Brentwood and youth baseball: How one group is trying to build back interest in community

Baseball was once atop the Brentwood youth sports pyramid. Since the turn of the century, Brentwood’s youth baseball scene has all but vanished.

Community leaders said the reason for the decline in baseball’s popularity can be attributed to the change in demographics in the area, a rise in safety concerns at local parks and, the final blow, the contamination of Roberto Clemente Park.

Lifelong Brentwood resident Tom O’Hara is determined to rebuild the sport in his hometown.

O’Hara, the president of Brentwood Baseball, formerly Brentwood Travel Baseball, has overseen his organization’s travel baseball program for 35 years and its Senior Ball league (ages 13-17), for 15 years. But O’Hara has seen a sharp decline in youth baseball participation in recent years.

This spring, Brentwood Baseball will start T-ball and Little League baseball programs for children 12 years old and younger from scratch. As the snow continued to melt and fog muddied the atmosphere, the organization’s Little League preseason clinic saw a minimal turnout last Sunday afternoon at Brentwood State Park.

That won’t deter O’Hara and his crew from pushing toward their goal.

“We’re going to keep going and keep going because the kids here mean more than anybody to us,” O’Hara said. “There’s 150 years of experience of coaching and administrating baseball in Brentwood on our board. We’ve made a firm commitment to the community. It’s a big challenge, but I have every bit of confidence that we’re going to make it work.”

The executive board, comprised of O’Hara, Mel Soto, Bernard Edwards, Mike Jahkah and Ney Peralta aim to place at least 200 children in the T-Ball and Little League programs by April 1.

O’Hara, 65, grew up playing baseball in Brentwood Youth Activities (BYA), which offered several organized sports to children. The BYA later rebranded to Brentwood Cheerleading and Football.

“They had every sport under the sun in the 1960s except soccer,” O’Hara said. “With the change in youth sports taste, certain sports just went by the wayside.”

O’Hara started Brentwood Travel Baseball 35 years ago to give older children a chance to continue playing baseball, but baseball for children under the age of 13 was neglected.

Soto, the organization’s vice president, said that there were 13 teams in the community’s Little League when his oldest son, Leo, was playing in 2000. Fifty players attended tryouts for the league’s summer All-Star team.

When Soto’s younger son, David, came through the program 10 years later, there was only one 12U team.

“It disintegrated,” said Soto, 64. “By the time David graduated high school, there was no program. It’s come to a point where we have to really reach for the younger kids, so that we can start a whole new generation.”

Soto added: "We are trying to bring back the baseball culture that has disappeared. I think that's just a change in the population. Every town or neighborhood goes through that transition."

Earlier this year, O’Hara expressed his concerns regarding the sport’s decline in a letter to the Brentwood community.

“We believe the current system is not effective, and we are motivated to implement these changes as soon as possible,” the letter reads. “Doing nothing will only accelerate decline and lead to an even bleaker future for our organization. The loss of competitive youth baseball under age 13 is already happening and will likely become permanent soon.”

Gang violence at nearby Timberline Park inspired O’Hara and Violette Smith, president of the Brentwood Soccer Club, to spearhead the development of Brentwood State Park, about four miles away. It was completed in 2009 with eight turf soccer fields and two turf baseball fields.

Timberline Park was renamed Roberto Clemente Park in 2011 in hopes to erase the stigma of gang violence associated with the park. In May 2014, the park was shut down after nearly 40,000 tons of contaminated waste were illegally dumped across the park by construction companies. It remained closed until August 2017.

“The combination of gang violence and the illegal dumping at that park was a real 1-2 punch for the community,” O’Hara said.

“The baseball field at that park that we used to practice on was also a softball field for the adults and it became a soccer field in the off-peak times when nobody was there,” Soto said. “That space that we had for the public to enjoy wasn’t there anymore.”

Brentwood Baseball’s endeavor into Little League baseball has received support from the Brentwood Union Free School District. The Brentwood varsity baseball team has compiled a 13-58 record during the last four seasons.

“A few years ago, I was talking to a coach from New Jersey about his program and he said, ‘It’s simple. Everybody works together,’ ” said Edwards, Brentwood Baseball’s secretary. “Their Little League, travel program and school all work together. That’s the problem we are trying to fix here.”

The registration fees for the T-Ball and Little League programs are $50 and $75, respectively. Each program will play a 10-game season. Edwards said they held free clinics in the fall, with some sessions hosting 20 children.

Andrew Brathwaite’s 8-year-old son, Adrian, is just starting to play baseball this year and attended Sunday’s clinic.

“Making it affordable just makes it that much more reachable for kids and parents,” said Brathwaite, 38. “Sports and extracurriculars do so much to build a nice foundation for kids. It’s beautiful how much passion these guys have for the community and for the kids.”

“It’s not only for Brentwood people, it’s for the entire baseball community,” Soto said.

O’Hara and Brentwood Baseball are looking for a home run, but they know the value of chipping away, one pitch at a time.

Said Soto: “We’re starting from square one. We won’t back down.”