Foul Balls, Fenway, and Fun: Norwich’s Next Generation Is up to Bat

Baseball, known widely as America’s favorite pastime, is a game of fine adjustments and failures. Even for professional athletes, getting a hit three times in ten tries is considered a success. Baseball is a sport where one truly has to love the game to stay in it; there can be frustrating and repetitive moments from the beginning to the end of a player’s career, but there are also plenty of rewards.

NBA player, Abe Rojansky, at bat

The baseball parents here in Norwich have witnessed that phenomenon firsthand. The Norwich Baseball Association (NBA), created in 2017 by Rob Kramer and now run by President Michael Costa and fellow Norwich Baseball Association board members, ensures that kids in Norwich between ages 8-12 will have the opportunity to play, improve, and learn to love the game of baseball now and in the future.

With a season beginning in early spring and practices and games running through fall, Norwich’s Cal Ripken teams are able to participate in baseball opportunities throughout most of the year. In the spring, two to three 10U (ages 8-10) and two 12U (ages 10-12) Norwich teams play against other local teams in the Upper Valley’s Cal Ripken League, like Hanover, Lebanon, and Hartford. As a part of the all-star program in the summer, teams practice and play against each other for a two-week period, and two teams (one 10U and one 12U) are selected to play in the Vermont Cal Ripken State Tournament. A more relaxed summer baseball season runs from early July to mid-late August, when rising 3rd graders are typically introduced to the program. In the fall, the NBA prepares for the next spring season with weekly practices and games. Each year, between 40-60 kids participate in the Norwich Baseball Association program.

NBA president Michael Costa and two young Norwich baseball players

For Costa and other board members, as well as the coaches, a critical concept that the Norwich Baseball Association imparts on their teams is “player development over wins and losses,” Costa says. From the start of the season, practices are built around emphasizing good physical habits like stretching, throwing technique, base running, and more. Coaches also teach their players about the importance of good sportsmanship and being a good teammate – skills that will stick with them well beyond the baseball diamond. The coaches also challenge the players, making sure that, despite their young ages, these passionate and talented athletes are giving it their all while developing self-confidence.

“You have to really love the sport of baseball,” explains Costa. “I always tell my players, when they see a curveball for the first time, that the process of figuring out how to hit a curveball will show how much they actually love the sport.”

Weston Dyke catching

While these skills and tweaks take time to learn and improve upon, especially for younger players who are newly introduced to the sport of baseball, Costa says that seeing his players get over hurdles and demonstrate the skills they’ve been practicing is one of the best parts of his involvement with the Norwich Baseball Association.

“Sometimes it doesn’t [seem] like the kids are improving, but then they’ll make a play we had worked on in practice during the games,” remarks Costa with a hint of satisfaction.

An emphasis on teaching the fundamentals of baseball, as well as the evident time and effort put into making the NBA possible, all stems from the fact that the people involved in organizing the association are avid baseball lovers themselves. Costa was born into a baseball family, with his childhood often consumed by the sound of Red Sox radio broadcasts. “My grandfather taught my dad how to play baseball, and my dad taught me, so it’s been passed down the family,” he says. With fond memories of famous Red Sox moments – like the Dave Roberts steal in the 2004 ALC (American League Championship), which Costa considers his favorite Red Sox moment – Costa is someone who can talk about baseball for hours on end. His love for baseball extends to his work with the association between practices, schedules, and even jerseys that he pitches in to meticulously plan out.

Christopher Coughlin coaching Norwich baseball

Another vital component of the Norwich Baseball Association are parent-volunteers. As Costa puts it, “None of the magic in youth sports happens without parents putting in effort.” Aside from encouraging players to focus on baseball outside of NBA-led practices and games, which Costa says is essential for the improvement of young baseball athletes, parents often help in other ways as well. Recently, NBA parents Mara Child and Lucy Rojansky, along with other parents and the board, organized a Fenway Park trip for the whole NBA community. The NBA, being a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, can do its own fundraising, and Child, seeing an opportunity that the Red Sox advertised, took the initiative to contact them, which led to both a fundraising and an educational opportunity for the NBA, allowing kids, family, and friends to enjoy a professional baseball game at one of the oldest baseball stadiums in the country. As part of the program with the Red Sox, the NBA raised around 16-1700 dollars by reselling tickets. At Fenway, the NBA players were also able to run around on the field and take pictures, making for a forgettable experience.

Like Costa, Child also grew up in a baseball family. She grew up in New Hampshire, watching and listening to Red Sox games, with distinct memories of her grandmother listening to the Red Sox broadcasts frequently and keeping her own scorebooks. After moving to Seattle with her husband, Child and her family watched Mariners games as well. When the family moved back to the Upper Valley two years ago, they became involved in the NBA, with her husband coaching (Child has made a few coaching cameos as well) and her son playing.

As a parent, Child says the NBA is a good way for her kid to connect with other players his age, but also a good way for her to connect with other baseball-inclined families.

“The Norwich Baseball Association is a great way to meet new families and build community, not just in Norwich, but also in towns across the Upper Valley,” she adds.

Norwich players of all ages celebrating Youth Sports Day at Fenway Park. ((Photos seen first in Demo Sofronas’ newsletter,
“About Norwich”, used with permission from aboutnorwich.substack.com.)

The NBA isn’t the only opportunity for kids to play baseball in the Upper Valley. The Upper Valley Ambush, organized by Brian Melzer, provides an opportunity for more competitive baseball in the Upper Valley. With 12U and 14U teams, Upper Valley Ambush plays in the New England Select League, which showcases some of the best youth teams across New England. Costa, who will coach one of the teams next spring, says that the Ambush allows kids to experience competitive, challenging, and travel-team-style baseball at a young age.

The Ambush also has another benefit to Upper Valley youth baseball, according to Costa.

“Upper Valley Ambush allows kids in the Upper Valley to experience travel baseball without the need to travel to Concord or Manchester to find travel baseball teams like the Concord Cannons or the New Hampshire Bobcats, like one used to have to do,” he says. Because the Ambush includes a 14U team, some games are played on a major-league-sized field, with 40′ vs. 60′ pitching mounds, 60′ vs. 90′ base paths, and overall bigger outfields, which is often a big jump for players who are used to a smaller setup. Costa explains that this is why the fundamentals of baseball are so important to learn at a young age when practicing.

Costa hopes to keep the Norwich Baseball Association going strong even after this batch of athletes moves on to the next stage of their baseball careers. “Our goal is to make this whole process sustainable so that the next group of parents who take over the program don’t have to start from scratch,” he says.

Mia Tesone and Etta Regan at Fenway Park.

The Norwich Baseball Association has always been an organization passed down among parents. When founder Rob Kramer was in charge, Costa often helped out, noticing Kramer’s dedication to making quality youth baseball available to Norwich youths. Costa, now president of the association’s board, continues to try to imitate that same rigor, along with the rest of the board, coaches, and parents, who are all essential parts of the organization to keep it running smoothly.

A strong youth baseball program has many benefits that impact beyond the players and their families. At the high school level, many of the players who are on the team start off at programs such as the Norwich Baseball Association. In the case of Hanover High School, a good number of the players in the high school program played baseball in Norwich at some point. Having a strong program like the NBA ensures that the future of baseball for youth in Norwich and beyond will be rewarding in the upcoming years.

As summer turns into fall, be ready to see young baseball players in Norwich donning their navy blue jerseys as they begin their fall season. Play ball!

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All photos on this page except for last 2 by Kata Sasvari