MEET THE FREE-LAKE 8U ALL-STARS: Freetown-Lakeville is headed to Cal Ripken World Series
FREETOWN — The Freetown-Lakeville 8U All-Star baseball team is in the midst of an historic season, reaching the Cal Ripken World Series for being first in their division.
“It doesn’t come around too often,” said Free-Lake manager Eddy Rasar. “I’d say 99% of kids in youth baseball don’t make it to any type of World Series. You have to be lucky, stay healthy and work hard.”
This summer, the Free-Lake All-Stars have won five championships and enter the World Series in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, with an overall record of 25-1.
“I think the strength is knowing their strengths,” Rasar said. “They don’t try to do too much. They don’t try to do what this kid can do or that kid can do. They concentrate on their abilities. When they all concentrate on their own abilities, it makes for good team success.”
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After winning the Taunton Slugfest and Jared C. Monti Tournament championships, Free-Lake beat Fairhaven-Acushnet to capture the Cal Ripken District 5 title and defeated Chelmsford to bring home the Cal Ripken Eastern Mass. State championship.
Free-Lake hosted regionals and suffered its first loss of the season to Stamford, Connecticut, but came back to win, 10-3, in the championship game to clinch the Cal Ripken New England Regional Championship and punch its ticket to the World Series.
“It’s been really fun to play in all of the tournaments,” said outfielder/second baseman Silas Rezendes. “I knew we were going to be really good, but I didn’t know we were going to make it this far.”
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With five players — AJ Vega, Brady DeTerra, Tyrus Araujo Cay Cay Rasar and Zach Amaral — on the 8U team last year as seven-year-olds, Eddy Rasar had high expectations for this summer.
“I knew we had five very strong players because they had experience and they’re good players,” he said. “I wasn’t sure about the others, but they’ve come along very well and they’ve complemented the top five especially in the championship game of the regionals. The middle to the lower half (of the lineup) came up with some hits, bunts, steals and catches and that’s what you need.”
The pitching staff has been powered by the arms of Araujo, Vega, Rasar and DeTerra while Rasar and Vega have led the way at the plate.
“I’m really excited,” said outfielder Liam Souza. “It’s going to be good.”
The opening ceremony is set for on Sunday. The games run Monday through Wednesday with the playoffs beginning on Thursday.
“They know they’re going to the World Series, but I don’t think they have any idea where any of the teams we’re playing are from and I don’t know if they know how big of a deal it is,” said coach Rasar. “To them, I think it’s just another baseball game.”
Here's a look at the players and coaches that have put together this remarkable run:
MEET THE PLAYERS
Zach Amaral, No. 64
Positions: Outfield/Third Base
Favorite Player: Xander Bogaerts
Tyrus Araujo, No. 17
Positions: Pitcher/Shortstop
Favorite Player: Javier Baez
Maverick Chu, No. 5
Positions: Outfield/Second Base
Favorite Player: Mike Trout
Brady DeTerra, No. 43
Positions: First Base/Pitcher
Favorite Player: Rafael Devers
Raleigh Lewis, No. 3
Positions: Second Base/Pitcher
Favorite Player: Rafael Devers
Jeremiah McSheffrey, No. 4
Positions: Outfield/Pitcher
Favorite Player: Mookie Betts
Lex Muse, No. 9
Position: Outfield
Favorite Player: Masataka Yoshida
Cay Cay Rasar, No. 6
Positions: Catcher/Pitcher
Favorite Player: Xander Bogaerts
Silas Rezendes, No. 8
Positions: Outfield/Second Base
Favorite Player: Xander Bogaerts
Ben Sass, No. 10
Position: Outfield.
Favorite Player: Xander Bogaerts
Liam Souza, No. 11
Position: Outfield
Favorite Player: Rafael Devers
Aj Vega, No. 27
Positions: Shortstop/Pitcher
Favorite Player: Jose Altuve
MEET THE COACHING STAFF
Manager: Eddy Rasar
Coach: Mark Sass
Coach: Peter Vega
Coach: Matt DeTerra
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Freetown-Lakeville 8U All-Stars head to 2023 Cal Ripken World Series
