Hopedale Little League Returns from Cooperstown

The Hopedale 12 year old Little League traveling All Star team recently returned from Cooperstown, New York where they got the opportunity to play in the week long tournament. Upon registering and setting up in the barracks upon their arrival the team then participated in some skills competitions (running, arm accuracy, a homerun derby to name a few) with the other 104 teams from around the country.
Following the fun and games of day one it was done to business. Hopedale was to play two games a day over the next three days in a round robin competition before moving onto the actual tournament. The boys from Hopedale went 2-4 during those first six games and were awarded a 78th seed in the tournament.
“Being a small town we were up against some much bigger baseball communities like Oakland California and a team from South Carolina,” Coach Parker said. “Going 2-4 the kids were ok with that, they knew what we were up against. There were plenty of teams that did a lot worse than we did and there were plenty that did a lot better.”
Once in the tournament the Hopedale squad defeated a team from Minneapolis 12-7 before being eliminated in their second game against a team from Milwaukee 7-6.
With over 100 teams participating it’s virtually impossible, outside that one team, to be the last team standing and Hopedale knew that coming in.
“The kids had a great time and it was well worth the money,” Parker said. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience getting to play baseball at Cooperstown and meeting kids from all around the country.”
While the team, which was one of three Massachusetts teams in NY during the tournament, got to take the field in Cooperstown’s Dream Park recently the team was actually selected a year ago by Head Coach Chris Parker and his assistants.
“The kids are selected as 11 year olds and it takes them about a year to raise the funds to make the trip and participate in the tournament,” the Coach said. “Over the last year we’ve had numerous events to raise those funds. It costs $895 per kid and coach; we sent 4 coaches and 12 athletes to Cooperstown.”
The Hopedale squad was able to raise over $18,000 for their dream trip. In addition to paying the fee for each member of their team the squad also had to pay $500 to supply an umpire (Hopedale’s came from Pittsburgh) and they had to purchase new pants as there were strict uniform rules in place. The facility would supply the socks, shirts and hats. Parker said the team also purchased Gatorade and snacks for the boys between games as well as purchasing pins for them to trade with other little leaguers.
Although the boys were staying in barracks as a team, families would fly or drive into the area to stay at either hotels or campsites for the week.
Some of the highlights from the tournament were 3 home runs off the bat of Tyler Lane; another 2 homeruns each from Ollie Radcliffe and Aiden Radcliffe, while Jason Reed added one four base hit. Nate Hall and Will Parker each batted over .500 for the tournament.
The rest of the team included Gabe Wilson, Steve Marchionni, Chase Levasseur, Zachary Frohn, John DeFonzon and Jared Morris.
Through the Hopedale Youth Baseball Organization the local team has been participating in the Cooperstown experience since 1998. In fact, next year’s team under the guidance of Coach Keith Smith is already assembled and working on raising their funds to make their dreams become a reality.