After a few swings, this Apalachin Youth Athletic Association (AYAA) ball player kept a determined look during the last regular game of the season on June 11. (Photos by JoAnn R. Walter)
From left, Kyle Nichols and Chris Rezmerski, two long-time AYAA volunteers, stop to pose for a photo while working in the snack shack.
While waiting for the next batter up, we’re left to wonder what these two AYAA players were chatting about.
Repeated “Good Game, Good Game,” by players and coaches ends this last game of the AYAA season on June 11.
A ball player takes time for batting practice at Apalachin’s Muth Park on June 11.
Two young ball players enjoy time on the playground equipment at Muth Park in Apalachin following the last game of the regular AYAA season.
One of AYAA’s last baseball games of the season is played on the newly revealed, “Gerry Smith Memorial Field.”
Long-time AYAA volunteer, Gerry Smith, stands in front of the field named in his honor on June 11.
It was strike three for Mother Nature back in early May after the third week in a row of rain canceled the opening ceremonies of the Apalachin Youth Athletic Association (AYAA), the original ceremony of which had been slated for April 30. Although rain and a chance of thunderstorms were in the forecast for June 11, the day AYAA had scheduled a “Family Fun Day” at their Muth Park home field; the event was spared any significant wet weather.
For league volunteers and families gathered for final games and activities that day, Mother Nature had finally hit a home run. Family Fun day, which encompassed end of season games, a bounce house for kids, and plenty of barbeque and picnic foods, also featured several raffles.
According to AYAA members, 1962 marked the start of T-ball and baseball teams at the Apalachin fields, with softball starting a few years later. It’s probably safe to say that several thousand youth have dug their cleats in the dirt and tapped home plate with their bats before swinging and running like the wind around the bases on the multiple fields at Muth Park, located on Barton Road in Apalachin.
Nineteen teams, consisting of boys and girls as young as age four playing T-Ball through older children at the majors softball and baseball levels, played at Muth Park this year.
The park, named in honor of Gil Muth, a long-time AYAA member and past president, is said to have donated the land to the town, with the agreement that the property be used for the sole purpose of youth sports. Different than some youth sports organizations, AYAA is not boundary restricted, so children from neighboring towns can participate, including those from Broome and Susquehanna counties.
Chris Rezmerski, an AYAA member for about six years, shared an example of how generations of families have grown up at the park. Rezmerski himself played AYAA baseball there, and said, “Hopefully my granddaughter will play here, too.”
A special ceremony on June 11 at Muth Park gave recognition to long-time volunteer, Gerry Smith, active with AYAA for more than fifteen years. AYAA members, including Kyle Nichols, kept the ceremony a surprise, which named a field in Smith’s honor.
Smith shared, “I really just do all of this for the kids.”
Smith remarked that he doesn’t necessarily like to be in the spotlight, but now his name is in the spotlight at Muth Park, attached to a banner on a baseball field named the “Gerry Smith Memorial Field.”
An end-of-season win, AYAA brought home a trophy for the “Best Appearing Community Participant” at the Apalachin Firemen’s Field Days parade on June 4, where a huge turnout of AYAA members helped impress the judge.
For more information about AYAA, view their web site at ayaasports.org or find them on Facebook, “Apalachin Youth Athletic Organization.”
