By Ken Morse, Citizen’s News
NAUGATUCK — The emphasis for Naugatuck Babe Ruth this season was on simply getting the kids out on the field to play baseball.
“It certainly was good to get out there,” league President Dave Falzone said. “It was really all about having the kids play some games and have fun. We followed all the rules and mandates, and we really didn’t have any issues.”
The league also accepted a few players from surrounding towns, like Seymour and Ansonia, that didn’t have leagues of their own this year to give more players the opportunity to enjoy a summer of baseball.
Naugatuck Babe Ruth wrapped up the regular season this week. The season will conclude next week with a tournament to crown a league champion.
“There was not a lot of emphasis among the teams or the coaches to enter state tournaments or winning district champions,” Falzone said. “It was mainly to give these kids the opportunity to get back out on the field and enjoy the game of baseball, and from that standpoint the season was a huge success.”
Sibby’s finished first in the regular season, followed by the Firefighters, Coldwell Banker, B&G Sports and Brown Roofing.
The tournament kicks off Aug. 24 with B&G Sports and Brown Roofing facing off in a play-in game. The semifinals are set for Aug. 26.
The first game of a best-of-three championship series is set Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. Game two is Aug. 21, and game three, if necessary, is Aug. 22 at 11 a.m. All games are at Rotary Field.
“I think all the kids responded well to the season after missing out on spring baseball,” Falzone said. “We had a great turnout and fielded all of our teams, and even took on a few players for the towns didn’t have a league this year, and that was a good thing to do.”
