Babe Ruth League has impact in Maricopa

Babe Ruth League might not be as well-known as Little League, however in its short existence in the city it is beginning to make an impact on local youth.

Although the league had a presence in Maricopa in the early 2000s, it was revived just eight months ago by President Jeff Anthony Garcia as a means of creating a sports outlet for local teens.

Babe Ruth League features players in both baseball and softball from ages 13 to 18, although a more recent division, Cal Ripkin Baseball, begins at age 8.

Garcia, who has lived in Maricopa since 1991, said he found a need for such a program after returning from serving in the armed forces, in 2001.

“I just found there wasn’t anything for teenagers to do,” he said. “They had a youth league back then, which ran until the age of 12 and teenagers were kind of left out. That was really the high-risk age group for kids to get into trouble.”

Garcia said he decided to follow in the footsteps of Matthew Reece, who was instrumental in organizing youth sports in Maricopa in earlier days.

“We had six teams from Maricopa back then,” he said, from a city with not much more than 1,000 population.

“We even had a team from Ak-Chin,” he said. “A lot of those kids were turned away because they had been in trouble, but those were the kids I wanted. It doesn’t matter what your past is, you have the ability to change your future now.”

With registration still on-going, Garcia said he expects to have, at a minimum, 11 teams in both baseball and softball. In baseball there should be two teams each for players 10-and-younger and 11-and-younger, as well as one 13-U squad.

During the summer, after the high school season ends, he said he expects to have two 15-U teams and one 18-U.

In softball there should be one team each for 12-U, 14-U and 16-U.

Those teams will be following in some pretty successful footsteps.

In baseball, the Maricopa Sharpshooters won the 10-U Central Arizona Interleague championship, going 17-3. The Arizona Diablos went 23-1, taking the 12-U Interleague title. Last fall’s softball team placed second in the state.

“Those girls were mostly 12 or 13 years old facing 14-, 15- and 16-year-old girls. The accomplishment was amazing.”

The teams all face squads from the East Valley and more distant locations such as Surprise, Flagstaff, Tucson and Yuma.

***ADVERTISEMENT***Most games wind up being played in Maricopa, which helps Garcia reach one of his goals.

“One think I really want to do using Babe Ruth is drive money into the city,” Garcia said. “When teams come here they have to fill up with gas and eat and it helps generate tax money for us.

“The teams love playing here in Maricopa. Pacana Park is beautiful, especially compared to some of the parks we play in that have been there for 80 years and aren’t very up-to-date.”

In a short time, the Maricopa league has gained a good enough reputation that it will host a pair of championship events this summer. The state softball and 11-U baseball championships will be played here with softball taking place June 21-23 and baseball the following weekend.

League play begins March 17 at Desert Winds Middle School with, Garcia said he hopes, an impressive ceremony. He would like to have a parade, and possibly someday join with Little League for a joint venture.

“Our city doesn’t have any parades.”

Registration continues through Feb. 11 and can be done online at the league’s website, www.maricopabrl.org.