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They’re not tripping: New travel team can hang

The G.V.L.L. 10U travel team is back for its second season.
The G.V.L.L. 10U travel team is back for its second season.

BY JAYSON CAMACHO  |  Last fall, Greenwich Village Little League introduced a new, more competitive team to its league. This was the 10U (10 and under) travel team, that would play in the Westchester Baseball Association.

The idea for this new squad came from Rob Goergen, the team’s manager. He recounted how it all began.

“The prior fall season, my son, Bo, and another player on the team, Teddy, were invited to play on a 10U fall travel team up at Randalls Island, through an uptown baseball club,” he said.

Goergen said that the kids had a wonderful time playing with the team, but they sadly had to break up due to the age limit. This is when he decided to give a call to former G.V.L.L. President John Economou.

“Do we have anything like this at G.V.L.L.?” Goergen asked him.

“We don’t, we’ve never gotten around to building a travel team,” Economou admitted.

They continued talking and eventually agreed to start up a 10U fall baseball team that would be sponsored by G.V.L.L. They brought the idea to the league, and the league agreed it would be a good idea to bring this more-competitive team to a league that, up until now, has been more recreational.

Goergen had some goals for the team. One was that he wanted to give the kids a chance to play competitive ball in a season separate from the spring. Another was to improve the players’ skills. Finally, he idea was to field a competitive team in a new league.

First, they had to find a league to play in, and they settled on the Westchester Baseball Association.

Next, they had to find a field to call home. This is never easy. Luckily, they were able to get a field at Randall’s Island for half of the fall season.

When it came to forming the team, they already had a good foundation to start with. They tried to put the team together using the players who participated in the Memorial Day tournament this past spring.

Once they were able to craft their “Dream Team,” they needed to know that the players would be able to commit weekends to play. They didn’t want to have players missing games due to other sports or vacations. Luckily, Goergen didn’t have much trouble convincing the parents to make this commitment.

They played their first game against the MYB Bulldogs and won 12-0. They did well all season, winning nine games and losing only three. The team would make the league championship, but lost by a couple runs to the top-seeded New Rochelle Braves Blue.

The G.V.L.L. travel team was brought back for this spring season and participated in their first tournament this past weekend. Unfortunately, they lost back-to-back games during their doubleheader and would lose another game the next day. But the team didn’t lose their composure and the players still had a good time.

Former G.V.L.L. President Economou, the team’s current coach, shared some of his ideas for them.

“It’s exciting to able to offer players the opportunity to compete at a higher level,” he said. “It brings the proper balance between competitiveness and fun. It’s been a great experience so far with this good group of kids who have played together for the past year.

“This team helps boost ideas about community, and the players have built many friendships,” he said. “The team has faced challenges with new rules in the tournaments. Some of these new rules include balking and leading off, but the boys are adapting to them really well. We’ve yet to come up against a team we can’t compete with.”

This new addition to G.V.L.L. is a great step forward in bringing more-competitive baseball to a league that’s generally been focused on community and fun. Here’s hoping the team plays well the rest of this year, and best of luck going forward.