New Canaan 10U Baseball Team Heads To Cal Ripken World Series [Q&A]

New Canaan’s 10-and-under Cal Ripken baseball team is headed to the league’s World Series. The special group is said to be just the fifth New Canaan team in 75 years to go to the World Series.

We caught up with head coach Jeff Perconte ahead of the tournament, which starts Aug. 10 in Indiana.

Here’s our exchange.

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New Canaanite: Tell us about New Canaan’s 10u Cal Ripken team, which is poised to play in the Aug. 8 World Series. How long have these kids been playing together? How did they get this far?

Jeff Perconte: We have 11 excellent baseball players on our team. These kids started practicing for this season back in early-January. They have played 46 games so far this season—which started in late-March and included weekend tournaments in Maryland and on Long Island—and compiled a 34-11-1 record. This entire group also played together last season as 9-year-olds, and many of them have been playing New Canaan travel games together since they were seven years old. 

We earned the right to play in the Cal Ripken 10U World Series by winning the New England Regional, which took place in Windham, New Hampshire, and included state champions from New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, Eastern Massachusetts, and Western Massachusetts. After going 2-1 in pool play with wins over the Maine and New Hampshire state champs, we beat the Rhode Island state champs (Tiverton) 13-3 in the quarterfinals, the Western Massachusetts state champs (Nashoba) 6-4 in the semifinals, and then avenged a pool play loss to Eastern Massachusetts state champion Dennis-Yarmouth by beating them 10-0 in the championship game. The teams from Massachusetts that we beat in the semis and final were each undefeated — both were 24-0 — when we beat them. 

Talk to us about some of the standout in-game moments from the team’s tournament run to the World Series.

Our pitching has been great the entire season and was outstanding during the New England Regionals. James Gargiulo threw 14 innings during regionals without giving up an earned run, including a complete game one-hit shutout in the 10-0 win over Dennis-Yarmouth in the finals. Jacob Roe also pitched well during the tournament, including a 5-inning, six strikeout performance in the semifinal win over Nashoba. George Karayiannis came in to close out that game in the last inning and struck out two batters. 

All 11 of our kids contributed offensively and defensively during the tournament. We scored 52 total runs in six games at regionals while surrendering only 16. James Gargiulo, Jacob Roe, Sawyer MacAllister and Bridgy Nussbaum all hit over .400 during regionals. Gargiulo also drove in eight runs during the tournament, while Xander Evans and George Karayiannis each drove in seven runs, and Grant Perconte and MacAllister drove in six runs. In the championship game, Evans, Karayiannis, and Perconte each drove in two runs, while James Landi and MacAllister each had one RBI. Roe and Gargiulo each scored two runs in the final. Christian Valente drew a key walk and scored the go-ahead run against Nashoba in the semifinal. Oliver Van Wagener drove in four runs at regionals, and Andrew Kane led the team with eight runs scored during the tournament. 

What does it mean to these kids and families to be playing for the championship? Where will that game be held? Who are you playing? How can we watch it from home?

Taking the last two parts of this question first: the World Series is held in Crown Point, Indiana. We don’t have our schedule yet, but will likely play four pool play games and then hopefully advance to single-elimination bracket play. The tournament includes teams from Australia, Germany, Panama, Czech Republic, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, North Carolina, Hawaii, Missouri, Alabama, Washington, and Virginia. The games are streamed over YouTube, and viewing information will be available on New Canaan Baseball’s Facebook page closer to the start of the tournament on August 10.  

As for what this means for these kids and their families: This is a great group of kids and parents that have been together for multiple years. The kids have worked hard on all facets of the game since we started winter workouts in January, and it was wonderful to see that work pay off for them against the top 10U teams in New England. Now they’ll get the unique opportunity to play some of the top 10U teams in the country (and the world), and they are excited for the challenge.  

What is the commitment level from the parents and coaches of this team? I know that last week’s Regionals were up in New Hampshire.

It is a lot. As I mentioned above, we started practice back in early-January, right after the New Year. We started playing games in late-March. We’ve played 46 games, which included a Memorial Day tournament on Long Island and a weekend tournament in Aberdeen, Maryland. Then we had to be on the road in New Hampshire for regionals for a week, and now we travel to Northwest Indiana for another 10 days for the World Series. So it is a heavy commitment for the parents and the kids. 

These kids love to play the game and to play together. I’ll give you a quick example: We played a Memorial Day tournament during which we played five games in three days, including one game on Memorial Day. We usually practice on Tuesday nights, and I initially canceled practice that Tuesday to give the kids a break. But the kids wanted to practice and were upset that I had canceled it. After the parents let me know, we ended up having a spirited practice that Tuesday night. That’s how much these kids love to play and love to play together. 

I’m seeing boys and girls both on this team. How common or unusual is that for this tournament, based on your observation? How does that dynamic work within the squad?

We have a fantastic baseball player on our team named Bridgy Nussbaum. I think we have seen only one or two girls on other teams this season, so it is very rare. As to the dynamic on the squad, she is simply part of our team, and has been for the past two seasons. She earned her way on this team and her teammates know how good of a player she is. 

That said, the other teams often notice that we have a girl on our team, and sometimes we’ll overhear some comments about it. But they soon find out how good of a player she is—often when she strikes them out while pitching—and she is a fan favorite, including among the other teams’ parents. 

What else, if anything, would you like to say about this New Canaan 10u team?

I am extremely proud of these kids. They play hard and as a team. They are a joy to be around. We also have a tight knit group of parents (and siblings) who are always out in force to root on the kids. And the kids’ success would not have been possible without my fellow coaches: Ian MacAllister, Matt Nussbaum, and Mike Roe. We all feel lucky that we get the chance to coach these kids.