Santa Clarita Youth Baseball opening day was Saturday at the Castaic Sports Complex, and, according to league president Jim Robbins, participation is up 10% since last year.
Robbins expected about 1,000 people — kids, parents and others — to take part in the league’s opening ceremonies and the 10 games that would follow, which he said would go from 9 a.m. to about 7 p.m. The season goes through May 17, with games played on Saturdays. Playoff games are scheduled for May 31 and championship games for June 7.
“Thank you all so much for coming out today,” Robbins said near home plate on one of the fields at the sports complex to a crowd of families who were gathered in the outfield. “I know that it can be an inconvenience sometimes. You come out, you have to get here at 9, and then next, your game is at 5.”
Robbins said in an interview afterward that many families make a day of it, setting up picnics in the park while waiting for their games. He added that the community has been getting more involved in the program each year since the pandemic.
“We’re actually operating at capacity now,” Robbins said. “Our numbers were down by 50% coming out of COVID, and we were hard-pressed to fill teams.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger took part in the opening ceremonies, sharing how she visited the program when everything was opening back up after the pandemic. She said she’s seen how much some of the kids have grown.
“It tells me that this program is truly thriving and growing, just like the youth in it,” Barger told the crowd. “So, with that, to the parents, thank you for investing in our youth. That is our future right there, and our future looks bright.”
Barger said in an interview afterward that sports programs are important to her because she saw the impact they had on families and the community when she was a kid.
“I grew up with Little League,” she said. “My older brothers (played) — that was at a time when girls didn’t play. But my dad was a coach, and my mom was in the box behind doing scoring. I’ve seen the impact it has.”
During the opening day ceremonies, Alina Bokde, chief deputy director at the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, thanked Barger for championing youth programming, sharing how she, too, sees the impact it has and how sports, in general, play a crucial role in youth development.
“Many of you here know the benefits of sports,” she said. “Building that teamwork, being able to get through maybe some losses as well as celebrate those wins, and just what that brings to our kids.”
Darrell Davis, head baseball coach at Castaic High School, echoed the sentiments of both Barger and Bokde. He said he and his coaches at the high school volunteer their time to Santa Clarita Youth Baseball, offering a coaches’ clinic for the teams’ volunteer coaches, many of whom are parents, he said. The clinic hopes to pass on fundamentals that’ll ultimately help the kids be successful on the field and successful as they, perhaps, move up to high school baseball.
“It’s always good to come out here, give back to the youth,” Davis said. “And it’s awesome to see the little smile on all the kids’ faces from all different ages.”
According to Davis, his high school team is hoping to come down and cheer on the Santa Clarita Youth Baseball teams this season. He said he hopes the youth baseball teams will, in turn, come out and cheer on Castaic High School.
One of the families at opening day on Saturday was the Durham family of Saugus. Frank Durham and his wife, Kristina, were there with their two sons, Frankie, age 7, and Wyatt, 4.
Durham, who said he and his family are Los Angeles Dodgers fans, is the manager of Frankie’s team, the Orioles. His wife said she’s a team mom. She was wearing an Angels uniform, as was Wyatt.
“Frankie has been playing for four seasons, and this is Wyatt’s second season,” Durham said. “We’re here four nights a week practicing and playing games.”
He added that baseball was in his life growing up. His wife said it was the same for her. So, when they learned about Santa Clarita Youth Baseball, they jumped at it. The league, they said, is built to teach kids baseball skills, teamwork and camaraderie. It’s not like travel ball, Durham said, which can be extremely competitive and not always fair when it comes to equal playing time for all the players.
And while no one in the Durham family was wearing a Dodger uniform, Frankie wore Mookie Betts’ No. 50, and Wyatt wore Freddie Freeman’s No. 5.
During the opening ceremonies, the league’s teams came out onto the field one by one and walked the bases. Families cheered them on and many of them, as Robbins had said, were having picnics and some fun while they waited for their games.
