New Ballgame in Brentwood

As seen in newsday.com
Rebuilt baseball program gets $5G in donations
A month ago, Brentwood Baseball’s efforts to start T-ball and Little League baseball programs from scratch were still on the ground floor. With Opening Day a week away, the vision is coming to fruition.

Brentwood Baseball received a big boost from the Suffolk County Police Athletic League, which donated more than $5,000 worth of baseball equipment Friday at Brentwood State Park. Dozens of helmets, bats, gloves, bat bags and sets of catcher’s gear were lined up along a wall of the field house that overlooks the park’s two baseball fields.

“It’s priceless,” said Tom O’Hara, president of Brentwood Baseball. “We believe in giving kids twice the baseball for half the price.This will go a long way toward making baseball more affordable for the community.”

In March, Newsday reported on Brentwood Baseball’s efforts to revitalize youth baseball in the community.

“I saw an article in Newsday that Brentwood Baseball was trying to resurrect their program,” said Don Yorie, SCPAL Director of Development. “I’m a former PAL officer and they had played many years for us. I saw that as an opportunity to help the community in Brentwood by getting PAL involved because we realized that they may need some assistance.”

Deputy Police Commissioner Belinda Alvarez-Groneman grew up in Brentwood and graduated from Brentwood High School in 1977. She played softball in high school and at Suffolk County CC,which is about a half-mile away from the baseball fields at Brentwood State Park.

She served as the commissioner of girls softball for Brentwood Youth Activities (BYA), which offered several organized sports to children.
“I always remember my brother playing in BYA and I had to cook many hot dogs at the concession stands,” Alvarez- Groneman said. “This is more than amazing that I’m back here for this and I will continue to come to the games. I’m looking forward to that.”

O’Hara said 170 kids are registered throughout the four divisions Brentwood Baseball offers. He extended the registration program an extra week to help reach his goal of 200 registrants before Opening Day on April 18.

“We’re on the cusp of reaching our goal of 200 players and I have no doubt that we will get there by next week,” O’Hara said. “Now we need managers and coaches because we have so many kids. That’s a good problem to have.”

Sunday marks the first day of practices after Saturday’s draft process.

“All our youths need more recreational programs,” said George Waldbauer, executive director of SCPAL. “Some are more inclined to play one sport over another, but baseball really faded out. It’s really great that they’re bringing it back. The evidence of nearly 200 kids wanting to play shows the need here in the Brentwood community.”

Suffolk Police Chief of Department Bill Doherty grew up playing baseball in Smithtown. He said he still is close friends with his Little League teammates from 40 years ago.

“You form lifelong bonds and learn how to work with a team. The structure and camaraderie are very important during those formative years,” Doherty said. “We used to play against Brentwood in travel baseball and they were always very good. I remember hearing years ago that the league had waned a bit, so we’re all very grateful for the volunteers who are breathing new life into the sport here in Brentwood.”

As excitement builds ahead of Opening Day, so does hope that baseball in Brentwood will flourish for years to come.

Said Yorie: “As Brentwood Baseball continues to grow, which we know it will, we will continue to provide support as needed.”