Another Successful Season for Bellingham Youth Baseball

Bellingham Youth Baseball Inc. (BYBI) played a full spring season this summer, playoffs and all. The season went surprisingly well considering the conditions. One of the biggest highlights every year for the BYBI is the 10–12 year-old major league championship. This year was another extremely exciting year for the majors. The regular season was really close, with all 6 teams in a tight contest for the lead (“A”s, Braves, Orioles, Reds, Cubs, and White Sox). The playoffs are always exciting, and this year’s were no exception.

   

The first two teams to leave the contest were the Cubs and the Braves, the next two to be defeated were the Orioles and Reds, and that left the Bellingham Lions White Sox and the Dunkin’ Donuts “A”s.

This season, the Bellingham Lions White Sox won game 1, then lost 3 in a row to move down to last place at 1-3. They then went 5-1-2 to finish the season. The White Sox ended with a regular season record of 6-4-2 to move up to third place. In the first round of the playoffs they beat the Braves in two games out of three. They went on to face the Orioles (to whom the White Sox have lost the past three years). The Orioles (number 2 seed) beat the White Sox in game one of round two. The White Sox took game two into extra innings and won in 8 innings, 6-5. They were losing in game 3 and tied it up, then came back to win game 3, again in extra innings. Then they went on to the championship round and beat the A’s (1 seed) 5-2 in game 1 and 11-2 in game 2, to sweep the A’s and win the championship. This year was Coach Anthony Maiorano’s third year as the head coach for the White Sox and his first year making it past the first round in the playoffs. It definitely did not show as he and his team took over in all three rounds. The final season record for the White Sox was 12-5-2.

Maiorano said, “We won because every kid got better every game, and I am really proud of them.” He would also like to thank his assistant coaches: Rob Sullivan, John Cardarelli, and Kevin Barry.

This year the age groups were split a little differently than in past years; the senior nationals were 16-18 in the past, but this year they had to stretch it to 15–18 because of low numbers for the age range. Also, because of the new age range for the senior nationals, the senior Americans therefore shrank down to 13-14.

The BYBI plays at the South field complex; the complex has 5 fields, and last month Trottier field received an upgrade in size to accommodate Bellingham’s participation in leagues that require a 50’ 70’ (a mid-sized field).

The BYBI is playing a full fall season as well. The fall teams are just starting their practices and games, and are still asked to make sure that everybody, kids and parents, try their best to maintain social distancing and are advised to wear a mask or gator. This year kids were asked to bring their own chairs and to sit behind the dugouts in a “safe zone” where only the players were allowed. The health of the players and parents is a main concern in the BYBI, and they are doing their best to make sure that everyone is able to play the game they love while staying healthy.

“I think that our spring season  went great this year! We were really careful to make sure that we followed all the protocols from the Board of Health and the state. We were in constant contact with officials, so they knew we were following all the rules,” said league president Kerry Farrell. Our families did a great job making sure they were socially distancing. We had so many people comment how happy they were to have a normal part of their summer back, and we were super excited to be able to offer it.”