Who said you can’t have a Homecoming Day in the spring? Not Vince Marini, president of the High School South baseball booster club. “Football has a tradition where the alumni all come back for homecoming, why not baseball too?” he asks. “We have it late in May in order to make it easy for all the kids to come home from college. We are hoping that this can become a yearly tradition in the towns.”
His organization, along with the High School North baseball boosters, is sponsoring the second annual Baseball Homecoming Day on Saturday, May 20, at High School South’s baseball field and Ciuffani Field in Community Park. Featuring games between the North and South freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity baseball teams, as well as the Community Middle versus Grover Middle School teams, the daylong affair will feature the return of North and South baseball players from years gone by.
Of course, the concept of Homecoming Day is a long standing American tradition. But no one has ever thought of building a “homecoming” for the spring season of baseball. “In a lot of ways, it’s a natural,” says Marini. “The weather is nice, alumni are finishing up at college, and baseball is being played everywhere. We thought it would be a great idea for West Windsor and Plainsboro.”
Instrumental in getting the idea off the ground last year was Bob Chirumbolo, president of the North booster club in 2005. Marty Kelly, this year’s president, as well as coaches Don Hutchinson of South and Bob Boyce of North have also been fundamental in making homecoming a spring community event. “We couldn’t do this without the help of a whole lot of volunteers,” says Marini.
“Last year it was a last minute thing and we had practically no publicity leading up to it,” says Marini, whose son Matt graduated from South last year and is now playing on the Mercer County Community College team. “Still, for the varsity game we had over 300 people attending. That was pretty exciting and this year we hope to have even more.” As an added bonus, alumni from last year’s North and South baseball teams will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Last year’s Homecoming Day featured only two games, varsity and junior varsity, because North did not have a freshman team. But with North fielding a freshmen team this year for the first time, Marini decided that perhaps it was time to add a fourth game to the festivities featuring the middle school teams. “We originally wanted to have all four games at Community Park, but there is a lacrosse tournament there in the morning that day,” he says. “So we will start with the first two games at South and then move to Community Park for the junior varsity and varsity games.”
Marini’s hope is that the Homecoming Day will become a community event that will attract residents with no connection at all to the schools or baseball teams. “I think there will be some people who will go from one game to another,” he says. “There will be a lot of people at the JV game who will want to stay for the varsity game that takes place right afterwards.”
The expectation is that this will allow players on the middle school, freshmen, and JV teams to experience the thrill of playing baseball in front of a substantial crowd. “I think that even people who might not plan on going will drive down Penn Lyle Road and see the crowd and stop in,” says Marini. “We have eight-foot banners that we think will attract some people.”
Now in its third year of existence, the Pirates Baseball Booster Club has worked to promote baseball in West Windsor-Plainsboro and help raise money for the team.
Responsible for raising the money for both dugouts at High School South and North, the club last year raised money for an 18-foot high net to replace the old rusting metal backstop. “It has stopped a lot of balls, though not all of them, from being hit out over Penn Lyle Road,” says Marini, a West Windsor resident who works as an advertising executive. “This year we will be putting in a new scoreboard at South just for the baseball team. The one there now is just too far out in centerfield for anybody to see.” The hope is that it will be up in time for the summer American Legion season.
A self-described baseball fanatic, Marini is a tried and true Yankees fan. “I was born in the Bronx and I grew up in Long Island so I definitely bleed pin stripes,” he says. “I went to the original Yankee Stadium when I was a kid. I can still remember the first time there, walking up the ramp behind home plate, seeing the blue of the sky, then the black of the seats in centerfield, then the blue of the outfield wall and then the green of the grass. To me, nothing tingles my spine more than walking into that stadium.”
For Marini, being involved is his way of staying close to the game in whatever way he can. Even now, seven years after his son outgrew the West Windsor Little League, he still works the concession stand during the spring and summer.
Donating time and money to the baseball program at High School South is both something of a calling and a way of saying thank you. “We are just trying to help the program,” explains Marini. “Coach (Don) Hutchinson runs that program on his own. He cuts the grass out there on the field and does everything to keep things going smoothly. It’s nice to know that we can make his job a little easier.”
Second Annual Homecoming Day, Saturday, May 20. 10:30 a.m.: Community vs. Grover at High School South Field. 1 p.m.: North vs. South freshmen at High School South Field. 4 p.m.: North vs. South junior varsity at Community Park’s Ciuffani Field. 7 p.m.: North versus South varsity, Community Park’s Ciuffani Field.
