NFM Babe Ruth ends regular season, begins All-Stars
The kids have been playing since the beginning of February and, on Saturday at the North Fort Myers Community Park, they celebrated their hard work.
North Fort Myers Babe Ruth held its season-ending ceremony, where the players received their medals and trophies to commemorate the season, a year that featured much parity between all four main leagues.
The closing ceremony was much less formal than opening day. The ballplayers wore their camo-inspired jerseys that were so leaded with sponsor names that the kids looked like a NASCAR pit crew.
It was also a lot quicker than in the past. For one, there were about 180 players, which was about 15 to 20 fewer than last year. More important, the kids hustled down the base paths to collect their trophies, with the team coaches making formal introductions (the North Stars coach included nicknames for all the players).
North Babe Ruth president Joe Baublis said the year went well.
“We had a real competitive year. We selected teams a little differently by changing the order of the draft, which made them equal,” Baublis said. “There was no runaway, and our two major teams (Reds and Rays) were both 8-8-2. It came down to one game.”
The Rays ended up winning in majors, while the Reds took the title in the minors and the Pirates were kings of rookie ball.
All the teams shared one thing in common; they all had fun and improved tremendously as the season progressed.
“It was a great season. We came on strong in a real competitive league and I’m proud to say we came out No. 1,” said Rob Fowler, coach for the rookie Pirates. “In the beginning of the year, the two things I wanted them to accomplish was to have fun and get better. We accomplished both.”
The players believed they did well, also. Aiden Dapo, who didn’t lack confidence, thought his team did well and he did, too, though there were some ups and downs.
“Some of the plays we made were kind of bad, but we also made some great plays. I did all right this year, especially hitting. All my hits went into the outfield,” Dapo said. “A lot of what I did was perfect.”
Things in North Fort Myers are just starting to heat up. The area Babe Ruth tournament will be held June 10-12 at the park. Teams from Sanibel, Naples and Clewiston will battle in majors and minors, while the rookie league will hold its own open tournament with other teams from the area.
“Our All-Stars look good. They’ve been practicing for a week. We jumped into regular practice as soon as the regular season ended,” Baublis said. “You put the best of the best together and it’s a new recipe.”