Grandfather Celebrates Grandson's Moments at Barrier Islands Little League

HiCast Sports user, grandfather, and attorney by day, Joe DaPore from Charleston, South Carolina coaches for the Land Sharks 9U team for Barrier Islands Little League, one of newest ballparks to join the HiCast Sports Network this year. Joe was a pitcher and first baseman in high school, and continued his love for the game when he started coaching young ballplayers 40 years ago. When his older grandson, James Saltmarsh, begin playing T-Ball at age five, he signed on as an assistant coach for his team at Barrier Islands Little League.

Grandfather and Coach Joe DaPore with grandson James; Photo provided by Joe DaPore

Barrier Islands Little League, started in 1955, was one of just a few Little League organizations in the state of South Carolina to establish return-to-play guidelines and resume play in June due to the Covid-19, thanks in part to leadership from Todd Rieger, former president of the organization and current board member. Over the past six years Barrier Islands Little League has grown from 100 players to 450, and continues to expand as the organization added a girls’ softball league for ages 6-16 this year.

Joe’s grandson, James, was a member of the All Star team that won the 9U division. During regular season, on July 23, Joe was coaching third base and waiting on his grandson to bat. They had two runners on base and two outs, so the pressure was on.

“James was a little late getting to the plate. Our Little League rules dictate if the batter doesn’t get into the box to bat in a timely manner the pitcher can start throwing. So when James got to the plate after a delay because he couldn’t find his bat, he already had two strikes on him. When he finally stepped into the box, he promptly hit one to the fence scoring two runs. It was a fun moment in a summer filled with Covid worries.”

James Saltmarsh’s 2-run triple for Land Sharks 9U at Barrier Islands Little League

On Joe’s use of HiCast at Barrier Islands Little League, he shares, “I had never heard of it. I didn’t sign up for a while, but I’ve really enjoyed it. It captures moments that are important to grandparents, parents and players.”

Photo provided by Barrier Islands Little League

Todd Rieger, former President and current Umpire-in-Chief for Barrier Islands Little League spearheaded the effort to bring in the HiCast Sports Network to Johns Island in South Carolina this past spring. Todd’s been involved with the organization for the past six years and has served all roles “except team mom, the hardest role of all!” Todd laughs. This 2020-2021 year, he’ll focus on recruiting and training umpires and creating a youth umpire program.

Coach Todd shares, “HiCast has been a huge success at Barrier Islands Little League. We only have 2 fields but our parents and grandparents love watching their kids. Not only for games, but for practices. It allows you to check in on your players when you can’t be there, plus with Covid it offers families the opportunity to still be involved with the games without the risk of getting sick.  We have also used it for our umpiring training and we can't wait to ramp things back up this Spring once we are done with Fall Ball.”

HiCast Sports Network is proud to welcome Barrier Islands Little League, their young athletes, families and fans to our HiCast community.

Photo provided by Barrier Islands Little League

Photo provided by Barrier Islands Little League

Maritime Privateer's Catcher Jake Vera's Play at the Plate Goes Viral!

SUNY Maritime College Privateer catcher Jake Vera tags the runner at home for the out in their dramatic 5-4 win against Plattsburgh State on February 24, 2019 at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, NY, a venue covered by our HiCast Sports Network.

We shared this highlight on the morning of Tuesday, February 27 following the Maritime vs. Plattsburgh State double-header on a tip from the pitcher Matt Paghidas’ mom Ellen and it’s been retweeted, reposted, and shared ever since attracting hundreds of thousands of views from fans worldwide including the MLB Network, ESPN Sports Center, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated followers.

Photo by Maritime Athletics

We caught up with catcher Jake Vera to hear more about this Moment That Matters™…

“It’s kinda crazy, we were just watching MLB Hot Stove and saw it,” said Jake Vera, the catcher who made the play at the plate, a junior at SUNY Maritime.

The Maritime Privateers typically play on their home field, but due to weather conditions during the early portion of their season, they are known to play at Baseball Heaven, a venue in our HiCast Sports Network where we cover all games.

Leading up to the infamous play, the Maritime Privateers were up 5-3 in the final inning of the game. Jake’s roomate Matt Paghidas took the mound and was throwing harder than usual that day. “He blew the first two strikes by the kid and I guess the kid at second was trying to get to third. We ended up having the pick off and the throw went into center field after the ball got past our shortstop. When I saw the throw coming in (to home plate), I knew it was going to be a close play. So I just tried to jump up and make the play but obviously it was way too high. When I turned around, I just saw the ball bounce right back to me and the kid trying to get back to home plate. As I saw the throw go over my head, I just figured we’re going to have to win in a different way, but when I tagged him it was just crazy. Everyone was just going nuts and it was pretty cool.” shared Jake.

Jake Vera grew up in Plainview, NY and has been play baseball for as long as he can remember. He started with T-ball and played baseball for his town team in Bethpage, New York as a child before moving on to travel teams during his teen years and then on to the collegiate level.

Jake knew that the HiCast Sports Network recorded games at Baseball Heaven, but shared that he “honestly didn’t know it would go crazy like this. I can’t even put it into words right now how awesome this is – not just for me – but everyone on our team is really pumped about it. Even our coach texted in our team group chat, ‘sorry about the late practice schedule today, I was re-watching MLB network a couple of times.’ He’s pumped about it too. Overall, it’s a really awesome moment for us.” Read the Maritime College Athletics press release for more.

See the HiCast Sports highlight on MLB.com