BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
JEFFGRANIT staff Freehold Township’s Michael Hembling puts the tag on Middletown’s Sean McKee as he attempts to steal second base during the District 19 Junior Little League championship game, won by Middletown, 3-1, on July 25 in Freehold Township. Hosting the Little League’s Junior League Eastern Regional is very prestigious for a Little League. But it is also a year-round commitment.
Everyone may see the work that goes into hosting a tournament on the field of play, but ask Mike LaCava, president of the Freehold Township Little League, and he’ll tell you there is far more that goes into the event than just the games. It is a yearlong project.
Freehold Township will host the Junior League (ages 13-14) Regional for the third straight year, starting Friday night with the banquet for all the teams at the Freehold Gardens. Play will being at 10 a.m. Saturday in Michael Tighe Park, Georgia Road, (preceded by the opening ceremonies at 9) and will run through the championship game on Aug. 9. The state champions from New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island are the teams participating in the Region.
“We do it for the kids,” LaCava said of the reason Freehold Township has volunteered to host the event.
“We’ve had very positive feedback with what we’ve done. Our goal is to improve each year.”
Because Freehold Township Little League teams have made trips to Little League World Series and Eastern Regional tournaments in the past, it has given the league a built-in advantage. It knows from experience what it takes to run a good tourney.
“What we have tried to do is look at what we’ve been through and take what are the better things,” he pointed out.
This week LaCava and the league’s volunteers are going through the final preparations for the weeklong tourney. They include checking in with all the Little Leagues and making sure they have done the proper paperwork and made their housing arrangements. The league has 80 rooms on hold at three area motels to house the incoming teams and their fans. There are also the final arrangements for Friday’s banquet and practice times for the teams.
During the week, there will be 30-40 volunteers who will be working on the field maintenance, at the snack bar, providing general hospitality and fundraising. The league is providing meals for teams. For those playing later in the day, it is a pre-game meal, and for those going earlier, it is a post-game meal.
New Jersey District 19, which is the host district for the Regional, will provide the umpires for the tournament. There will be 23 in total, with six traveling from out of state. For those umpires, LaCava has to provide the housing for them.
The organizing national Little League allows a league to host the tournament, and that is where its support ends. There is no financial support; the leagues are on their own.
To help offset the cost of running the tournament, LaCava said, during the year, the league looks for local businesses to be sponsors or provide free goods and, in some cases, generous donations from people.
The league is putting together a bag for each of the participating players, which will have discount coupons from local businesses.
About the only downside for Freehold Township is that its Junior League team won’t be competing. As the host district, the winner of the District 19 tournament gets to skip the section and state tournaments and go straight to the Region. For the second straight year, Middletown will be representing District 19 at Freehold Township’s expense.
Freehold Township went undefeated in pool play and after falling to Marlboro South, 5-4, in the first round of the double-elimination finals, bounced back to beat Lincroft, 12-2, and Marlboro South, 6-1, in the rematch. That put them in the July 25 final at Tinton Falls, where Middletown prevailed, 3-1.
Freehold Township is already working on 2008. The goal of the League’s capitalization program is to construct a state-of-the-art complex. For LaCava and the Freehold Township Little League, next year will begin the day after the Regional final.
Anyone who is interested in volunteering this year or finding out more about the tournament can go to www.ftll.org or e-mail [email protected].