A’s beat the Giants to take home 2015 championship
Published in the June 24 – July 9, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Photo by Marty Cheek
A player swings at a pitch during the 2015 league championship Saturday June 20 at Britton Middle School.
The crack of a baseball bat striking a cowhide ball punctures the Saturday morning air. Cheers, clapping and excited screams erupt from parents and coaches as the young runner races toward first base. On the fields of Britton Middle School under a canopy of summer blue sky, this scene plays out over and over as the boys and girls participating in the June 13 Morgan Hill Pony Baseball championship playoffs learn to love America’s favorite pastime.
Among the ball players is Chad Mays. At age 5, Mays started playing Pony Baseball on the Shetland Division. Nine years later, the 14-year-old catcher can’t wipe a smile off his face, knowing he’s ended his farewell season with the league on a glory days high note. His team, the A’s, beat the Giants to win the spring 2015 championship. He’ll spend his time this summer practicing for the baseball team at Sobrato High School where he’ll be a freshman this fall.
“It feels really good that we made it this far,” Mays said about the victory. “Everybody came together.”
Photo by Marty Cheek
A hitter watches a pitch during the June 13 championship games at Britton Middle School.
His eyes sparkle as he explains why he feels an excitement for the game called America’s national pastime.
“You have to be good to play this game and you have to have heart,” Mays said. “You have to have a love for the game. The best way to be good is to have a love for the game. It’s the best game. My dad loves baseball and he gave me a love for the game. I’m from a baseball family and I got that love for the game from him and never looked back.”
May’s mother Laura Mays said playing Pony Baseball over the years has helped her son mature in numerous ways.
“He gets a sense of team out of it,” she said. “He’s made a lot of friends over the years. His best friends are from baseball. He has people to look up to — the parent-coaches. And it’s great to win the championship in his last season on Pony League.”
With the Fourth of July coming up next week, it’s good to take time to consider that a Pony Baseball game can serve as an analogy for the American way of life. Every player gets a chance to bat. If the player hits a home run, the crowd goes wild. If the player strikes out, he knows he’ll have another opportunity later in the game. Pony Baseball can be an individual sport because it’s all about the boy at bat. He swings, he runs, he’s in command of his destiny on that diamond. But he’s also playing for the team. He knows the other players depend on his being there just as much as he depends on them.
Photo by Marty Cheek
Pinto Division players compete against each other.
With the last day of the regular season, Tom Moorehead, president of the Pony Baseball’s executive board, shares the excitement the boys and girls on the various division teams feel for the game.
“The kids love it. If they win the city championship they’ll have bragging rights for a year with all their buddies. They always look forward to this,” he said.
The loss of a game will sting for a short while until they get their after-game snacks.
“If there’s a good snack, it’s soon all forgotten,” he said with a laugh.
Pony Baseball started in Morgan Hill in 1979 and serves between 500 and 600 players on the various divisions which are named after various breeds of horses.
The Shetland Division is an instructional league for children ages between 4 and 6 who are just learning the fundamentals of the game. Coaches teach the kids by using a t-ball stand to hit the ball as well as basic catching.
The Pinto Division is designed for players to learn the rules of baseball. It’s more competitive with an emphasis on learning by having the players on as many positions as possible throughout the season.
The Mustang Division continues the fundamental development of the players.
The Bronco Division focuses on continuing building player skills and knowledge of the sport.
For the older players such as Chad Mays, the Pony Division helps athletes fine-tune their skills by executing the finer tactics of advanced baseball.
Ultimately, the goal is for every Pony Baseball player to have fun and make friends, Moorehead said.
Photo by Jessica Redfield
“That’s what we’re about. It’s about the community and a place to come on Saturday mornings,” he said. “The nicest thing is when you see these kids years later and they’re out in the community working and doing different things and they come up and recognize you and say hi and thank you. It’s the friendships that are built.”
Anthony Dixon is Pony Baseball’s in-coming president who got involved through his son Tyler participating in the Shetland Division. He sees the league providing a benefit by bringing families with their kids to the baseball fields on the weekend and allowing them to get to know each over friendly competition under blue skies.
Local businesses have been very supportive as sponsors of the league’s team, donating money which helps keep the league fees costs down for families on a budget.
As Dixon starts his term as president, he intends to expand community involvement with Pony Baseball.
Photo by Jessica Redfield
“We encourage people to consider getting into the league,” he said. “We’re considered a ‘rec’ league and there’s a lot of other organizations which are called ‘travel ball.’ And some of the kids when they get into the older age groups start leaving our organization to go into the travel ball. Well, currently, we’re looking at ways to bring those kids back to build our league up because over the years our members numbers have been declining. So at this point we’re trying to figure out a way to get those kids back so they play with kids they go to school with.”
Pony Baseball has become a spring tradition for Jeremy Crebs and his 8-year-old son Bo. The two spend many of their Saturday on the baseball fields at Britton and Crebs joined the board of directors for the league as well as serving as a referee.
“We got my oldest son in as a Shetland player and the division ref was in the league on two different divisions and he asked me if I’d like to help out,” he said. “And I got involved with helping out with the Shetland division and I’ve been a ref ever since.”
Bo’s team worked hard through the season which started with opening day on March 7 and played seven games in 11 days.
The league has a double elimination bracket and the team lost its second game on June 11 which bothered Bo and the other players for a little while and then they got over the loss.
“He’s having a lot of fun,” Crebs said. “We had almost every single kid crying at the end of the game just because of the passion for the game, including the coaches. You see the coaches get teared up. It’s a family out here. That’s what this is. I love the game, I love the people. This truly is a family out here where we get together.”
