talent that the town possesses.
Every summer, there’s a parade of championship teams on every level that march through West New York. It begins with the Little Leaguers and just keeps on going up the ladder, into the older ranks. The winning begets winning, through each league, through each age division, on and on and on.
Last week, the town’s Babe Ruth program crowned two District 6 champions, the 13-year-old All-Stars and the 15-year-old All-Stars. Both teams have dominated their respective divisions for quite some time.
The championships marked the fifth straight District 6 title for the 13-year-olds and the fourth straight for the 15-year-olds. That level of consistency is almost too unbelievable to be real.
"It really is a pretty remarkable accomplishment, when you think about it," said the head coach of the 13-year-old team, Stefano Calderara. "It’s now become a disappointment when we don’t win."
"I think we’ve become spoiled with our own success," said Tim Nagurka, the coach of the 15-year-old West New York Babe Ruth All-Stars. "Winning the District isn’t good enough anymore. They want to go on and win the states and perhaps go to the World Series. No doubt, we have to be realistic sometimes, but these are kids who won’t settle for anything less."
In any case, the 13-year-olds head off this weekend to their state championship, which will be held in New Milford. Calderara doesn’t know his team’s fate just yet. The schedule cannot be completed until other statewide districts complete their respective tournaments.
The West New York 15-year-olds already know their fate. They will play their first game Sunday, July 14 at 6 p.m., against the winner of the Sussex-Clark game. The 15-year-old state tournament will be held in Garfield.
However, it means that the West New York recreation department, headed by Dennis DeSocio, will be very busy transporting baseball teams all over northern New Jersey. But in this case, it’s a good kind of busy.
Calderara, who has been the head coach of the 13-year-olds for the last two years, thinks that West New York has an advantage in its age bracket, because it has its own developmental league strictly for the 13-year-olds, as they make the tough transition from Little League, with the longer base paths and distances.
"It’s a huge adjustment for the kids in the beginning," Calderara said. "But because of our own league, the kids play a ton of games and get used to it. So they all get more time on the field than other 13-year-olds, who are forced to play in older leagues."
The West New York kids also play in the town’s regular 13-to-15-year-old Babe Ruth league, so they get double exposure and twice the experience.
"They’re pretty ready when it comes time for the tournament," Calderara said.
The 13s won all four games in the District 6, spearheaded by a talented pitching staff. Freymil Lozada, who was a standout on the West New York team that won the District 7 Little League title last year, is the team’s top pitcher. The team’s other pitchers are Danny Rodriguez and Jonathan Cuevas.
All three play positions when not pitching. Lozada is a second baseman, Rodriguez plays third and Cuevas is an outfielder.
Omar Garcia is the team’s first baseman. Calderara likes Garcia’s power. Joey Vasquez is the team’s utility player, who fills in the infield slots when Lozada and Rodriguez are pitching.
Tony Alfonso plays shortstop and is the team’s No. 3 batter.
"He has great hands and a strong arm," Calderara said of Alfonso.
Cheyanne Garcia is the catcher, with Steven Caracena, David Hernandez and Israel Rodriguez manning the outfield, along with Cuevas. Infielder Juan Lamorette, outfielder Nat Diaz, infielder Tye Schroeder, infielder Francisco Tapia and outfielder Mike Marroquin round out the roster.
The 15-year-old All-Stars also feature a deep and talented pitching staff.
"The strength of our team has to be our pitching," Nagurka said. "We have four pitchers who would be aces on any staff."
Steve Minguez, Andy Ortiz, Jesus Castano and lefty Robinson Polanco comprise the four-man staff, although Jon Cruz also gets to see some action on the mound.
"I feel like the Yankees, with all these pitchers we have," Nagurka laughed. "The key to our team is pitching and defense."
Gus Lopez is the team’s catcher. Lopez is a big, strong kid with a bright baseball future. Chris Cabrera mans first base. Cabrera hit two homers in the district tournament. Dayyan Velez, the ace of last year’s 13-year-old team, is this team’s second baseman. Either Castano or Minguez plays shortstop, with Jason Lopez, a member of the Memorial High School varsity team this year, playing third.
Alfredo Cadiz, Paul Sanchez and Rostyng Aceituno man the outfield slots, with Polanco also seeing time there.
Jorge Pardo, Erick Alfonso and Juan Penuela are key reserves for the team.
"We hope to hold our own in the state tournament," Nagurka said. "With our pitching and defense, I think we have a good shot, if the hitting comes around."
So what’s the secret? Why do these kids from West New York excel year after year, where other Hudson County towns fail?
Nagurka believes it’s all in the family.
"I think it’s the culmination of a lot of things," Nagurka said. "First, they win in Little League all the time and that gets them started. Plus, my brothers, Lou and Jack, run clinics all the time during September through March, turning kids with interest into decent players. And I think Mayor [Albio] Sires and [recreation director] Dennis DeSocio are so generous with us and very supportive. That generosity is very rare to see elsewhere."
Lou Nagurka is the dedicated and devoted president of the West New York Babe Ruth program, who goes far and beyond the call of duty all the time. That dedication is paying off in championships by the buckets and will continue throughout the summer months.
Front page photo team members: First row, from left, are: Cheyanne Garcia, Israel Rodriguez, Francisco Tapia and Freymil Lozada. Second row, from left, are Juan Lamourette, Tye Schroeder, David Hernandez, Steven Caracena and Mike Marroquin. Third row, from left, are Jonathan Cuevas, Tony Alonso, Joey Vazquez and Danny Rodriguez. Missing from the picture are Omar Garcia and Nat Diaz.
Pictured above:Front row, from left: Paul Sanchez, Steve Minguez, Jorge Pardo, Rostyng Aceituno and Jon Cruz. Back row, from left, are coach Anthony Alpizar, coach Angelo Rosa, Jason Lopez, Erick Alfonso, Jesus Castano, Andy Ortiz, Juan Penuela, Gus Lopez, Chris Cabrera, Dayyan Velez, Ramon Feliz, Alfredo Cadiz and head coach Tim Nagurka.