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On the Road with the Long Island Braves
11/04/2010, 4:39am (EST)
By Catherine McGee Photos Provided by long Island Braves
It was early February of 2010, and outside we were being blanketed with 12-15 inches of snow, but that didn’t stop the coaches of the 11U Long Island Braves from having their annual meeting to discuss the plan for the upcoming baseball season. The team had already begun taking swings and throwing indoors. The winter workouts began the first Friday in January, but now it was time to put the schedule together. The coaches were eager to put this group of hard working youngsters up against quality competition. They wanted to put this team in a position to compete against highly competitive teams from New York and other areas. When the night came to an end, and the meeting was adjourned, these coaches planned what may be the most enjoyable and memorable baseball experience of these players’ lives. The coaches had a plan, and the next day the plan was being put into motion. They started making calls and registering the team for tournaments. The one disappointment was a tournament cancellation in Ohio, due to construction of the facility. A substitute tournament had to be put in its place, and within minutes the team was registered for the Ripken tournament in Myrle Beach, South Carolina.
The schedule for the 11U Long Island Braves was set and it included ten travel tournaments, eight of which were out of Long Island and seven were out of the state. The schedule included two trips to Delaware, two trips to Connecticut, a trip to Pennsylvania, a trip to Maryland and, as previously mentioned, a week long trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The team had scheduled eighteen independent games for the time they spent at home. They also had an eighteen to twenty game Little League schedule, as all players on this Long Island Braves team were playing Little League baseball in the Massapequa International LL program. Overall, most players on this team would play seventy-five or more games this season.
The work ethic of these boys is something that is very impressive. The team went through a vigorous ten week winter training session. In addition to team workouts, many of the players on the team would go to one-on-one instruction, focusing on hitting, catching and pitching. “Watching how hard these players work is extremely impressive and something that I have never seen before. The focus and dedication in every swing, every ground ball, every throw, is a true indication of how badly they want to improve their game” said Coach Joe Pinto, a baseball coach since 1981.
This team formed in the Summer of 2007, and they didn’t get off to such a great start. The team struggled during its first year, but in the fall of 2008 the commitment of the players changed. During the fall of 2008, a conscious effort was made on behalf of the players, coaches, and parents in making baseball the priority. The philosophy of the team changed. It was at that time that the coaching staff was assembled, and Coach Pinto joined Coach Joe Amadio, Coach Joe Wines and Coach Greg Slator. Together they made a commitment to the team and the team made the commitment to working hard and focusing on improving their game. Practices were intense, as each coach was hitting ground balls concurrently. Each player received at least two hundred ground balls a practice. Each outfielder shagged at least fifty balls a practice. This would become the normal practice scenario for this team.
The 2010 baseball season began on March 20th, one week after the winter workouts concluded. The first tournament brought the team to Milton, New York, approximately two hours north of Massapequa, where the team is based. The excitement of this tournament was that it was being played in a dome. The team came out strong winning three of four games. The one game that the team listed as a loss came only after the Braves
had tied the score in the top of the 6th inning of the semi-final game. The alarm sounded, which marked the end of the game (due to time limit) and disappointedly took us out of the championship game. “Even though we lost that game, it was a great start to the season and the entire team was looking forward to the next weekend” said Coach Wines.
The next weekend brought the team to Laurel, Delaware. This tournament was played on March 27th and it was cold. The team didn’t feel the cold as the bats were very hot and the team went to the championship game coming up short to the Delaware Hurricanes.
Once again, the team went 3-1 and the excitement was building for the remainder of the season. The team came home to Massapequa and went 9-2 during the spring season.
In addition, the players played in the Little League program during the spring as the Braves schedule did not interfere with the little league. “The more baseball the better” said Coach Slator when asked if he thought that the little league season would hurt the team’s progress.
Memorial Day weekend was the next trip for the Long Island Braves as they traveled to North Branford, Connecticut. The Braves struggled during the pool play but played well enough to defeat the Rhode Island Reds in the first playoff game. Once again the Braves had a nice weekend, but now it was time to focus on the Little League playoffs and the Williamsport Tournament.
After the little league season and the Williamsport Tournament, the team took a much deserved two weeks off to enjoy the summer. The team had been going non-stop since the first week in January. They practiced every day (sometimes twice a day) from June 16th to July 16th. The coaches felt it was time to give them a break. Most of them, even though they weren’t playing baseball everyday, spent the days and nights together anyway. Whether they went to the beach, had pool parties, block parties or just had sleep overs, these players enjoyed being together. The team’s success was not the only thing that became stronger, their friendships were becoming stronger as well. It was rare to see one of the players on this team without at least one other player at all times.
The mid-summer break was over on August 1st when the team began practicing again in preparation for the toughest part of the schedule. From August 7th thru September 4th, The Long Island Braves 11U team traveled to Hershey, Pennsylvania, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Aberdeen, Maryland, for tournaments. The team and their families spent at least 13 days away from their homes during this stretch, and what a great time they had. The team had already played teams from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey,
New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Delaware in previous tournaments, but now they were scheduled to play teams from Virginia, Michigan, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Maryland.
The Hershey trip almost didn’t happen as the tournament director had called the team a week before and told them that the tournament for the 11 year age group was being cancelled. The team had the option of not going or playing in the division one level up. The coaches decided to play in the upper division, and the team played well against the older competition. They placed fifth of the ten teams in pool play and were one of six teams which made the playoffs. The next week was the much anticipated, week long Myrtle Beach trip. This trip was planned for a while and many of the parents made this their family vacation for the summer. It really is a tribute to the parents of this team, who were so committed to their son’s baseball travels, changing travel plans to have their sons be with the team. Many of them traveled by plane and others drove, but if you ask one of the parents, Bob Masterson, he said “it was well worth it, the complex at the facility was incredible and the kids felt like Major League players.” Each day the team would take batting practice in the batting tunnels provided, and each game had an official announcer. The fields were artificial surface and the players found out just how hot that surface was. After the first inning of the first game, many of the players were saying that they could feel the heat in their feet. Although hot, the team played well and made it to the championship round.
Ex-Yankee Mike Mussina Shakes Hands With The LI Braves
The next, and last trip of the summer was the Ripken Tournament in Aberdeen Maryland. The team had been at this tournament the previous year and did not fair well going 0-4, but this year was different. The team played exceptionally well and went 3-1. The highlight of this tournament, and probably the most memorable, was playing a team managed by former New York Yankees 20 game winner, pitcher Mike Mussina. The players were in awe of this Yankee great and played a great game defeating the Warriors 11-3. According to Coach Amadio, “Mike Mussina was a gentleman and great with the children. He signed autographs and took pictures with the kids after the game.” It was the last game of the tournament and a great way to end the summer.
The summer may have ended but baseball did not. The Braves once again were headed to Connecticut for the War at the Shore Tournament in Mystic. This tournament was special because the Braves played incredibly well. The team played in the championship game. After regulation, the score was tied at two each, but the Braves lost, as the California tie breaker was used during extra innings. This was probably the toughest loss of the season. The Braves had come so far, worked so hard, but came up just a bit short. Although upset about the loss, you could tell that the team was proud of what they had accomplished. It was the fourth tournament in which they had finished with a 3-1 record.
After two weekends playing at home, the team was on its way back to Delaware to finish out the season. The team finished 2-2 and once again made the playoffs, finishing seventh of seventeen teams. The Braves had already played teams from many states going into this weekend, but after this tournament, they could say that they played a team from a different country. An all star team from Ontario, Canada were the Braves opponents in the first game. The Braves were victorious in that game, as well as in the first playoff game, before being eliminated in the semi finals.
The season was over but what a season it was. The 11U Long Island Braves traveled well in excess of 4,000 miles this season, played teams from 12 states and one from another country. They went to the championship game in two of the tournaments, finished 3-1 in four of the tournaments, and in eight of the ten tournaments, played the team that eventually won the championship.
They have come together as a team but most importantly have developed life long friendships with memories that will last just as long. The coaches of the Braves set out to make this season one that would be filled with a lot of baseball against good competition. What they may have accomplished was giving these young players the best summer of their lives.
The players of the Long Island Braves 11U team are Joe Amadio, Mikey Cottone, Cole Masterson, Kenny Degruchy, Matt Pinto, Andrew Ditzel, Robert Wines, Joe Imbriano, Greg Slator, Keith Primm, Mario Festante, Mike Quadrino, Nick Lasalla, and Stephen Sattanino. The team finished the 2010 season with a 36-21 record, making their record 83-45 since the fall of 2008. No one can predict the future, but the future looks very bright for this group of hard working dedicated young players.
Denise Slator said it best “What a baseball season. What a great group of boys. How lucky are they to have experienced all that and be such great friends."
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ken degruchy · 8 days ago
Baseball as a way of Life. Our Team is basically a Town Team, which means all our players come from a 5 mile radius from each other. We battled teams from other states who picked kids from 50 miles away and played tournament ball from spring to fall. I see in this last paragraph our record, the fact that we could compete and finish so strong vs these high powerd "Allstar Teams" is a testament to our Coaching staff. I went to every game and the common theme or annotation by our opponent… Read More
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