When the District 37 Little League baseball tournament begins this weekend, Watertown will finally be represented for the first time in a long time.
After an absence of around 15 years in the annual Little League rite of summer, Watertown American Little League is fielding a team that will compete with the nine other district teams from Pulaski to Plattsburgh. Their ultimate goal: Make it to the Little League World Series in early August at Williamsport, Pa.
But first things first. Watertown Little League all-star manager John Freda said getting the local kids involved, and excited about participating in the district tournament, is the first big step in the process.
"It will be a learning experience for the kids and the coaches,'' said Freda, a retired Marine who has two sons, Joe and Louie, on the 14-player American Little League all-star team. "What we're looking for first and foremost is character development and teaching the kids self-discipline. These kids are pretty raw, but I think they are excited about playing the other teams and seeing how they fare.''
At one time, Watertown fielded three Little Leagues, American, Federal and National. The Federal and National disbanded over 20 years ago, and the health of the remaining American Little League has not been great over the years.
"It's been a lot of work to get us back to this point,'' said current league president Jeff Marra, grandson of longtime district administrator Johnny Marra. "But with the help of some very dedicated volunteers, we now have seven teams, some great sponsors and around 90 kids who are playing Little League baseball in Watertown.''
The Watertown all-star team was chosen from among the seven teams, with each coach nominating players and coaches voting on the final roster. "We tried to get the best players, and keep the politics out of the voting,'' Freda said.
Dan Salmon, the current District 37 administrator, said having Watertown back in the tournament mix "is good for the city and good for our district. Anything that will help us teach kids about baseball is good for everybody involved.''
Joseph Fay, a 12-year old on the Watertown team and son of assistant coach Jay Fay, said having the chance to play in the district tournament is "pretty exciting. We all play for fun. The district competition will be really good, and make us better players.''
Freda said that being part of a team like this is a great way to learn "socialization skills. By nature, baseball is an unselfish game. You learn to be part of a team, and any way you can contribute is OK.''
With today's kids involved in so many other extracurricular activities during the summer, finding time to play baseball can be a complicated deal. "But for the most part,'' he said, "these kids are here because they love baseball. They want to learn, and to improve, and we're happy we can give them that opportunity.''
Said Salmon: "I always tell my coaches three things that make a Little League program successful — are the kids having fun, is it safe, and do the children learn about the game?''
Watertown opens district Pool B play against North Central North at noon Saturday at Lowville. Watertown also plays North Central South at 4 p.m. Saturday at Port Leyden.
On Wednesday, Watertown is at Carthage at 5:45 p.m. Watertown then hosts its first district game at 2 p.m. July 5 at Rand Field versus Harrisville.
Teams in Pool A include South Jefferson, Sandy Creek, Pulaski, Massena and Plattsburgh. The top two teams in each pool advance to the district semifinals on July 9. The district final is at 3:30 p.m. July 12 at either Plattsburgh or Lowville.
The Watertown American Little League all-stars are: Nick Hosmer, Steven Hatchell, Jacob Harris, Jude Fusilli, Michael Marra, Sam Maphey, Grant Chamberlain, Chris Rowland, Joe Freda, Joseph Fay, Louie Freda, Christian Jorden, Collin Jorden and Robin Massey.
