Vineyard Babe Ruth teams sweep championships

Earlier this month, the Martha’s Vineyard Herd, a junior Babe Ruth baseball team with players 12 to 15-year-olds, stepped off the ferry in Vineyard Haven under heavy rain to the sound of blaring sirens and flashing lights from local police and firefighter vehicles celebrating the team’s league championship in the Fall Gateway Regional Babe Ruth baseball league. 

The win for the Vineyards youth baseball team marked the completion of a rare Island sweep of the Fall Gateway league, with the Island’s senior team, with 15 to 18-year-olds, also securing a league title a week earlier, on Nov. 2. 

The Islands senior Herd team defeated Barnstable 7-1 on Nov. 2 in the Fall Gateway League Championship game to claim the division 2 crown; a week later, the juniors clinched their league with a 9-1 win over Fairhaven Pharmacy on Sunday Nov. 9. 

“I am very proud of all their hard work,” said Jeff Day, head coach of both Babe Ruth teams. “It was awesome, it was the first time the junior team had experienced that and they were very excited about it.” 

The Vineyard team’s unique name, “The Herd,” comes from a nickname and logo created by the team’s sponsor, John Keene, from John Keene Excavation. 

The seniors dominated the league with a 10-2 record, going undefeated at home and losing only two games on the road. Despite finishing the season at .500 with a 6-6 record, the juniors saved their best performance for the championship. The Islands Herd teams struggled to keep a consistent rosters throughout the season due to scheduling conflicts with fall and winter sports. While the junior team had only a fraction of their roster practicing the week before the championship game, coach Day said the young team delivered one of their strongest performances on field all season.

“I had a core of about seven kids that were practicing last week before the final game and all of them improved over that one week of practice together,” said Day.  “They played the best I’ve seen them play all season.”

For coach Day, maintaining a consistent youth pipeline for Island athletes is paramount to both preparing young athletes for the intensity of High School sports and keeping the Islands athletics strong moving forward.  

“In order for any high school to have a successful competitive team, it has to be supported by a feeder program from 10 years old all the way through, and it has to be consistent every year where there’s no drop off,” he said. “We are lucky because we get a lot of advice and influence from high school coaches and we try to mirror the lesson that the coaches want them to learn by the time they get to high school.” 

The Fall youth baseball season runs from early Sept. through November and is divided into two leagues: the American League covers teams east of the Bourne Bridge like Cape Cod and the Islands, and the National League covers teams west of the Bridge all the way to New Bedford. The Babe Ruth baseball league is the final bridge before varsity ball and for many young athletes, their first experience on a full size field used by high school, college, and Major League baseball teams. 

“Baseball is a game of confidence, and if they are confident in their skills they will perform better and compete at a higher level, mainly it’s about building confidence for kids in their skills,” said Day. 

With two league championships under their belt, next on the agenda for the Islands youth baseball programs is helping their high school players prepare for spring baseball, with the hopes of building on the Babe Ruth team’s success. 

“The prospects look good for our spring season,” said Day. “We are going to do winter baseball workouts at the Falmouth Sports Center throughout the winter season to prepare the kids for spring high school baseball.”