Manatee Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth Baseball
PLAY BALL!!!!
By Lou Brodersen
With four of the top baseball diamonds in Manatee County, you would think the league organizers are happy. Well, they are, however, it’s hard to believe they want more!
Founded in 2005, the baseball complex in Heritage Harbour is the home for Manatee Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth teams. I remember the hassle we had with the County in getting the final permits to install the lights. I was one of the League founders along with other Stoneybrook residents: Laura Roberts, Max Jackson, Gerry Vinopal and Mike Garland. We finally worked it out and the installation was completed within weeks of the scheduled season opener. The lights are top line; the company which supplied them did the lights at the Daytona Speedway”.
So, what’s the problem?
It’s simple. Too many kids want to play baseball here.
“We are maxed out,” said baseball board of director Bill McKinley. “We have 425 this spring (season opened last Saturday) and had 400 last Fall.”
“This was the largest number yet,” said Frank Santoro of the Heritage Harbour Master Association (Lennar), which manages the complex for the CDD-South and rents it out to the leagues. “We have people calling us to rent out the fields and we have to turn them down. The Cal Ripken people are great. They even put their own money into the fields. Recently, they added sod and put up a flag pole. The fees we receive from the leagues go toward the cost of lighting and maintaining the complex.”
As for the lights, Santoro said they go off at 10 PM.
The Spring baseball season consists of six divisions, starting at ages 5-6 to 13-15. There is also a non-competitive division for 4 year olds.
The league does have fees: 4-year-old tee ball ($90), 5-6 coach pitching ($110), 7-8 rookie ($120), 9-10 minor ($140), 11-12 major ($150) and 13-15 Babe Ruth ($175). All the players are from Manatee County. In the 5-6 and 7-8 brackets, there are 10 teams in each.
“We use the fields 12 months a year,” said McKinley. McKinley noted that new for this year will be AAU teams in the 9-10, 11-12 and 13-15 brackets. These highly competitive all-star teams travel around the state to play.
The league is also proud to host the Southwest Florida Cal Ripken championship in December. Teams come from as far south as Marco Island.
Pick the day or night and swing over and watch these kids play. You won’t be disappointed.
Lou Brodersen spent 33 years as a newspaper sports journalist in Connecticut. He is past chairman of the Associated Press Sports Editors (Northeast) and Connecticut Sports Writers and Broadcasters.