A batter steps up to the plate with two outs in the final inning of a tied game. He hits a shot near third base and drives in the winning run.
His team not only wins the game, but a state championship as well. The crowd in the bleachers applauds, his teammates cheer, and his coaches are proud of the team’s title run.
(Courtesy of Todd Owen)
Not bad for an athlete who’s up well past his bedtime.
Lucas Cinnante is just 6 years old, but his game-winning single clinched the state title for the Wesley Chapel T-Ball All-Stars earlier this month. The contest was part of a three-game final day for the team that made it past several must-win games and came from behind in the final match-up.
By the time they won the championship, a 16-15 victory over Sebring, it was nearly 10 p.m.
Cinnante and his teammates didn’t play like they were tired, and he said he wasn’t really nervous, either.
“Not that much,” Cinnante said. “My coach said to hit a ground ball, so I hit a ground ball. I just wanted to win a game and have fun.”
Wesley Chapel won the game and had fun, and their final victory capped an impressive run for the 6- and 7-year-olds on the team. The All-Stars are made up of the best t-ball players during the regular season across several teams, and they get together to compete for district and state honors.
Their run started with a strong showing at their district tournament last month in Wildwood, with Wesley Chapel earning the Dixie Youth Baseball District 6 championship after compiling a 5-1 record in the tournament.
Wesley Chapel then competed for the state title earlier this month in Mulberry, but it wasn’t an easy path to the championship. The tournament split the 12 competing teams into two pools, and Wesley Chapel completed its pool play with a perfect 5-0 record, earning a spot in the double-elimination championship portion of the tournament.
Then things got challenging. They defeated Wildwood next, but a loss to Sebring put them in the elimination bracket, meaning the next loss would end their title hopes.
They would have to keep winning to earn their way back into a rematch with Sebring, and then beat them twice in a row to claim the title. And accomplishing that task would include playing three elimination games in a single day.
Team manager Todd Owen knew that would be a tall order for athletes with just a half-dozen birthdays under their belt.
“Coach Vito (Anello) and I were saying to ourselves, ‘Just let the kids play. Let them enjoy this,’” he said. “It’s going to be a tough, uphill battle to win three games in one night. So let the kids go out, have fun, enjoy it and just be positive for the kids.
“And the kids just took the game over. They were out there just making things happen,” Owen said. “It was pure joy as far as the coaches being able to sit there and watch that.”
But nobody was sitting when the team finally won the title. The players were elated, Owen said. “They were jumping for joy.”
“I’m not sure who was more happy, the parents or the kids,” he said.
The parents were the key to the team’s success this year. Even with good coaching and talented players, the families are necessary to provide support, encourage and show patience with the young athletes, and foster a healthy environment for the team.
Cinnante’s mother, Leslie Cinnante, said that healthy environment was a positive experience for players and parents.
“This group of people is absolutely wonderful,” she said. “Everybody gets along, everybody is encouraging, everyone is positive, everybody helps each other. The All-Star team was a wonderful team.”
While winning the state championship was a special accomplishment, Owen said the team earned another title during the state tournament that was equally impressive. Wesley Chapel received the sportsmanship award.
The team organized group photos with their opponents to remember the fun times they had at the tournament, for example. And Owen was told that, unlike the t-ball championship, there wasn’t as much competition for that particular title. The people who came in contact with Wesley Chapel saw them as respectful and good sports throughout the tournament, he said.
“I did not expect that or anything,” Owen said. “That’s something to be proud of.”
The young Cinnante, who claims Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist as one of his favorites, will move up to a higher level of t-ball next year. But as much as he loves baseball and playing t-ball, there’s one thing he doesn’t like about the game: Having to wait until the next season starts to get back to practice.
“It should start like next week,” he said.
Published July 23, 2014
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