By Abigail W. Adams
Twenty-one team members from the original Waldoboro Little League teams were honored in the opening ceremony for the 11&12 Little League Baseball All Stars State Tournament at the Clyde Sukeforth field in Waldoboro Saturday, July 25. Pictured in the back row, from left to right, are Dalton Genther, Gary Robinson, Neil Lash, Dana Verge, Cedric Crowell, Billy Dow, Louis Abbotoni, Dick Laine, Ronny Ralph, Bob Spear, Arnold Benner, Allen Holmes, Donald Johnston, Wendall Blanchard, Elmer “Bud” Jameson, and Victor Richards. In front, from left to right, are Wayne Little, Chester Burns, and Jon Olsen. Not pictured are Robert Sukeforth and Sam Cohen. (Abigail Adams photo) |
The 11&12 Little League baseball all-stars tournament kicked off at Clyde Sukeforth Field in Waldoboro Saturday, July 25, and on the field were the men who started it all. Twenty-one members of the four original teams that launched Little League Baseball in Waldoboro in 1952 were honored in the opening ceremony.
“We want to extend a thank you to the pioneers of Waldoboro Little League,” the master of ceremonies said. Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies formed a color guard and held the U.S. and Maine flags high as the 11&12 champions of the state’s six Little League districts prepared to square off.
The families of recently deceased sponsors Randy Raymond and Joe Murray joined Waldoboro’s 1952 Little League players on the mound
to watch and laugh as Lawrence Raymond and Scott Murray threw the ball that launched the game.
“It’s an honor to be remembered in this way,” Jon Olsen, who played with the Panthers, said. “It brought back some precious memories from long ago.”
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District 2 administrator Dana Verge (right) shows his Volunteer of the Year award to his father Woodrow Verge. Dana Verge was the pitcher for the Panthers when Waldoboro Little League first formed in 1952. His father taught him how to pitch. (Abigail Adams photo) |
Little League formed in Waldoboro in 1952 due, in large part, to the initiative of Herbert Spear and John
Foster, the master of ceremonies said.
As the Korean War raged overseas, children from surrounding towns flocked to Waldoboro for a slot on one of the league’s four teams: the Panthers, the Bears, the Wildcats, and the Tigers.
“We got a lot of bench time,” Allen Holmes and Arnold Benner, two of the youngest members of the league, joked. “But it was fun,” said Holmes, who played with the Wildcats. “It was just good fun.”
Many of the Little League players went on to play baseball in high school and compete against each other. The competitive atmosphere was absent from Little League back in the day, many players said, and the baseball season seemed to last all summer long.
The Wildcats never won a game in the first year of Little League, Holmes said. When they did win a game in their second year, it must have been quite an occasion, he said, but he did not remember it.
What Holmes did remember was the dime his mother gave him – when dimes were hard to come by – so he could buy a soda after the game. “I would wrap it in a handkerchief and put in my pocket so I didn’t lose it,” Holmes said. “I remember that. After a game it was a big treat.”
Benner, who played with the Tigers, remembered being up to bat against Dana Verge, Little League’s current
District 2 administrator and former pitcher for the Panthers. Benner got a hit off of Verge that went right through second and third base, he said. For some reason, though, the game got called, Benner said.
When it was rescheduled, Benner got another hit off of Verge to the same part of the field, he said. “I got my double after all,” Benner said.
“I don’t know about that,” Verge said. “I didn’t give up many hits.”
“But you hit a lot of people,” Bob Dorr, District 1 administrator, said.
Despite not having any family currently playing in Little League, Verge has stayed involved to serve as the District 2 administrator. “It’s because of all the nice people,” Verge said. “The umpires and coaches. And I enjoy the game.”
The league recently began presenting an award at the start of the state tournament. Dorr received the award the first year it was given out. In its second year, the award was given to Verge.
