WRA's Summer Smash Going to be Fun for Parents and Players

The Whitpain Little League is taking its baseball tournament to a new level.

The league will hold its “Summer Smash” from July 21 through July 24, and it appears it will be far more than an average tournament weekend on and off the field.  Whitpain Smashers Manager Mark Kearney decided to enhance the experience for the players, parents and spectators attending the event.

“I wanted to make it a fun thing,” Kearney said.  “Some parents drive well over an hour.  Parents go these events and they are sitting in the hot sun.  When the kids aren’t playing, the parents can walk around to get a hot dog and a soda.  They can listen to some music and have fun.”

The Summer Smash will feature baseball from some of the top 11-year-old players in the region.  It will also feature a host of other events for everybody attending the tournament.

“It’s a new take on the summer baseball tourney,” said Kearney.  We’re making it a weekend picnic, with a barbeque, rock bands, and baseball for 11-year-olds.  Typically when you go to these tourneys, the kids play and the parents come.  We’re making it a weekend picnic.”

The Summer Smash barbeque will feature hamburgers, hot dogs and ribs at affordable prices.  Garage bands will be rocking the event in between innings. 

“We have eight teams coming in from as far away as Downingtown and Doylestown,” Kearney said.  “It’s a nice opportunity for them to have some fun and for the parents to come out and sit in their beach chairs to watch baseball.”

The rules for the tournament are the same as the rules on the high school and major league level.  The infield fly rule and running to first base on a past ball or wild pitch on a third strike are some of the examples of the guidelines the players will follow during the Summer Smash.

“It’s pretty good baseball,” said Kearney.  “It’s live baseball, the kind you see in high school, college or in the pros as far as the rules.”

The community has always given the Whitpain Little League plenty of support, and community members are doing their part to make the Summer Smash successful.

“I think the community is embracing it,” Kearney said.  “We’re a very large community in Whitpain.  We’ve never really done anything like this.  One of our lead sponsors is P.J. Whelihan’s.  They’re in full blast helping us out.  We have signs out all over Blue Bell.” 

Kearney is one of many baseball fans who realized the game needs to attract the next generation of players.  He is hoping events such as the Summer Smash will make baseball a high priority for families who choose little league sports in the future.

“Baseball has been losing out for too long,” said Kearney.  “It’s been losing out to lacrosse, soccer and other things because they think baseball is boring.  We’re going to take a lesson from the Reading Phillies or the Trenton Thunder and do it with a little bit of fun and pizzazz.”

The Summer Smash will have something for everyone in attendance.  However, through all of the fun of the barbeques and bands, there is still baseball.  Kearney believes spectators will be treated to a high quality of play from a very talented group of 11-year-old ballplayers.

“This is going to be quality baseball,” Kearney said.  “These kids can play.  They’re not high school players, but they are very talented baseball players.  You’re not going to come out and be bored.”

For more information on the Summer Smash, you can visit the league’s website at http://wrasports.countmein.com/default.aspx.