The Tigers battled hard to an 8 -7 victory over the Pirates as the 2012 Little League Baseball Season got underway on Saturday.

In the first “T” Ball match, the Tigers sneaked past the Pirates 8-7, with Jacouy Grant scoring 2 runs from 2 at bats.

During his speech at the opening, Walwyn had extolled the virtues of following the rules and respecting the coaches and officials as well as each other.

“In sport,” he said. “There are rules and there are rules in life. Even though we have freedom we don’t have freedom to do whatever we want whenever we want. Getting involved in sports you will learn rules and skills so as you get older you will have respect for rules and respect for authority.”

He also congratulated the parents for coming out to support their children. “We still have more kids here than parents, but it’s a good start. It’s important to be involved from the beginning especially in today’s world. If we do the right things now it makes life much easier later on. It’s easier to build young lives than repair older ones.”

The Hon. Myron Walwyn opened the season with thanks to the large turn out of parents who were supporting their children.

In the second game which was called Coached Pitched (the Coach actually pitches to his own team), the Red Sox were pipped 12-13 by The Rays.

For the Rays, Lawton Green went 2 for 2, scored 2 runs and had 4 RBI. He also hit the season’s first Grand Slam, smashing a drive low and hard to deep center field. Both Jiovanni Baptiste and Keshaun Thomas scored 3 runs for the Reds.

The last game of the day saw the Mets beat the Cardinals 14-7 on the bat of Malachi Payne who went 2 for 3 scored 3 runs and had 2 RBI. Antwayne McMillan went 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI.

Mets’ Alfred James went 3 for 3 with a Home Run, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI.
Organiser of the Little League, Terry Chinnery was please with the games and also the turnout of parents and spectators.

“These leagues are very important for the players’ development,” he commented. “Right now we have one kid who started in these leagues signing a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants and we had one who elected to stay in college despite being offered a half million dollar contract with the Dodgers. We also have a 3 time draft candidate and many players away on scholarships, so these leagues are a way to get started and see how far you can get.”

Lawton Green smashed a grand slam Home Run in the Rays 13-12 win over the Red Sox