Real Baseball: Cumberland Little League moves to the regionals
Friday, August 06, 2010
Anyone who played baseball as a kid knows that the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA is the ultimate dream. For the boys from the Cumberland National All Star team, it’s still a reality.
The Rhode Island State Champions begin play tonight in the opening round of the New England Regional Tournament in Bristol, CT with the hopes of advancing to next Saturday’s Regional Final, which will air on ESPN and send the winner to the World Series. The first round will consist of four games with the top four teams advancing to the semi-finals. Cumberland plays Fairfield American (CT) in its first game.
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In order to advance to the regionals, Cumberland first had to win its District followed by the state championship. The Nationals won District IV in dominating fashion, averaging over 14 runs per game and getting three no hitters from their top two pitchers, Ty Calabro and Jax Domonte. In the state tournament, the team had to come from behind twice, including a walkoff win over Portsmouth in the final game.
Manager: We learned a lot last season
Cumberland National heads to the regionals undefeated, but manager John Brodeur said the road to Bristol began last year, when the team advanced to District Championship before falling to a Lincoln team that eventually fell one win shy of reaching Williamsport.
“We weren’t sure what would happen last season,” he recalls. “We went into All Stars with ten 11 year olds and we had a lot of success. It gave us a lot of optimism. This year we have been able to build on it with a team that hits for average and has a lot of power.”
Brodeur credits coaches Rocky Baldelli and Mike Calabro and playing an AAU travel schedule with helping prepare his team for this season. He said Baldelli, whose son Rocco was one of the greatest high school athletes in state history before the Tampa Bay Rays selected him in the first round of the 2000 Amateur draft, has so much baseball knowledge and so dedicated to sharing it with the entire team.
“Rocky and Mike will leave no stone unturned for this team,” Brodeur said. “They know when to be coaches, when to be parents and when to be there for the kids. Our AAU team was different than most because we were only from Cumberland. It helped us coach the players even more.
Versatility is the key
In order to make a run in Bristol, Cumberland National will need more than two pitchers to carry the load. Brodeur said he thinks pitching is one of the team’s greatest strengths, but admits that it has ridden the arms of Calabro and Domonte so far.
“We have a lot of guys that can get up there and pitch,” he said. “Ryan O’Neill throws a lot of strikes. We’ve got Rocky’s son Nick who will probably throw. And we have Mike Bogolawski and few other guys who we think can get the job done. They haven’t had to pitch as much, but we believe in them.”
Brodeur said he used the AAU games to have the players try a lot of different positions, so he could be flexible with where he put them in All Stars. He said Baldelli has been the team’s defensive star, noting that the 2nd Baseman has probably made more defensive plays than the rest of the team combined.
Winning takes a commitment from all involved
A deep run in All Star tournaments can wind up lasting the entire summer. It often means putting off those trips to Disney World or the Cape off in favor of long practices and stressful games. But Brodeur says he hasn’t had one complaint from the players or their parents and that everyone has the same goal in mind.
“Our parents have been great,” Brodeur said. “Some teams run into problems with that stuff but we’ve been so fortunate to have everyone involved. After big wins, we’ll all get together and just enjoy ourselves. We’re all like a close-knit family. Our kids have had a fun experience and our parents have had a great experience.”
So for now, the vacations are on hold.
After all, Williamsport is beautiful this time of year.
