By Rachel Kalina
Mastro a Malverne 12-year-old has been practicing for six weeks to make that dream come true. On Aug. 5, Mastro and his teammates on the South Shore Rebels will travel upstate to take part in the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame Invitational Tournament in Cooperstown.
³Ever since I heard about the Rebels,² said Mastro, ³I wanted to make the team.²
As part of a team of 12 little leaguers known as the Rebels, Mastro and will take this excursion to Cooperstown Dreams Park, where they will engage in tournaments with peers from all over the country and be entered into the Junior Baseball Hall of Fame.
The South Shore Rebels have been playing in this tournament since 2000, although each year the players change. This year, 36 children from the Malverne, Lynbrook and Valley Stream areas tried out and were judged by a board of five members who put the Rebels together every year. Six children from Malverne and six children from Lynbrook made the team.
³We¹re just trying to make a dream come true for all the 12-year-olds that make the team,² said Tom Porr of Malverne, a Rebels board member and coach. He will attend the upcoming August tournament, whose mission statement is ³To serve, preserve and protect baseball as it was meant to be played.²
Scott Rufer of Lynbrook echoed these sentiments as he got ready to follow in the cleat marks of his grandfather, Rudy Rufer. Rudy Rufer played with the New York Giants from 1949 to 1950.
³I cannot think of any better way to honor him than by playing my best baseball in Cooperstown,² Rufer said.
Although the children¹s families are allowed to attend for the week, they do not stay on the Cooperstown premises with them. This gives the children, all of whom stay in barracks, a chance to meet with players from as far away as California and Hawaii.
In order to remember their new friends and the Cooperstown experience, the children exchange state pins.
³It¹s such a great experience for the kids and the parents,² Porr said. ³Being around kids from all over the United States and seeing other ball players that are really good.²
Porr said his kids will be up against some tough competition. Children play a minimum of two games a day during the week in Cooperstown until the playoffs tournament starts. They also participate in skills competitions that test their base running, accuracy and distance throw, and their home run-hitting abilities.
