Seeking to revitalize youth baseball in Winthrop for Little League graduates, volunteer coaches have put together a 13-year-old team that is competing in the Lou Tompkins All-Star Baseball League.
Former Winthrop High and Salem State Viking shortstop Mike Vatalaro and fellow coaches Eric Mathieu, Joe Murphy, Mark DeGregorio, and Mark D’Ambrosio are the leaders of the Winthrop U-13 Vikings who are playing an inter-city schedule against teams such as Woburn, Winchester, Reading, Brookline, and Lynn. There are 18 players on the Winthrop roster.
“It’s one of the hardest things they’ll ever have to do in sports, going from the smaller field (60- foot basepaths, 46-foot pitching distance) to the big diamond (90-foot basepaths, 60 feet-6 inches pitching distance),†said Vatalaro. “We’ve been working a lot on the fundamentals and teaching kids how to play on the big field.â€
Winthrop, who sports a 3-10 record, will play its next home game against Melrose Monday at 5:45 p.m. at Veterans Field.