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Kenna's Gym Cubs Nip Affordable Carting D'Backs for PV Minor League Crown
Empire State Games coming soon
 | | Cubs Robert Phillips (L) and Joey Kenna (R) ham it up after their 4-3 Putnam Valley Minor League championship win over the Diamondbacks last Saturday. |
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Over the course of the past 20 years or so of covering local sports, I've witnessed some pretty bizarre things; from parents and players going off on referees, to student athletes brawling with one another on the field of play, to nine and 10-year-old Little Leaguers shaking off pressure to perform with the poise of seasoned veterans.
Last weekend was championship weekend on Little League diamonds all across globe, where children from all walks of life straddled pressure and poise and learned some of life's greatest lessons. There were tears of merriment and tears of dejection from North America to Asia, and there was plenty of that on hand in the PCN&R region where Little League-aged children battled for in-house bragging rights and/or the right to represent their townships in district championships.
I was fortunate enough to be part of something special last Saturday at Putnam Valley where the Putnam Valley Baseball Association climaxed Year 3 with a bona fide baseball bonanza at the Leonard Wagner Memorial Town Park where the Cubs of Kenna's Gym edged the Affordable Carting Diamondbacks by a 4-3 count in extra innings for the Minor League title. I saw early-inning jitters transform into simply beautiful baseball by a bunch of kids I've watched progress for quite some time now. And yeah, the scoreboard showed 14 jubilant winners among Coach Kevin Gallagher's Cubs and 14 heartbroken losers within the ranks of Manager Ed Lent's D'Backs, but the end result was some 28 kids and a slew of families and friends sharing memories they'll likely never forget.
 | | Cub players go wild, including Kevin Gallagher, Kevin Fitzsimmons, Anders Spittal, Assistant Coach Dave Spittal, Angelo Zegarelli, Charlie Pagani, Brandon DeChent and Robert Phillips after their 4-3 Putnam Valley Minor League championship win over the Diamondbacks last Saturday. |
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Close to 350 PVBA participants from ages 4-to-11 were playing on Putnam Valley diamonds last week, culminating with award ceremonies, barbeques and coaches' parties where players and coaches from the Cubs and Diamondbacks to the Marlins and Cardinals swam in the same pool in a post-championship celebration. I know it doesn't seem like much if you weren't there, but I've heard horror stories from other towns where coaches and players want to throttle one another. It could be just a matter of time before it happens in Putnam Valley if they continue to take things too seriously on the lower levels.
 | | Cubs assistant coach Steve Girvalo gives his son, Zach, a great big hug with teammates Anders Spittal (L) and Joey Kenna (R) looking on in amazement after Girvalo scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh of a 4-3 Putnam Valley Minor League championship win over the Diamondbacks last Saturday. |
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I'm not in favor of tournaments or championships for kids under the age of eight. In my heart of hearts, I believe the kids may be ready for such pressure, but I'm not to sure all of their parents are. Therefore, placing a championship label on a Machine Pitch Baseball Game between 6-to-8-yearold youths is sort of frivolous in my opinion. First off, games of this nature rarely have umpires. Coaches/parents are often relied upon in these situations to make the close calls. Some of them don't know all the rules and some of them know too many or make them up as they go along, making for a host of ridiculous blather. I saw it with my own two eyes last weekend, and all I could do was shake my head and wonder what we'd gotten ourselves into. Don't get me wrong. I liked most of what I saw, but the Machine Pitch project needs tweaking before it can be taken to the next level and that cannot be done with proper planning. And umpires cost money, so the participants can expect a rate increase if this is the direction they're headed.
No question: The overall baseball program took major strides in the right direction this year, but the total level of commitment, communication and spirit of volunteerism must increase if the Putnam Valley Baseball Association is going to thrive and survive…
Empires Coming Soon - In case you've had your head buried in the sand and didn't realize it, you can expect some traffic jams across parts of lower Westchester during the week of July 25-29 as some 6,000 athletes and their families converge on Westchester County, which will host the 30th Empire State Games for the first time in their history.
The Games promise to bring out the best of the athletes in the Hudson Valley region; much like it did two years ago when Dutchess County hosted the Poughkeepsie games. Hudson Valley rosters are not available yet, but word on the street has at least two locals looking to participate: From Haldane, hoop star Britney Shields and volleyball slammer Megan Lyons. The ESGs will span as far north as Peekskill (shooting) and as far south as the Bronx (wrestling at Mt. St. Michael), with stops in from Ossining (sailing) to Purchase, New Rochelle, Rye, White Plains, Armonk and Mt. Vernon.
Some of the events will be featured in Pleasantville's Pace University, including volleyball, swimming and some baseball, and many local basketball fanatics will make the trek south to either Valhalla's Westchester Community College (girls hoop) or New Rochelle's Iona College (mens hoop).
A fireworks display, a marching band and some light entertainment are in the works for opening ceremonies at the Kensico Dam on Wednesday the 25th beginning around dusk with the marching of some 6,000 athletes from across the state's six regions: Adirondack, Central, NYC, Long Island, Western and the Hudson Valley.
Personally, I believe there is just too much spread between the venues, which always seems to take away from the Empire State Games. Fans looking for a glimpse of the games will be forced to spend quite a bit of time in their vehicles as they forge about Westchester, which already has a glut of traffic in the I-287 area.
Give me one major campus, like Syracuse or Binghamton University any day, and I'll show you a better accommodated, more personable ESGs. Either way, I'm curious to see if the folks from Westchester, Putnam and Rockland care enough about amateur athletics to support the time and money invested by Westchester organizers. Or will ESG honcho Fred Smith and his cronies make this a one-and-done deal for Westchester County Executive Andy Spano and boys.
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