Growing Interest in Softball Fuels Changes

by Michael Gottfried

Local teams got extra coaching from their respective mayors, Mamaroneck Village's Kathy Savolt and Larchmont Village's Liz Feld.

(April 17, 2008) The Larchmont Mamaroneck Little League and its “older sister” Babe Ruth League opened their seasons recently after off-season changes designed to keep pace with the growing interest in softball.

Mayor Liz Feld admires the hand-made Mayor's Trophy signed by players from both teams.

The Babe Ruth league fielded two teams of ninth, eighth and seventh grade girls who play weekend afternoons in a league with three teams from New Rochelle. This league schedules a game “under the lights” to permit the veterans to showcase their talents. LMBR Commissioner Jon Serrano also organized a “Mayor’s Trophy” game and picnic at Central School on Sunday, April 13 between the Larchmont and Mamaroneck teams. The teams were led by their regular coaches plus Mamaroneck Mayor Kathy Savolt and Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld.

After the singing of the National Anthem, a mayoral dinner wager, and the throwing of the ceremonial first pitch by Larchmont Trustee Anne McAndrews, the teams treated the crowd to a 9-7 thriller, ultimately won by the Larchmont team.

In the end, the mayors were unified in their praise of the efforts being put forth to enhance this recreational activity. Mayor Feld applauded “the growing interest in softball” and praised “the moms and dads who are stepping up to the plate to coach their daughters.” Mayor Savolt added: “It’s a real plus for our community that this league offers a viable recreational activity for girls who may not want to, or have the time to, play at the middle or high schools.”

Larchmont Trustee Anne McAndrews throws the opening pitch at the Mayors' Trophy Game.

Brittany Jackson slides into home with Eliza McCurdy catching.

This sentiment is shared by many in the community. According to Larchmont resident, Chris Plaut, who serves as the vice president of LMLL for softball, “enrollment is up significantly.” Last year, seventy athletes played in the LMLL Majors division (which includes seventh, sixth and accelerated fifth graders); “this year we saw a 50% increase in enrollment to 104 athletes playing in Majors.” Mr. Plaut noted that this trend is also seen at the lower divisions. “For the second year in a row, the Intermediate Division, [which includes fifth, fourth and accelerated third graders, had enrollment levels (114) that yielded an “extra” team in the league. The “best part,” according to Mr. Plaut was that “parents filled every possible coaching spot in the Majors and Intermediate Divisions, and then some.”

Mamaroneck Town Councilman David Fishman, who is also the LMLL president, agreed. “The level of enthusiasm and commitment is extraordinary and refreshing,” said Mr. Fishman. “During the past off-season, we made changes that helped us bring the LMLL game closer to the game that is played at the high school level.” One visible change is that players on the Majors and Intermediate teams, like college and local school teams, will wear helmets with face masks. When asked, Melissa Marks, an understated seventh grader who played baseball “with the boys” in her early LMLL days, noted “the new helmets are fine, but the best part is that kids really want to play softball. Also, it’s kind of cool not being the only girl who likes to go to the batting cage.”

The off-season also brought a change to the “regulation” ball size in the Majors Division and the creation of a mentoring program that has several MHS Varsity softball players volunteering to help instruct the little league teams. The skills development clinics run every winter by Mamaroneck and Rye Neck coaches Joan George and Joan Spedefino were brimming again with third through seventh graders eager to improve. For the first time, Coach George and Coach Spedefino and MHS Varsity Coach Diane Cambell led two “softball only” clinics “to coach the coaches” on how to teach the fundamentals of softball. The results of all these efforts are evident at the Hommocks this year where a record number of athletes tried out for the two modified teams.

But in the end, Little League is still about fun, “because ours is first a recreational league, not a travel league,” noted Commissioner Serrano. “We try to remind ourselves what a wise coach taught me years ago: to have fun, boys have to play well; to play well, girls have to have fun.”

Although the tinkering will resume after the season (with improvements planned for the Minors division), now it’s time to “play ball” and have fun.

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