by Ralph Martignetti, NEAA Commissioner
The NEAA Major’s baseball program played an intra-league series with the Hillhouse Little League baseball program last week. This was the first meeting of the two programs and hopefully the start of an annual event. The four NEAA teams were matched up against the four Hillhouse teams in a two game series with each team playing one game at home and one on the road. The first match up was the NEAA Cubs vs the Hillhouse Astros played at Langone Park. The Cubs got out to and early lead and hung on for an 11-9 victory to give game one to the NEAA. Game two pitted the NEAA Cardinals vs the Hillhouse Red Sox at Boston Common. This game was a back and forth affair with the NEAA Cardinals eventually pulling out a 6-5 victory and give the NEAA a 2-0 lead in the series. Game three saw the NEAA Tigers battle the Hillhouse Nationals at Boston Common. The Tigers were no match for the first place Nationals and the Nationals walked away with an 11-3 victory cutting the NEAA lead in the series to 2 games to 1. Game four saw the NEAA Indians take on the Hillhouse Rangers at Langone Park. The Indians prevailed in that match-up giving the NEAA a 3-1 lead in the series.
Saturday was supposed to bring the last 4 games but rain washed out the day and shortened the series. Still, the series was enjoyed by all and it was great for the players in the NEAA to get to meet and play against their peers in Hillhouse. The coaches and fans also did their part to make the games special. The NEAA would like to thank David Wolf for taking the lead on this and making it happen from the Hillhouse side. When all is said and done this experience only helps enhance the quality of baseball for all the players involved and that is what these two programs are all about.
From the perspective of a coach who works in both leagues, this friendly tournament was a blast. It was great to see the kids together!
And don’t forget that last year, the NEAA fielded team of players from both leagues which won the Inner City League and went well into the play-offs of the Suburban League, earning the distinction as the only team which beat the eventual champion Pembroke team….The Hill House Mayor’s Cup team went all the way to the Finals last year too.
This year, the NEAA Freshman Dodgers, look like a great 13 and 14 year old team… with players from both leagues. And now, there’s even a Tompkins League team out of Charlestown with Hill House and NEAA players on it…
The downtown sport scene is getting better every year and kids in the area are getting more and better opportunities than in recent memory. With the leagues working together and all of the parent volunteers on board, we’re building a youth sports culture that will be an asset to urban families for years to come!