....Memorial Day Weekend Tournament....

The sun was shining, the smell of freshly cut grass hung in the air, the infield clay was raked smooth, and clean white lines ran from home plate to the outfield. It was the perfect setting for a great weekend of fun and excitement at the Charlie LaRosa Sports Complex, home of the Connetquot Youth Association in Ronkonkoma.

As the last of the morning dew was falling from the blades of grass the familiar sound of a bat hitting a ball and the “pop” of a ball caught in a glove could be heard around the complex. It was almost time for the first games of the NJBL West Memorial Weekend Tournament to commence and the players from throughout Long Island and as far away as Brooklyn and Manhattan were warming up for their games. Thanks to the help of volunteers throughout the organization, the CYA complex was in great condition and well prepared for the 80 or so games scheduled throughout the weekend for various age groups. At precisely 8:30AM on Saturday morning the first pitch, of what would turn out as a fantastic weekend of competitive baseball, was thrown.

For many of the participating teams this was their first time playing at the CYA complex and most had nothing but good things to say. The manager of one of the Brooklyn teams stated, “This is like playing in paradise for my players, we don’t even have one field as nice as this and CYA has ten!” Another coach added, “I must commend the efforts of your organization because I know it takes a lot of hard work to maintain these fields and keep them in such good playing condition.”

The Connetquot Youth Association entered teams in the 9U, 10U, 11U and 13U divisions. All team played two games on Saturday and two on Sunday against some very talented teams as they competed for a playoff birth on Monday. The Connetquot Chief teams not only had the opportunity to play on their home fields but were able to compete with some of the finest teams in the area. Two of the teams even went on to the playoff round. Tom Olivieri’s 10U team went 4-0 and John Kennedy’s 13U team went 2-1-1 to advance to the playoffs on Monday. Both teams met some stiff competition as they were defeated but all teams involved in this weekend tournament will go away with some fond memories of the greatest game on earth.

Again, thanks to the members of the board and coaches of the travel teams who put in so much of their time and hard work to afford the children of the community, and in this case children from other communities, the opportunity to play in a safe and well prepared environment. Many thanks to all involved as the weekend was a huge success filled with lots of fun and excitement.

CYA Board

Contributor- John Ketterer