Norwood Babe Ruth is no stranger to the Eastern Mass. State Tournament. Since 2004, the program has captured 12 out of a possible 15 District 5 titles to qualify for the states.
The experience of traveling to locales such as Peabody, Quincy, Plymouth and Brewster should come in handy as Norwood will host its first-ever state tournament.
“We’re excited to be hosting the 14-year old state tournament,” beamed Norwood Babe Ruth President John “Lighty” Lightizer. ”We’ve seen towns run first-class state tournaments and we want to do the same thing.”
The week-long tournament kicks off tonight at Peter Wall Field at the Balch Elementary School with a pair of games. The field includes another local, Dedham, which qualified as the runner-up team to Norwood in District 5, with the hosts already guaranteed a spot.
Cambridge-Maplewood opens things at 5:30 p.m. followed by Norwood-Lawrence at 8. Saugus-Plymouth and Dedham-Weymouth follow on Saturday in the eight-team field , with the championship game slated for Friday, July 25.
Before the nightcap, there will be a parade of teams onto Balch Field. Norwood Firefighter Mike McDonough, accompanied by the Norwood Fire Color Guard, will then sing the National Anthem. “Mr. Norwood” Joe Curran, Sr. will conclude the ceremonies by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
Lightizer will be busy over the next week as manager of the Norwood 14s and with his host responsibilities.
“It’s going to take a team effort to pull this off. We’ve had a lot of people step up. Board members, the Elks have been great. The mothers will be selling tickets at the gate, t-shirts and running the concession stand.”
Admission is $5 for adults (no charge for Norwood parents) and free for kids 15 and under.
Norwood Babe Ruth board member Mike Cotter will help run the public address system while 15-year old all-star Matt Stover will assist with the scoreboard. The Norwood Elks have offered ice, tables and use of their kitchen to store food during the week.
Lightizer believes Norwood’s (5-0) product on the field will be top-notch as well.
“We have a very deep pitching staff, we play good defense and our players are versatile.“
Leading the way on the hill are Sean O’Neill (2-0) and Tim Duggan (2-0). “They’re our aces,” praised Lightizer. Lending mound support will be Austin Glaser, Brendan Cathcart, A.J. Cignarella, Steve O’Brien and Andrew Alty.
‘This may be the deepest staff I’ve had in 31 years of coaching all-star teams,” said Lightizer.
The infield is sound with Billy Morrison a standout at first base. Adam Kewriga and Peter Kelley make all the plays at second base. Tom Munro is a sure-handed shortstop. The hot corner features Mike Kearns and Glaser.
Behind the dish, Lightizer has two catchers who can get the job done in Owen Oliveiri and Andrew Stover.
The outfield has plenty of athletes who can go and catch the ball. Centerfielder Andrew Alty is fleet-footed with a strong arm. Sean O’Neill, Tim Duggan and Steve O’Brien share time in right.
Left fielders A.J. Cignarella and Ryan Conley are fast and dependable.
The Norwood 13-year old Babe Ruth team will need to travel a bit longer to play their state tournament games, but they’re not complaining. All games will be played at Joe Moakley Complex in South Boston.
Norwood opens against Braintree tomorrow morning at 11. A win sends them to a 3 p.m. match-up versus the Saugus/Plymouth winner.
“These kids love baseball and their excited to be going to the states,” commented manager Kevin Igoe, “We’re still peaking. We’ve had good pitching and fielding, but our hitting hasn’t hit full stride yet. It’ll happen.”
Norwood (5-0) qualified for the states in dramatic fashion. Sam Anderson ripped a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to give Norwood a 6-5 victory over Franklin in the District Finals on Sunday morning. Norwood had trailed 4-1 entering the fifth inning.
Like the 14s, Igoe’s 13-year old squad has two top-notch starters in Tim Collins (3-0) and Tyler Gover (2-0). The relieving corps is strong as well with Sam Anderson, Jordan Davis and Tom Eckhardt.
The infield has been outstanding with Richard Saad and Pat Foley at first and Davis and Mark Maggio at second. Shortstop is well-stocked with Gover and Davis. Third base is covered with Aaron Drummey.
The outfield has shown great range led by left fielder Ryan Igoe, center fielder Brendan Zablocki and right fielder Kurt Bullard. Ryan Greeley, Joe Erker and Kyle Dolan also patrol the outfield well.
