Little Leaguers to play Vermont team

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Little League players, coaches, and parents helped to get Island baseball fields ready for the upcoming season during the annual Field Day on Saturday. — Photo courtesy of Ernie Chaves

The Martha’s Vineyard Little League (MVLL) Majors Division has scheduled a series of scrimmages on April 21 and 22 against a team of Little Leaguers from Williston, Vermont.

The idea for the scrimmages came about last summer when Kevin McDermott, a board member and coach from the Williston Little League, was vacationing at his house in Oak Bluffs and his son Hunter joined a pick-up game at Veira Park organized by MVLL. “All of the coaches were so friendly and all the players made Hunter feel so welcome that I thought it would be great to come back to the Island with a bunch of kids from our league,” Coach McDermott said.

Currently, there are double-headers scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the Williston team will play the Pirates, followed by the Martha’s Vineyard 12-year-old All Stars. On Sunday, the Vermonters will face off against the Cubs, followed by a split-squad game of the Red Sox and A’s.

MVLL President Andrew Aliberti is excited about the budding interstate rivalry. “It’s a great opportunity to play host to kids from another league,” he said. “Hopefully, it can turn into an annual occurrence similar to our home and home double-headers each summer versus Nantucket. Everyone is really looking forward to it. I am sure it will be a ton of fun for everyone”

Little League prepares for season

The Martha’s Vineyard Little League (MVLL) had a busy week preparing for the upcoming season. The league held its annual Field Day April 14. Dozens of parents and players performed maintenance on the baseball fields across the Island. The league also held a golf tournament at Farm Neck on April 10.

The MVLL season begins next week. The opening game for Majors is at 5 pm on Monday, April 23, at Veira Park in Oak Bluffs.

The Minors get underway Tuesday, April 24, at Manter Field in West Tisbury at 4:30 pm.

Saturday, April 28, is the MVLL parade up Circuit Avenue. Following the parade, all 320 baseball players on 26 teams, play ball at six different Island fields.