Doing it together

Who says baseball isn't a team sport?

Who says it's boring and slow?

Who says it can't be a reflection of life, combining all the elements of teamwork, spirit, heartache and joy?

In Metuchen, N.J., 8-year-olds can show the maturity of adults, and pull together to pull off something extraordinarily rare: a complete-game, six-inning no-hitter led by a lanky, soon-to-be-third-grader named Adam Boucher.

On Sunday night, the Bulldogs - my 8-year-old son's team - capped off a month-long, almost-nightly stretch of games with a no-hit championship victory in the Milltown, N.J. baseball Tournament.

In that tournament, they were 6-0 with a combined score of 59-18.

Anchoring the way, of course, was Adam Boucher, a boy with a Mariano Rivera delivery who can do something almost as impressive: He can name all the presidents frontwards and backwards (so says my son, Jonathan).

But this team proved that it takes more than one extraordinary kid to seal a victory. They have to be an extraordinary group, and they made plays they never would have thought of making just two months ago, when they were playing in Little League and they weren't allowed to steal.

Since they weren't allowed to steal, they couldn't throw anybody out at second base. On Sunday, Jared Manley did just that - throwing out a runner just after Boucher struck out a batter from Milltown, N.J.

Manley, just like the others, had to learn to do it quickly, playing baseball games for the first times in their lives where the final score mattered. Jared threw out 8 kids stealing during the tournament season - incredibly rare for an 8-year-old catcher to do it once, let alone eight times.

If they lost any one of those games, their season could have ended days - maybe even a week or two - earlier. But they kept winning, because they knew that one loss would send them home, and break up a group that had learned to play, cry, laugh, lose and win with each other.

They learned to get along, and tease each other without meanness, and play with each other without selfishness. They had parents who shared their joy, who skipped vacations so they could jump in a pool with them at a team party, or stand out in the sweltering heat and watch them play night after night.

They had other extraordinary boys like Joseph Schugel, Liam Walker and Jay Jay Flynn, all of whom had a knack for getting walk or hit at just the right time during this tournament. On Sunday, they did it again, each getting an important hit or sacrifice to drive in the last three runs.

They had my own son, Jonathan Davis, who failed to reach base just once in his last four games, and who also made a short dive to stop a ball with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, with Metuchen up 2-0.

That ball threatened to bounce through the infield and not only end the championship no-hitter, but also win the game for the opposing team, Milltown. He then threw to Michael Fuccile, yet another extraordinary, quick-thinking 8-year-old who safely two-handed the throw to ensure the third out.

At the end of the game, they had the wherewithal to fill up a Gatorade bucket and dump it on their understated coach, Tom Yakowenko. Yakowenko, otherwise known as Mr. Yak, is also a teacher with an uncanny ability to handle children.

Throughout the previous month, he was their catalyst and their driver, always reminding them that baseball is a game, never an ordeal.

He helped nurture boys like Eli Krause, who made an important back-up play in the championship victory; Thomas Faggioni, whose sharp hitting and fleet running made him a constant threat on the basepaths; and Charlie Bradley, whose pitching became sharper and stronger as the rest of the staff began to tire.

They had Alex Holloway, the "chipmunk," whose booming hits and strong pitching ensured the victory in the semi-final; and Alex Yakowenko, Tom's son, whose bat came alive in the final games and helped lead the team to win after win.

At the end of the championship game, they still had that joy, and they showed they can still have the energy to celebrate, smile and cherish something they'll never forget.

When they left the field for the last time, they acted like they were ready to play again the next day - or maybe even later that night.