Sports
Youth Baseball Teams Hit The Field At Provident Bank Park
Clarkstown Stars host Piermont and Montgomery Generals in 13-and-under baseball double header
The Clarkstown Stars, an organization of various traveling baseball teams, usually play on fields with uneven grass, bumpy dirt that unforgivingly redirects ground balls, no outfield fences and — maybe — some benches for fans to sit on.
But on Thursday, the Stars played at Provident Bank Park, the newly built stadium in Ramapo that is home to the Rockland Boulders.
Instead of the norm, the Stars played on a field with perfectly manicured grass, silky smooth dirt, outfield walls covered in signs from local businesses and surrounded by actual stadium seats for friends and family members who came out to see the games.
“You could just imagine people sitting in all those seats, and that you were playing in a big game,” said Rob Fitzer of New City, an outfield for the Stars 13u Black team.
Fans were allowed to sit in the stands starting at the beginning of the dugout down the third base line, and continuing on behind home and up most of the first base line down into right field.
The Black team played first, opening the doubleheader at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Piermont, and the Red team played the Montgomery Generals starting a bit after 8 p.m. Both Stars teams lost, with Black losing 8-5 and Red dropping the nightcap 7-2, although the losses seemed secondary to chance to play in a place like Provident Bank Park. The games were both free and open to the public.
“It’s an amazing park, and the kids loved it,” said Ben Riccardi, manager of the Black squad. “All of them dream of playing on fields like this. The coaches dream of playing on a field like this.”
Riccardi said the Stars organization contacted the Boulders about possibly playing a game at Provident Bank Park, and as far as he knows, they are the first traveling youth baseball team to play at the stadium. He also said he hopes the Stars can play there again in the future. Piermont manager Joe Comparetto also hopes his team can play there again.
“We just have to thank the Clarkstown Stars organization for inviting us to play them here,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for all the kids, and a moment they’ll never forget. I hope we can do it again.”
His son, Nicholas Comparetto, an outfielder and catcher for Piermont, said he thinks it’s cool the Boulders let the four teams play there. He also mentioned being a little in awe of the park’s size early on in the game. The stadium has seating for about 5,000 people.
“My first at-bat a felt a little bit nervous,” he said. “After that I was fine.”
It was a common feeling for players in both games. Matt Robinson, an outfielder for the Generals, said he too was a little overwhelmed in his first at-bat, but calmed down after that. Dean Conti of New City and a member of the Stars’ Red team, said the nerves wore off after the first inning or so.
“I wasn’t that nervous,” said Robert Ottaviano of Nanuet and also on the Red team. “I was more excited to get to play here.”
And even more than early nerves, excitement was a common feeling for the 13-year-olds playing in both games.
“I liked the atmosphere of playing here,” said Conti. “Just having all the seats around and the big fences behind us.”
But for some of the kids, this wasn’t their first time playing at a professional stadium. Zach Miraz of Pomona and also on the Red team said he’s played in Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair, N.J., which is home to fellow Can-Am League team the New Jersey Jackals. Conti and Ottaviano said they’ve played there as well.
Stars Black team members Fitzer and Zack Riccardi, who are currently in their seventh season with a Stars team playing in the spring, summer and fall, said they’ve played in pretty big stadiums while playing Cal Ripken Baseball in Maryland. There, they said, the stadiums are built to resemble famous Major League stadiums. Cal Ripken Baseball is another youth baseball organization. Still, both were happy they got to play at Provident Bank Park.
“It was a thrill,” said Riccardi. “It was awesome to play here.”
Fitzer agreed, and said the field had some nice amenities the team isn’t accustomed to.
“The in-ground dugout had a bathroom,” he said. “That came in handy.”
The dugouts themselves were quite impressive, as they spanned a large portion of the first- and third-base lines. The teams, which aren’t only made up of tinier players but smaller rosters as well, only used maybe a quarter of the space in each dugout. And they didn’t even really sit on the cushioned benches, as all players stood up against the railing and fence at the top of the dugout, hanging over it, watching and cheering on their team, like you might see watching any professional game.
“It was really cool,” said Andrew Cipolli of Nanuet and a catcher Piermont. “We got to feel like one of the pros.”
The managers of the teams tried to help their players live out their pro ball dreams, as well.
“We couldn’t get them to focus on the game before it started,” said Erik Lazerus, manager of the Stars’ Red team. “They just wanted to run around and see everything, so we got to take them into the locker room so they could see what a professional one looks like. We also got to take them to the indoor batting cage before the game and hit around for a bit.”
For Lazerus, it was also a bittersweet night, he said. He used to play minor league baseball and independent ball.
“Being here just brings back so many memories for me. I can smell it. Breath it. I used to play in places like this one,” he said. “So I played around with the defensive rotations in the game, and tried to let all of them get a chance to play on the field a bit. It was a great experience for them.”
