Cal Ripken Tournament Comes to an End

It was the last day of the tournament, but there were the Winchester volunteers, at the concession stands, helping out at the tents. They continued to make the 11-year-old Cal Ripken New England Regional Tournament a once-in-a-lifetime-experience for the teams involved.

The team from Winchester, qualifying for the tournament by virtue of being the host team, lost two heart-breaking games over the weekend. First, the Sachems came back being down nine runs, to close within one, only to end up losing. And the following day, the Sachems lost a tough extra-inning game from the team from Hudson (NH).

Losing that first game to tournament runner-up was a tough one, as Winchester were immediately given one loss in the double-elimination tournament.

Raynham (MA) who had lost to the team from New Fairfield (CT) earlier in the tournament, needed to beat them twice for the title. After winning the first game, New Fairfield was able to hold off Raynham in the second game 9-8 to win the title.

But, no matter the outcome, the tournament gave teams from around New England a chance to see what makes these tournaments so special.

"The tournament's gone really well," said Tournament Director Mike Creane. "We've had a pleasure of doing a number of these regionals and we know what format works well with the kids and the families."

The success that these major tournaments have had in Winchester, whether it's a world series, a regional, state or district tournament, is the reason they keep coming back to Nutile Field.

"Winchester knows what they're doing when it comes to hosting these tournaments," Assistant Tournament Director Mike Jienecki said. "They really make this fun and enjoyable for everybody."

"We've done so many of these things, it's more of a case that we know what not to do," said Winchester little league coordinator Bob Nutile. "It's the people that make this tournament what it is. It means a lot that the tournament decided to come back."

Even though the tournament seemed to go off without a hitch, there was plenty of work done behind the scenes by the town's volunteers that made another little league tournament a success in a town that's fast becoming the place-to-be for little league baseball.

"I heard the World Series was a lot of work last year," said Winchester volunteer Eileen Marks. "I didn't realize putting together the tournament was so much work. There are so many people besides the team that's been helping out. Everybody in the baseball community has worked hard to put this on for the kids, and it's something they really appreciate."