Little League Continues to Encourage More Baseball

By Diana Dias
-
A Little League opening ceremony welcomed all the teams from St. Croix and St. Thomas of all divisions who went head-to-head. St. Thomas ended up winning all divisions. (Photo courtesy Trissision Productions)

The Territorial Championships last weekend marked the start of an exciting period for Little League in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Elmo Plaskett East Little League held the Championships at the Rudy Krieger Ballpark on St. Croix on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Teams from the 6 to 8 division, 9 to 10 division and the 11 to 12 division battled it out over the weekend. In the end, St. Thomas swooped all three divisions of the championships, and the winners will move on to play the Caribbean Little League Tournament in Curacao on July 14–21.

The St. Croix team put up a good fight, winning Friday’s game in the 11 to 12 division, but St. Thomas came back, winning Saturday and Sunday’s finale. (Photo courtesy Trissision Productions)

“In the sense of framework and the pillars of a child’s life and as it matriculates throughout adolescence and adulthood, it is important to have those disciplines and interpersonal skills,” President of the Elmo Plaskett Little League, Denis Lynch, said about the importance of Little League.

“Those relationships support through team building, having parents around, having coaches around it sprinkles more information and would get them to that higher level that we are aspiring to push them to,” said Lynch.

Children huddle on the pitcher’s mound from the St. Croix 11-12 division. (Photo courtesy Trissision Productions)

Back in January, the Source interviewed Lynch, who mentioned that there were many exciting developments in store for Little League in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Some of those upcoming events to promote Little League include a “12U Youth Baseball & Adult Softball” Tournament on July 5 to 7. Some of the players in the 12-Youth Division will also participate in the Santo Domingo Baseball Classic in the Dominican Republic from July 31 to Aug. 6 and travel to Vieques from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2. Other events to look forward to are “King of the Diamond” on Oct. 11 to 14, which will host a Youth 13 Tournament.

The St. Thomas team will now move on to both the Latin America finals and the Caribbean finals. (Photo courtesy Trissision Productions)

For a full recap of the weekend’s events, click here.

Sponsors for the event included Bellows Int’l, West Indies Corp., The Market, Pivot to Success, Inc., Elroy Bates, Mumba Rivera, Da Vybe 107.9FM, The Big Phat Morning Show, Senate President Novelle E. Francis Jr. and the 35th Legislature.