Rachel Korenkiewicz (Kor-EN-kowitz) didn’t play softball or baseball as a child. But having three boys who loved baseball and a husband who coached Little League, plus being a Red Sox fan herself, was enough to propel her into Little League. She signed up to coach T-ball. As her children grew older, Rachel turned to volunteering at the concession stand which she still does. Baseball in Waldoboro dates back at least to the 1930s. They had a local team culled from the county, and they played against other teams in Maine. They even played an exhibition game against an African American team around 1934. Clyde Sukeforth, who went on to play for the Cincinnati Reds and then to coaching the Brooklyn Dodgers, was on that team. Perhaps that was prescient: Clyde was the coach who started Jackie Robinson in the 1947 game that integrated baseball. Clyde retired to Waldoboro where he could be found watching a game from the edge of a baseball field. It didn’t matter the league, the division, the age. He watched them all. His memory lives on in the Clyde L. Sukeforth Field in Waldoboro Recreational Complex off Percy Moody Road. But gone are the days when Waldoboro and Friendship had so many eager kids that they could each easily fill out five or six teams. Whatever the reason, the numbers have dwindled. Now, between Friendship and Waldoboro, there’s only enough kids for two teams: the Panthers (Rachel’s family’s team) and the Wildcats. Rachel herself is from Friendship. She studied in Portland. When her first child turned two, she and her husband moved to Waldoboro. Rachel teaches fourth grade, in addition to being Eli, Zach, and Sammy’s mom. With baseball in the mix, it’s a busy life.
Little League is my favorite season. It’s spring, and it’s warming up. And there are always friends around on the field. Like my son Eli, who, while he’s watching Zach play, he’s also hanging with a teammate who’s watching his younger sibling in the game, too. While I am hanging out with my mom friends. And here we are, all because we have this common interest of watching the game, cheering the kids on, and being together.
I cheer a lot, and I’m probably loud which makes me sometimes think, “Maybe I should be a little quieter.” But you just get in the moment. You get really excited. It always happens, because it’s fun to watch your kid and their teammates do well. It can get pretty exciting. And intense.
When Zach signed up for T-Ball, I volunteered to be the coach. In T-ball, the focus is just making sure the kids are realizing that baseball or softball is fun. Encouraging them. Making sure they’re all getting a turn at playing some of those prized positions like pitching or first base or whatever. And then, giving them something sweet afterwards, like snacks and ice cream, or treats from parents. In my opinion, T-ball is pretty simple. As long as you make sure they’re having a good time and that they’re safe, you’ve succeeded!
Now I’m just working in the concession stand for the Little League games. That means stocking the stand plus cooking there, to make sure there’s food available for those all-day games. Or dinner, for those night games. I also help my husband who coaches the team. He does the line-up, gets to the field early to get it set up, which means painting the lines if you’re the home team, and getting the field ready to play.
I really like a well-stocked concession stand. I don’t know whether I’d say we have a special, but last year when Sammy decided he didn’t want to play, he created an ice cream sundae that was loaded – like, with sprinkles, all the toppings, all the sauces. We called it the Sammy Special, and they were a big hit on those hot days. So, once it warms up, we’ll have the Sammy Specials again.
Little League is the best season in the whole year. But it’s so busy! You might have dinner at four o’clock, as soon as you get out of school; or you might have dinner at eight o’clock when you get home. My husband and I are juggling my oldest son’s practices and games, plus the Panthers’ practice and game schedule. It’s, “When are we having dinner tonight?” Or, “What are we having for dinner?” Or, “Who’s bringing this kid there?” Or, “Who’s bringing that kid here?”
And then, this is the hardest: you do all this planning and it rains. And it’s, “I guess everyone’s home now.” And you have to plan it all over again the next night, or for whenever things have been rescheduled.
But it’s worth every bit because of the friendships that the kids have made. That’s what means the most to me. Last weekend we played a double header in Friendship, and they were both Friendship-Waldoboro teams, the Wildcats and the Panthers which means they were all friends. They played the first game and then they had a break. And you could see them — they ate lunch together, hung out together, and goofed off together. And when they were done, the kids went back to their own teams and played against each other once again.
I think these relationships are really good for kids. They are outside, and away from video games, cell phones, and school. And the other thing is that our kids in Waldoboro and Friendship are getting to know kids in Union and Warren and Washington because they’re playing against those kids. Which will help when they get to middle school. That’s when they’ll be all playing together, which means that they’ll have to navigate having that good sportsmanship balanced with competitiveness balanced with being friends.
But you know what I like the best? Little League makes my kids feel they’re part of the community. I can’t think of anything better.
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