The U12 majors Harvard Youth Baseball team won the Macintosh League championship on June 18, 8-5, against Ayer Shirley. The team’s record for the season was 14 wins and two losses. Coach James O’Leary said a highlight of the game was a double play in the first inning in which his team caught a hit by the Ayer Shirley batter at second base, threw to first to get the batter out, then immediately threw to home plate allowing the catcher to tag a player trying to bring in a run.
“We definitely started to swing our bats a lot better in the second part of the season,” said O’Leary. “We were aggressive on the base paths, resulting in lots of stolen bases, and our pitching was very good throughout the season. I hope the kids enjoyed the competition. Competitive sports are good whether you win or lose. I like seeing the kids’ resilience; every pitch is an opportunity to reset. After a bad play, you take a big breath and move on to the next.”
The U12 Harvard Youth Baseball team. Front row, from left: Chase Baron, James Nohl, Mutch Jiang, Mason Berger, Jacob Bearley. Back row, from left: Coach Brian Cook, Camden Begin, Zachary Hebert, Leo Bazarnick, Silas Cook, Coach Toby Bazarnick, Padraig O’Leary, Coach James O’Leary. (Courtesy photo)
