East Carolinian

Issue date: 6/24/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Anna Vaughn Creech

Media Credit: Anna Vaughn Creech

Any person who has every burrowed their face into the pocket of a baseball glove to inhale the distinct aroma of leather, or has worn grass and dirt stains like merit badges, can vouch for baseball.

Few things can be defined as genuinely American, and baseball is one of those cherished rarities.

Unfortunately, the American pastime is weathering a dark time, which has been dubbed by the media as the "Steroids Era."

In the past decade, hardly a day has passed without the mention or suspension of another big league name that has resulted from a failed steroids test.

With each new case, more and more dignity is stripped from the sport and more fans lose respect for the league.

Luckily for Americans, the great game of baseball remains pure at its youngest form - Little League.

Little League is a common thread among American society, which generations of people from all different walks of life have experienced.

Countless individuals were at one time just a kid who loved to play the game.

In Greenville, the love for baseball transcends all throughout the town, from Little League, to the Babe Ruth League and all the way to the perennial high school powers of J.H Rose and D.H. Conley.

Then of course, there is the rich baseball tradition here at ECU.

Greenville is undoubtedly a baseball town where there are few kids that don't grow up playing baseball and even fewer kids that don't play the game well.

Pitt County is a breeding ground for good ball players, and at the Little League level is where that process begins.

Founded in 1939 as a nonprofit organization in Williamsport, PA, the Little League program found its way to Greenville on May 23, 1951, and has since done nothing but expand.

Starting around the middle of April every spring, Greenville Little League (GLL) fields eight teams, each in the North State League (founded 1951) and the Tar Heel League (founded 1954).

Each season consists of 22 regular season games, which also include interleague games between the two leagues.

At the conclusion of the season, both the North State and Tar Heel leagues hold two separate single elimination tournaments.

Once each league has its champion, the two face off in a best-of-three series to decide a city champion.

Another aspect of GLL that separates it from other programs in the state is that it features a superb facility in Elm Street Park.

Built in 1951, Elm Street Park was remodeled after Hurricane Floyd flooded Greenville in 1999 and left over four feet of standing water on the facility.

GLL commissioner, Brian Weingartz, believes that Elm Street Park has paid huge dividends for the Little League program of Greenville.

"I would believe that the facility has led some players to choose our program over others, but obviously I don't know that for a fact," Weingartz said. "It also creates great financial opportunities for us in advertising on the outfield wall and sponsors are willing to support the program."

Sponsors are a huge part of the success of Little League, and in Greenville, that's no different.

Companies such as Coca-Cola, Overton's and The Host Lions Club pay $800 per year to support one of the 16 teams that make up the program. Some sponsors have even been donating to the league since its inception.

GLL has also seen its share of notable athletes, high school state champions, college standouts and even a few big-league names.

Names such as Burke Badenhop, a right-handed pitcher in the Florida Marlins system, come to mind and more recently University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill standouts Alex White and Ryan Graepel, who both played for Little League coach Eric Jarman.

Jarman who has coached Little League for 13 years in Greenville spoke highly of his former players and of Greenville's support of Little League baseball.

"I can't imagine it (community support) matched anywhere else," Jarman said, who also played for NC Wesleyan College from 1987-90 under current UNC coach Mike Fox, whose assistant at the time was current ECU coach Billy Godwin. "I love to see the kids work and love the game."

Weingartz attributes the success of youth baseball in Greenville to the cooperation of Greenville Parks and Recreation but doesn't overlook the contribution from current J.H. Rose Head Coach, Ronald Vincent.

"He (Coach Vincent) has been the one consistent thing here in Greenville," Weingartz said.

Coach Vincent, known to most as "R.V.," has been involved with Little League in Greenville for the last 45-50 years either as a player or coach.

Vincent led one Greenville Little League team to a 1970 State Championship and state champions have also emerged from the town in 1957, 1964, 1984, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2006.

According to Coach Vincent, Little League is greatly responsible for the success of athletes that hail from Greenville.

"It's so well organized (GLL) and kids want to be a part of it," Vincent said. "The kids that have talent have a chance to develop it."

In regards to the affect that the "Steroid Era" has had on young players, Vincent spoke strongly against the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

"It bothers me a great deal," Vincent said. "You need to play with what the Lord has given you."

The MLB is making progress in closing the current dark chapter of professional baseball, yet the wounds left by the scandal of steroids may have forever tarnished the premiere level of the sport.

However, the great game of baseball will forever be pure, simple and fun for kids, and here in Pitt County, the GLL makes sure that is possible.

In the words of former Cleveland Indians pitcher and Hall of Famer, Bob Lemon, "Baseball was made for kids and grown-ups only screw it up."



This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.

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