Syosset Baseball Association Holds 58th Opening Day

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Syosset Baseball Association Holds 58th Opening Day

Friday, 13 April 2012 00:00

As spring approaches full bloom, Syosset Baseball Association (SBA) is proud to serve the community once again with youth baseball as it has for 58 years. Saturday, March 31 marked the opening day game featuring a rematch of last year’s Major League Division Championship Game: Mickey LaCasse’s Yankees vs. Gary Rosenberg’s Kansas City Royals. Both LaCasse and Rosenberg were coaches last year for their respective teams and has been the custom, assumed managerial roles the following year.

Prior to the start of the game, SBA invited all attendees to partake in complimentary hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks served by members of the SBA Board of Directors.

Executive Director of Little League Rich Resnick introduced each team player from both teams to the crowd prior to the opening pitch. The representative team players for this year’s entry to the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament were also on hand throughout the evening, selling candy and 50/50 raffles to raise money for their journey to Cooperstown this upcoming July. As the clock moved towards the first pitch, all teams were introduced to the crowd on hand player by player with their respective positions and lined up on the field.

Nicole Rampanelli, a 10-year-old student from Village Elementary School who has sung on opening day for the SBA for several years, helped kick off the festivities with her rendition of the National Anthem. She was then given the honor of throwing out the first pitch for the 2012 intramural season, taking the pitcher’s mound and throwing a strike to receiving catcher from the Yankees, Joe LaCasse.

It was now time to play ball, as the Kansas City Royals took the field as the defending champions. The Yankees put up 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning on hits by Jason Maser, Matt Anez and Jake Temkin. The Royals battled back with 3 runs in the top of the fourth to pull within 1. The Yankees pulled away in the bottom of the fifth with 2 insurance runs, courtesy of a hit by Michael Stanco, to seal the 6-to-3 opening day win for The Yankees and team LaCasse. All other games for the Division A through Majors scheduled to be played on March 31 were called due to the extreme cold weather, as the second warmest March on record went out with extreme cold into a rainy, dreary April 1. These games have been rescheduled.

Teams had a few more days to kick off the 2012 season prior to the Easter/Passover break, with games resuming for the aforementioned divisions. There were also opening day games for the New Blast Ball League for children ages 3 and 4, Tee Ball Divisions for ages 5 and 6 and the 7- and 8-year-old divisions. In addition, the Junior Division and Senior Division leagues, ages 13 and 14 to 17 respectively, held their season-opening games. More information about SBA events can be found on the website www.syossetbaseball.org.

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