Caledon Minor Baseball Association celebrates big moments from 2023 and looks ahead to ‘24

By Jim Stewart

Caledon Minor Baseball Association (CMBA) 1st Vice President John Ruta is looking forward to three big events this spring to kick off the 2024 baseball season. However, the amiable executive took time during our interview to relish the Association's successes of 2023. 

Most significantly, Ruta pointed to a provincial title won by Head Coach Adam Panacci's potent Caledon Nationals 10U AA team.

“Our biggest success story from last season was Adam's team winning their 2023 10U AA OBA Championship. It was a really a great year for this young squad and it's great to start our 2024 season talking about this group's accomplishments.”  

The OBA Championship squad featured the formidable and collective talents of #2 Eli Matchett, #6 Dan Raso, #7 Cale Beech, #11 Gabriel Panacci, #13 Michael Para-Mancini, #14 Kaden Dawe, #16 Evan Roy, #20 Dylan Calway, #24 Max Rebellato, #71 Nicholas Lewis, #92 Michael Santos, and #99 Elijah Cook.

Coach Panacci was pleased with his young team's impressive overall performance.

“We were 17-3 in league play, including winning our last 17 league and playoff games combined which featured a sweep of the YSBA playoffs and the OBA championship.”

The 10U Nationals marched with great momentum through the Provincials and Coach Panacci delineated their impressive five-game dominance to capture the OBA AA championship: an 11-2 opening round win over the Riverside Whitecaps; an 8-4 victory over the Niagara Falls Falcons; a 10-1 rout of the Waterdown Wolves; an 11-2 semifinal win over the Orangeville Bengals; and a wild 12-7 slugfest victory in a rematch with the Wolves in the championship game.

The Nationals' Head Coach also noted, “We were the winners of the 2023 Caledon Nationals Baseball Association Tournament and the 2023 Greater Niagara Baseball Association Tournament.”

With the 10U Nationals OBA Championship pennant hung for posterity, the CMBA is looking ahead to some very big Spring events including the May 5 Blue Jays Academy Clinic at Caledon East.

Ruta explained the clinic's finer details: “We have 114 registered which is a great number of participants. The Jays do a really nice job for the local organizations and they make our role relatively simple: we provide the diamonds in Caledon East, we make sure the bathrooms are available, we provide cold water as needed, and, most importantly, we promote the event, which Vicky did a great job of doing. The clinic is for kids 8 - 12, although there is some flexibility, and the instructors will run drills focused on fundamentals.

The Jays also give the local baseball association $1,000. for putting on the clinic. The clinic runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

When asked what was the best part of this win-win arrangement with the Blue Jays Academy, Ruta zeroed in on the value of promoting the game of baseball in Caledon: “It really helps the CMBA promote our local organization and the game in this community.  The timing this year is great, as it helps build a lot of excitement and visibility for the start of the season here in Caledon. It's a great way to kick off the year.”

Another key kick-off event for the CMBA will occur on May 25 when the organization celebrates Opening Day for House League teams at the North Hill diamonds starting at 8 a.m. Ruta outlined the details regarding the teams –  ranging from 5U-18U – which will play their first game of the season at the north Bolton ball diamonds.

“We have an opening ceremony that starts about 8 a.m. and has a short agenda: [a] welcome to the season from Jason Sweeney, our VP of House League; a few words from Mayor Annette Groves; then we're off to Diamond 2 for the national Anthem;  we'll have Mayor Groves throw out the first pitch to one of our 7U catchers; then the games run the rest of the day with a live band and BBQ for the enjoyment of participants.”

Although enrolment is up this year with over 600 players registered, Ruta made a last minute request for players to augment the rosters in two divisions.

“We still have room in the 13U division and 18U/15U division, so parents or players can reach out via our website to register for the few spots available: www.caledonminorbaseball.com and go to registration.”

A third big event on the CMBA calendar, according to Ruta, “is the June 1st Opening Day for our Challenger program.”

This event reveals the evolution of the CMBA and demonstrates the organization's drive to make baseball more accessible to physically-challenged or developmentally-delayed children. Ruta made an impassioned request for “volunteer ‘buddies.'” Each player has a buddy assigned to help them navigate their way around the diamond and ensure they are safe and can enjoy the experience. Anyone interested in helping out can email Caledonbuddies1@gmail.com.”

Exciting times are ahead for the Caledon Minor Baseball Association in 2024—another sure sign that Spring is here.  It will be a welcome sight to see the Boys and Girls of Summer gracing the diamond when the calendar turns from April to May.