WASHINGTON —聽Opening Day was cold and windy, but kids and parents affiliated with the Capitol Hill Little League seemed giddy for the new season on Saturday. The young ball players were happy with new threads鈥攁 gift from the Washington Nationals baseball team.
鈥淓very single Capitol Hill Little League baseball player will have a Washington Nationals-inspired uniform, provided by the team,鈥� said Gregory McCarthy, the Nats’ Park vice president of community engagement.
Players from all Little League organizations in the District are sporting new uniforms, thanks to the Nationals.聽聽The ball club donated about 4,500 uniforms to nine youth leagues in the city.
Older players, such as 14-year-old Jack Snyder, love the new game threads.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe they paid for all of this,” Snyder said; “just the fact that they donated it so easily, almost without question, amazes me.”
Xavier Grimaldi and Luca Christiansen both held cups of hot chocolate.聽 They were stoked about the new shirts and caps.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty nice that they would do something like that for us,鈥� said Grimaldi, 11.
鈥淢ost of the kids in this league are Nats fans, and when they see one of the racing presidents it makes them feel awesome,鈥� 12-year-old Christiansen added.
He鈥檚 referring to Nats Racing President 鈥淏ig Chief Bill,鈥� or the Nationals’ representation of President William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States.
Turns out Taft鈥檚 descendants are playing ball with the Capitol Hill Little League.
National Capitol League President Don Montori says the Nationals reached out to Little League organizations from around the city, and met with them to pitch an idea.聽 When he learned they鈥檇 buy shirts and caps for every Little League member, it didn鈥檛 take long for him to say yes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 expensive to buy 500 shirts,鈥� Montori said.
With the money they鈥檙e saving, the Capitol Hill Little League plans to reinvest in the team with coaches鈥� clinics and equipment.
鈥淲e really want to invest in batting cages and maybe work with the city to build new fields,鈥� Montori said.
The girls鈥� division of Capitol Hill Little League also benefits from the partnership with the Nationals.
鈥淔irst off, I think it鈥檚 great that they鈥檙e supporting softball, because baseball鈥檚 been traditionally a man鈥檚 sport,”聽softball coach Alison Cernich said. “And so it鈥檚 great that they鈥檝e done the outreach to the women鈥檚 sports and have included softball in the uniform giveaway for Little League.”
鈥淪oftball is expanding in D.C.,” she continued. “We鈥檝e gone from having one team in our league to having three; some of the other leagues have expanded, and so we now have a pretty robust program, which is gaining more attention and more players, which is fantastic.鈥�
Mayor Muriel Bowser was also on hand to address the crowd, and threw the first pitch of the evening game at Payne Elementary in Southeast.
鈥淚 want to let you know your city is behind you,” Bowser said. “We want to make sure we鈥檙e doing all we can to have great facilities, great fields all over Washington D.C.” She also encouraged the kids to relish childhood.聽 鈥淭he most important thing to remember when you鈥檙e little kids is that your entire job is to go to school and to have fun,” Bowser said. “So have fun with Little League this year.”
The following Little Leagues are also sporting the Nats-inspired uniforms: 聽Banneker City Little League, Capitol City Little league, Joint Base Anacostia鈥擝olling Little League, Mamie Johnson Little League, Northwest Little League, Senators Satchel Paige Little League, Southern District Little League, and D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation Rookie League.
