My son Jack has been playing baseball since he was 6 years starting with tee ball. He practices + plays a lot and keeps getting better every year. I love baseball and have really enjoyed playing with and coaching him.

This was a really important and busy baseball season for Jack as he was 12 years old. It's the last year he can play on smaller sized fields before he moves up to adult sized fields at 13, so we wanted him to enjoy it.

Rec Baseball

Over the past 4 years, I have helped coaching Jack's recreation (rec) baseball team. For this season our team was the Texas Rangers (I am still bummed we couldn't be on the Red Sox, but we beat them). We had a good mix of kids who had played a lot of baseball and kids who were fairly new to the game. We had a lot of fun and the kids learned a lot.

Champs

Just like the Texas Rangers in MLB, we won the championship! The playoffs were double elimination, and we needed to win back to back games on the same day to win the championship. It was so exciting to see every kid contribute that day with big hits, defensive plays and clutch pitching. The highlight of the day for me was when Jack cleanly stole home.

Championship Celebration

FRONT ROW: Ethan, Brady, Sam, Alex, Ben
SECOND ROW: Jacob, Brody, Jack, Noah, Ashton, Jonathan, Grant
COACHES: Coach Grossman (me), Coach Hammond, Coach Cimler

All Stars

Jack had a very strong season both pitching and hitting for our rec team and was chosen to play in the league's All Star game for the third straight year. He was on the Maroon team and I was a super aggressive third base coach.

The All Star game was held directly after the Championship doubleheader (which made for 7 hours of baseball). In the game Jack had a single and a long triple over the centerfielder's head. Unfortunatley our team lost 12-11 in an exciting and very fun game.

Jack is smiling with blue helmet in the back row on the right.

Travel Baseball Team

For the past 5 years, Jack has played on one of Ridgewood's travel baseball teams. This year he played on the 12U Raiders Black team with many of the kids he has played with the previous 2 seasons.

Opening the Season at Ripken

This season our league decided to have the boys play their first games in early April at a tournament at the Ripken Experience in Aberdeen, MD. It is a great facility with smaller replicas of Major League stadiums, and it was Jack's third time playing in a tournament there. Despite the cold weather and the losing some tough games, it was a fun experience.

Jack posing in front of the Ripken sign.

Jack hitting on PNC Bank field. He went 3 for 6 in the tournament.

Mother's Day Game

One of the moms on the team ordered bright pink shirts for each boy with his mom's first name on the back. The boys surprised all their mothers wearing this colorful gear in a game.

Jack and Cindy celebrating the Mother's Day Game.

Jack was on the mound. He pitched 3 innings allowing only 1 unearned run.

Spring League Champs

The boys won the NJ Suburban League playoffs with a big 6-5 win over Wyckoff. Jack went 2 for 3 with a single and a double.

Raiders posing with the Spring championship trophy.

Coach Jack

As part of fundraising for the trip to the big tournament in Cooperstown, all 3 Ridgewood 12U teams put on two baseball clinics for kids 4-8 years old. Jack was great working with the younger kids on the fundamentals - stretching, running, throwing, catching, fielding and hitting.

Jack working the different stations during a clinic

Cooperstown

During the last week of July, the team played in a 5 day tournament at Dreams Park in Cooperstown, NY (the birthplace of baseball). The facility was quite amazing and the boys + coaches stayed in bunks overnight. It was the biggest field they ever had with 104 teams from all over the country. They played teams from Minnesota, California, Idaho, Nevada and Ohio. Jack's team did really well finishing with a 4-3 record, including winning a playoff game.

Over the last 2 weeks of July, Jack played the best he has ever played! At Cooperstown, he had 16 hits in 19 at bats (.842 average) with 3 home runs over the fences. He had 3 hits in 5 of the 7 games they played.

The Raiders team in their red uniforms getting ready for opening parade.

Jack styling in his blue uniform.

Two views of Jack hitting a home run against the team from Danville, CA.

Jack's home run balls in ball cubes.

Summer Season Final Stats

Games: 26
At Bats: 65
Batting Average: .662
On Base Percentage: .707
Slugging Percentage: .923
Hits: 43
Doubles: 8
Home Runs: 3
RBIs: 44
Runs: 21
Walks: 14
Stolen Bases: 12

All-Ripken

Jack was invited to play at the first All-Ripken tournament the last week of August in Aberdeen, MD. It was a really cool experience where he was on a team with new kids and was able to play three different Ripken fields modeled after MLB Stadiums (Camden Yards twice, Memorial Stadium and Wrigley Field). His team went 1-3, but it was a great experience.

Jack showing off the blue All-Ripken uniform.

Various images from the tournament.

RBI single on Cal Ripken Sr. field.

Jack's 4th strikeout. 2.1 innings, 0 earned runs.