On the 50th anniversary of girls in Little League, Concord softball blazes a trail for New Hampshire
Published: 07-11-2024 3:41 PM
Modified: 07-11-2024 5:44 PM |
As Tim LaTorra would sit watching Little League softball on TV over the summer, he noticed something.
“You had Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, but never New Hampshire,” he said.
He’d seen the impact the Concord Little League baseball team reaching the New England Regional had in 2022 and wanted to make sure softball players across the state had a similar chance.
“Just sparked some curiosity, and then in my brain once I see that there’s an opportunity to create opportunities for kids, I’d dive in and explore and figure out how to get it done,” he said. “I’ve always been a big advocate for giving girls the same opportunities that the boys get.”
Now, LaTorra is the head coach for Concord’s Little League softball team that’s heading to the New England Regional in Bristol, Conn. beginning on July 21.
And on the 50th anniversary of girls first having the chance to participate in Little League, the milestone has further added significance.
“This is incredible,” said Kathie Lynch, the Little League district administrator for New Hampshire District 2 who’s volunteered with Little League for more than 25 years. “We’re all just delighted that this is happening, especially this year. And while it’s going to be a brand new experience for these girls competing at this level, the experience, the lessons they’ll learn, the people that they meet will just have a tremendous impact on them.”
If there’s one thing LaTorra loves about coaching, it’s building programs from the ground up.
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He’s done it with the Concord girls’ basketball program and is currently trying to do the same with the Concord boys’ basketball program. Concord Little League softball has just become his latest successful project.
The team heading to Bristol consists of 12 players — between 10 and 12 years old — and they needed to charter with Little League and play a certain number of games against other Little League teams to qualify for the regional tournament. That last piece was a bit complicated; there are only two other Little League softball teams in New Hampshire, LaTorra said: one in Monadnock and another in Suncook. But neither is at the point yet where it’s ready to try to compete for a spot in the New England Regional.
Instead, that’s meant lots of games within the Concord National Youth Softball organization. The team playing in the regional is composed of the top players from the two “majors” teams in the Concord league. Those teams also played a number of games against other teams in the organization.
“Concord National Softball had its largest season ever,” said Mike Vlacich, who volunteers as the vice president of the organization. “We have really been working hard to grow the numbers at the younger level, at the tee ball level, and you’re starting to see the returns on that because we have more and more kids playing at the older level.”
For everyone involved, there’s clear excitement about this first tournament appearance for the state, but there’s also excitement about what the future will hold for area softball.
Concord High School won the New Hampshire Division I state title in 2023, after finishing as runners up the previous two seasons. Now the Little League program aims to be a solid foundation for those future high school varsity players to learn the game.
“I saw how important recreational softball was in the development of my own daughters, not just as softball players, but as turning them into wonderful people and wonderful students,” Vlacich said. “Softball has been so important. If you’re in Concord, you know that we take our softball seriously.”
And on July 22 when the team takes the field at 4 p.m. for its first game (also broadcast on ESPN+), LaTorra’s group will further prove that to be true.
The winner of the regional advances to the Little League Softball World Series held in Greenville, North Carolina. But even if New Hampshire doesn’t win a game at all, it’s all setting the stage for the future growth of softball across the state. These are experiences any young athlete dreams about; LaTorra’s just ecstatic to be able to help provide it for his players.
“We’re looking to create a positive experience for the girls,” he said. “Make a memory and see what happens when we get down there.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story erroneously stated that this was the first team from New Hampshire to play in a regional; this is the first New Hampshire team to play in a regional since 2014.