Adult Softball League Reignites Old Rivalries, Builds Unlikely Friendships

Exploring the dugouts at Scenic Hudson and Memorial Parks in Irvington, one can find: residue from patches of Skoal and Redman chewing tobacco, Modell's softballs, mits, batting gloves, and half-empty bottles of Gatorade scattered on the ground.

It can only mean one thing:  Softball is back in the Rivertowns.    

Various teams front-loaded with athletes and former baseball players have been going head-to-head along the banks of the Hudson River in this summer's Irvington recreation department's open summer softball league. From April through August, Hastings-based teams have been competing against Irvington and Irvington/Tarrytown programs, as players shag fly balls, drill doubles off the fence, run the bases like jacked-up gazelles, and dig ground balls out of the dirt.  

The league brings out competitive juices, renewing cross-town rivalries for players generally considered too old to compete.  

Each team is from the Westchester area and is supported by a local sponsor, including: Southside Club in Hastings, Sports Page Bar in White Plains, and Darante Construction in Elmsford, just to name a few.     

 "It's as good a league as you can find," said Hastings native Charlie Berger, who has played for the Hastings-based DoubleDays squad for the past four years.

Once the laughingstock of the league, a piecemeal group that got walloped in almost every game, Berger's squad is slowly looking to ascend the league's totem pole, though still out of the playoff picture. 

In the 478-region, Doubledays' team is valued as the second-class citizen to the defending champions,  Southside.

Southside is loaded with Hastings HS alumni who refuse to let their softball skills wane.

The team of Doubledays players--who range in age from 22-35--are still in love with the game. They appreciate that they can go out and play on a park more suitable to a post card picture than a slew of former jocks looking to prove they can still play.

"We're fortunate enough to have Doubledays in Dobbs Ferry as our sponsor," Berger said. "They do an unbelievable job. They take care of us before the season, during the season and after games. It's a great place to go hang out after and just munch on some food."    

Doubledays' squad has made a concerted effort to minimize mistakes and tighten up defensively; errors and anemic defense have derailed their chances in previous summers.    

The reigning champions, Southside, buys into the notion of getting the sticks going early and often--everyone in the lineup can do some damage at the plate and the team has oceanic depth.  

The alpha dog of this team is Corey Borowitz, who re-wrote the record books at Hastings High School in 1997 and then played for Division-I Marist University in Poughkeepsie.    

Borowitz, who also played for the nearby Bayside Yankees, has been toting the potent bat for Southside this season.    

"Since he was in little league, he's been a big time baseball player," Berger, who graduated from Hastings High in 2000, said. 

"He has converted very well to softball. He hits a home run over that right porch at least once a game; they're a team to be reckoned with, no doubt."     

Southside also boasts serviceable players such as pitcher Tim Braig (Hastings '05) and hyper-athletic outfieler Brian Martin (Hastings '99).     

"Being from the Rivertowns area and having competed in various softball leagues through the years, you really develop an appreciation for this type of friendly, competitive environment," John Kelly, a Dobbs Ferry native who played in both the Irvington Scenic Park League and Arc Pitch league in Greenburgh, said.     

"You know all about the small town competition and the rivalries over the years. As you get older, you appreciate being able to compete and team up with some of the same guys you played against and with in high school. That's what we get out of these softball leagues--it makes for good, spirited fun every summer."