7/30/2019 Bronx Little League Championship in Yankee Stadium

1/1

Har l em News Gr ou p B R O N XHARLEM . QUEENS . BROOKLYN . BRONX

LITTLE LEAGUE CHAM PIONSHIP AT

YANKEE STADIUM

By Howard Giske

The game on Tuesday September

25th, for the players, was the

game of a lifetime for two

Bronx Little League teams, the

Bombers and the Raiders. This was

the second annual Borough Presi-

dents Cup championship game. The

Raiders, the defending champions

from last year, won 6-1. BoroughPresident Ruben Diaz emphasized

when speaking before the game that

all the players are certified good stu-

dents with a B-average in school, 90

percent or greater school attendance

and a demonstrated commitment to

community service.

The game was played hard,

and the outcome was not certain until

the last inning of the seven inning

game. The orange-clad Raiders were

first at bat. Despite an impressive

line-drive by #44 Danny Camillo, it

was caught by a Bomber fielder. The

opening Bombers pitcher, #34 Alvarezdid a great job in the first inning, with

no Raider hits. The blue Bombers

also did not score in their first at bat.

In the second inning, the

Raiders had one runner on base when

#15 Brandon Gomez hit into center

field and the fielder could not make

the catch, yielding a double and the

Raiders first run batted in. The

Raiders at bat ended when #34 Pauli-

no struck out. The Bombers were

then at bat when #32 Ozuna hit a

triple, followed by #34 Alvarez hitting

a double and batting a run in. A single

left runners on first and third, but thenext batter struck out ending the

inning at score 1-1. Clutch pitching by

Raider #7 Martinez kept the Bomber

from further runs.

Despite strong hitting by both

teams, the score kept at 1-1 until the

sixth inning. I noticed that the Yankee

outfield wall is marked at 408 feet

from home plate. So many hits that

would have been home runs in a

smaller field ended up as pop-up outs

at Yankee Stadium.

In the sixth inning, Raider #8Mejia walked, and then #7 Alex Mar-

tinez bunted, getting to first with a

runner on second base. Then #25

Camacho hit a double and batted in a

run, getting the score to 2-1 with

Raiders in the lead. Finally, a strike

out ended the Orange turn at bat.

Raider relief pitcher #27 Baez was

able to keep the Bombers from scor-

ing in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Bombers had #31 Fonse-

ca as their relief pitcher for the 7th

inning. At this point #15 Brandon

Gomez walked, and then #24 Tapia hit

a double, yielding runners on 2nd and3rd base. Then #34 Paulino hit a dou-

ble to bat-in 2 runs, getting the score

to 4-1. Walks of #27 Baez and #8

Mejia left the bases loaded. The

crowd cheered as #7 Martinez singled,

batting in two more runs. This streak

ended as two pop-up hits were caught,

putting the Raiders ahead at 6-1.

When at bat, despite their best efforts,

the Bombers could not score, and that

ended the game.

Both teams showed great

sportsmanship and celebrated as the

game ended. Borough President Diaz

announced that sponsor AT&T wasdonating tickets to the Yankee game

the following Monday to both teams.

Then he awarded the Raiders the

Bronx Borough Presidents Cup.

Yankee logo and National Anthem Raiders with the Cup

Bronx Borough Presi-dent Ruben Diaz Jr.,

together with mem-

bers of the Bronx Clergy Task

Force and local community

leaders hosted the annual

Peace in Our Streets initia-

tive on Saturday, September

22. This program brought

Borough President Diaz, reli-

gious leaders, law enforce-

ment officials and other

concerned citizens into directcontact with Bronx residents

to discuss growing concerns

about violence in their neigh-

borhoods, especially the

threat of illegal guns.

The initiative kicked

off at the Forest Houses Com-

munity Center on Tinton

Avenue in Morrisania.

BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ HOSTS THE ANNUAL

P EACE IN OUR STREETS I NITIATIVE

Bronx Borough President Ruben

Diaz Jr. and Mercy College

School of Education are pleased

to announce the opening of the Bronx

Parent Center, an innovative program

empowering parents to support their

children's education through workshops,

resources and leadership development.

"This new program will helpempower parents and provide them with

the knowledge and the skills to support

their children's educational experience.

A parent's active role in the education of

their child plays an important role in

their child's academic achievements and

success. Education remains an impor-

tant focus of my administration and my

office will continue to support innova-

tive ways to increase parent engagement

so that all Bronx students can succeed,"

said Bronx Borough President Ruben

Diaz Jr.

The Center will offer parent

workshops on such topics as managing

problem behaviors, strategies to support

special needs children, helping with

math, read-aloud strategies, parent lead-

ership and hands-on technology.

"Mercy College was founded

on a vision dedicated to student success,

innovative spirit and giving back to the

community. Today, over sixty years

later, we carry on these traditions with

the opening of the Bronx Parent Cen-

ter," said Mercy College President Dr.

Kimberly R. Cline. "The Center serves

as a valuable resource to parents

through workshops and leadership

development."

The Center will also serve as atraining ground for Mercy College

School of Education students to engage

with parents in educational decision-

making, as well as a research base for

School of Education faculty to investi-

gate best practices in parent engage-

ment. The Center was generously

outfitted with capital funding from

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz

Jr.'s office.

"The vibrant faculty of the

Mercy College School of Education is

delighted to be offering their profes-

sional expertise to support our Parent

Center - this will be a paradigm for the

rest of the region to follow, since we

strongly believe that parents are the

most neglected part of the 'education

equation," said Mercy College School

of Education Dean Alfred S. Posamen-

tier.

BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ AND M ERCY COLLEGE

OPEN CENTER TO EMPOWER PARENTS