North End and South End community members each jollied to their stands on a murky Sunday afternoon to watch the South End defeat the North End 19-5 in the first of two games in the 8th annual North 2 South All-Star Series.
The North End team, adorned in a passionate maroon and grey uniform, consisted of a cohort of 11 and 12-year-olds under the direction of the hard-nosed duo, Chris Wells and John Pregmon.
For particulars, the names of the young men are as follows: Stephen Fabiano, Richard Bova, Niklas McHugh, Cullen Lacey, Patrick (PJ) McMahon, Sean Leetch, Salvatore DeAngelis, Connor Jalbert, Joseph Brienze, Michael Murphy, James Heath, Richard Wells and Ryan McHugh.
These young North End charmers looked like nothing but potential. And I was not wrong. Although they did not emerge victorious, both teams showed their strengths in a hard-fought game.
Everything was quiet as the game kicked off on the North End Langone Park diamond. First at bat was a talented player from the North End team. The game sounded with an aluminum ding that struck wonder to every excited eye in the stands. The baseball sailed at a towering speed and seemed to twirl and sing with the angels in the sky. Gosh that ball went so high.
It was not only me who thought so.
State Representative Aaron Michlewitz, sponsor of the series, watched the ball travel through the air and joined the crowd in cheering for the young player’s great hit.
The game was no boot-stomp, however.
The South End team, dressed in a stoic navy and gray uniform already tan with dust from the dirt of the baseball diamond, delivered their own skyscrapers and Boston harbor plungers the rest of the six-inning game. In the end, the South End won the game 19-5, with three home runs over the North End’s two.
At the game’s final, one team celebrated their win while the other had yard-long faces, sulking all the way to their benches to undo their shoelaces. Nevertheless, the young world-beaters treated themselves to the games’ final pizza slices and congratulated their MVPs: Rich Bova from the North End and Jaylen Lugo-Davis from the South End.
The North End team will try to avenge their loss in the second game on Thursday, June 28th at 6 p.m. at Peter’s Park on Washington Street in the South End.