WYBI crowns Ports champ, looks ahead to all-star time

  • brian questel
  • June 23, 2011
  • 269
                        
062711 WooLLplayoffs Promo: Wooster Youth Baseball, Inc. celebrating success and changing gears at same time WYBI crowns Ports champ, looks ahead to all-star time By Brian Questel Just as one stage closes, another is opening for Wooster Youth Baseball, Inc. The Wooster City Series wrapped up June 22 with Ports Petroleum beating Long, Cook and Samsa to take the Major League’s best best-of-3 series 2-1. The Minor’s will hold their City Series beginning this coming week of June 27 in its best-of-3 showdown against a pair of teams yet to be decided, while the trail to the Little League World Series, which ends in Williamsport, Pa., in August, begins June 27 in cities like Wooster all over the world. So as WYBI celebrates the Major League championship of Ports Petroleum and awaits the Minor’s winner, it is also looking to make a run towards any little leaguers’ goal. And through it all, the league has had to deal with a spring unlike virtually any other as seemingly daily rains have complicated the planning, practicing and playing of games all spring long. “The weather has been unbelievable,” said WBYI board president Stacy Robinson. “We’ve had late starts like everyone else this season. The weather has pushed everything back and it really hurt the playoffs and picking the Williamsport and Hometown (all-star) teams. “We’ve made do with what we’ve had and played through it,” he added. “It’s a test of how the league ran, and it ran very well because we had more teams than ever.” Part of that was a change the league made a year ago to form a t-ball league “because kids were leaving and going other places,” said Robinson. “We gained close to 70 more kids through t-ball.” Robinson also noted reorganization within the league that ended the practice of moving up 8-year-olds and facing “10-year-olds and being scared” to face the older pitching. The league facilitated that move in part by opting to drop its Little League and Farm League monikers for the Major League and Minor League designations and give it more flexibility. People have generally accepted the moves as a positive change, said Robinson. “People have done well with it,” said Robinson. “We’ve also gotten kids in tournaments and playing elsewhere to get experience, and that has really paid off. Before we’ve never had 8-year-olds going to tournaments for 8-year-olds, or 10-year-olds going to tournaments. In the past, once we hit Williamsport and Hometown, the kids were done, and summer was just starting. “Kids are getting to play more ball. Last year we put a fall league together and I had 11 teams in the fall league. Not just Wooster, but teams were coming from Ashland and we had county-school teams,” he added. “Kids were involved until it got cold out, and it gave an opportunity for kids who weren’t playing football or basketball.” While the WYBI community will be following the Minor’s City Series, which starts the week of June 27, the focus also turns to the Williamsport 9-10 and 11-12 teams, as well as the Hometown 9-10 and 11-12 teams. “Those teams were picked last week,” said Robinson. “We cut those teams down because we wanted the teams to be more competitive. As much baseball as we’re playing now, this made it more competitive for the kids. No one likes to play and get slaughtered.” Through the changes and a busy spring and start to summer, Robinson was appreciative of all who have worked diligently to make the program go. “It all goes back to the fact we have a bunch of hard-working board members who have put countless hours into making (WYBI) what it is,” said Robinson. “If I didn’t have the board members we have, it wouldn’t be the success it is.”


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