Colorful collaboration

By Tim Goodwin - Apr 22, 2014 | 0 comments

Habakuu Tarwo watches the ball into his glove.

Not to be confused with a young Baltimore Oriole, Brady Phillibotte plays in Concord.

Aaron Russell gets in some early season swings in the batting cage.

Talk about dedication. Austin Hazzard won’t let a little thing like a walking boot prevent him from practice.

Look at the concentration on Nathaniel Healy’s face as he charges down a slow grounder.

The colors used to represent a pide when it came to Little League baseball in the capital city.

Red meant you were part of the Concord American League, while blue signified your place in the Concord National League. And for the last 55 years, that’s just the way things have been done around these parts.

But not anymore. When the youth baseball season opens up this weekend at ballparks around the city, it will mark the beginning of a new chapter for Concord Little League – after the two leagues agreed to a merger. It will be the first time since 1958 where the city has just one league. Maybe the merger can be as successful as the NFL/AFL and NBA/ABA, although likely not as profitable.

Back in the day, with a high participation rate requiring large quantities of teams, it just made sense to have two leagues, so the city was pided into two regional parts. But since the early 2000s, the numbers have been dropping in both leagues. So much so that a group got together in 2011 to discuss the future of baseball in the city. What came out of those initial talks was an idea to combine the two leagues and create one that will hopefully turn Concord into a statewide baseball power. See what can happen, kids, when people put their heads together.

“A lot more kids were playing in the 50s,” said league vice president Joe Russell, who is also the assistant district administration for the state. “Now, because the population has dwindled, it made sense to make it one.”

This weekend, baseball fields all over the city will be filled with the ping of aluminum bats and the smack of gloves. Oh, the subtle signs of spring.

The newly merged Concord Little League will also have a flashy redesigned logo that incorporates part of both leagues.

“Our color was red, Concord National was blue, so we just split the colors,” said Russell.

No longer will there be two leagues, two boards of directors or two bank accounts. Having everything under one identity was the best decision moving forward. The one board will be made up of 20 members, with some from both former leagues serving. Most of the coaches came back, as did many of the eligible players.

“Now that we encompass everyone on one board, you don’t have to wear as many hats,” Russell said.

It took a couple years for the merger to take shape. There’s quite a bit that goes into joining forces to make one mega league. Actually, a lot more than anyone expected. Since there were two boards of directors and two sets of financial information, the merger was something that needed to involve a lot of different entities.

But like the famous saying we said once goes, “greatness doesn’t happen overnight.”

“Both boards voted that it made sense,” league president Bob Pothier said. “We don’t want anyone to feel like it was a take over. This was for the best.”

Since the two leagues were on board, as was the state organization, all it came down to was making the financial side of it work. That’s where Chris Sullivan, an attorney at Rath, Young and Pignatelli and a coach with children in the league, came in mighty handy.

“We did not realize it was going to be as much work,” Russell said. “As with every merger, there’s a lot of questions.”

It took a while to get everything in order, but now that it’s all set, everyone involved can concentrate on the most important piece – playing baseball.

“It’s the kids that are most important,” said Pothier.

While the official start of the season is this Saturday, next week is when the big festivities take place. It’s the opening ceremonies for the revamped league, complete with a player parade from White Park to Grappone Park, the Fire Department Color Guard and the Concord High School band. There may even be a few special messages by some pretty famous alums, but the details are still being worked out. It’s one of those wait-and-see kind of things.

The number of players, around 360, is consistent with what the two leagues had last year, including a number of scholarships for those whose family can’t afford to play.

“We want to be available to everyone,” Sullivan said. “Everyone who wants to play will be able to participate.”

The number of pisions remained at four. There are seven teams each in the Majors (ages 9-12) and AA, also known as coach pitch. Eight teams make up AAA (ages 8-11), and T-Ball has five teams. Despite making it one league, there’s still an emphasis on keeping players with others from their school.

“One of the most important parts about little league is playing with your friends,” Pothier said.

In years past, teams from one league would only play teams from the other once a season, but now the days of inter-league play will be confined to teams outside of the city limits. This June, the city’s true champions will be crowned for the first time since 1958. Talk about bragging rights.

There will be a continuation of summer and fall ball, as well as Friday night skill sessions during the spring season.

“We’re trying to make it more exciting for the kids,” Pothier said. “We want to make a product the kids want to stay in and you want the kids to keep thinking about baseball.”

There’s a huge desire to see the numbers return to what they were 20 years ago and beyond. The hope is that this merger is the launching off point.

“I think we’re going to see our numbers grow,” Sullivan said. “I think you’re going to see a return in the next five or 10 years, where kids are going to play multiple sports again. We think there are some really great things on the horizon.”

While the league’s website is being revamped, information is currently being posted on their Facebook page at facebook.com/ConcordLittleLeague.