NEWS

By David Delcore, Barre-Montpelier Times Argus

Almost all of the home team was away Saturday, but that didn’t stop the Capital City from belatedly celebrating the Vermont Mountaineers’ latest championship with a pretty public tip of the cap.

Only one of the players, infielder Thomas Roulis, was on hand for the event that was held on the cobblestone plaza in front of City Hall and fittingly featured free hot dogs that were grilled and given away by the folks of St. Augustine Catholic Church.

One of the quirks of the New England Collegiate Baseball League is that the players, like Roulis, go to college and most Mountaineers who spent this summer in central Vermont didn’t return on the bus after their captivating extra-innings win over the Mystic Schooners in the NECBL championship game last month.

Ashley Witzenberger, executive director of Montpelier Alive, said that’s one of the reasons the downtown organization didn’t organize a day-after ticker tape parade for the newly crowned champions, though, she confessed, there was another reason.

“We didn’t want to jinx them,” Witzenberger said.

Maybe it helped. Maybe it didn’t. But, playing it safe gave Montpelier Alive time to arrange an event where fans — some more avid than others — could collectively celebrate the Fay Vincent Sr. Championship NECBL Trophy’s return to Montpelier for the first time in eight years.

They did just that Saturday with some munching on hot dogs, others snapping photographs of the impressive trophy, and most wearing Mountaineers shirts and hats.

Mayor John Hollar was among them and he heaped high praise on Mountaineers’ teams past and present.

“They really are the pride of Montpelier,” Hollar said, noting that, championship or no, there is a benefit to having quality baseball played in your backyard all summer long.

“It’s an opportunity for people to come out with their kids in a family-friendly environment,” he said. “That’s pretty unique for a town our size.”

Hollar said the trophy was a bonus and credited a network of volunteers — from host families, like Jim and Heidi Tringe, to senior public address announcer Lydia Lewis — for helping keep the team on the field.

“Without them this doesn’t happen,” he said.

By all accounts, that would be a shame because, fans agreed, baseball has been very, very good to Montpelier.

“The Mountaineers are a wonderful community asset,” said Alice Angney, who attended Saturday’s brief ceremony with her husband, Richard, and seven-year-old grandson, J.T. Kress.

Though Kress spent the summer with his grandparents in central Vermont, serving as one of the Mountaineers’ “bat kids,” he traveled from his home in New Jersey to attend Saturday’s celebration.

“He (Kress) wouldn’t miss it,” said Angney, who noted her grandson was with the team in the dugout when they won the championship last month.

“It was awesome, absolutely awesome,” said Angney, who was in the stands with her husband for the big game.

Most fans and all the other “bat kids” — including Kerrick Medose, 8, of Marshfield, and Colten Hollingsworth, 8, of Montpelier — had to settle for streaming the game live on their computers and phones.

Medose said he was there in spirit during the championship game and proud to be asked to put on his uniform one more time to pose with the other “bat kids,” Roulis, Mountaineers General Manager Brian Gallagher and the trophy.

Lewis, who announces the players’ names during home games, attended the ceremony with her 85-year-old mother, Valerie, who is a big fan herself.

Though she was photographed dancing during a rain delay this season with first baseman Simon Rosenbaum, Valerie Lewis said she doesn’t play favorites.

“I liked all of them,” said the woman, who for a few seasons made cookies for the team. “They all put a lot of effort in.”

Heidi Tringe said her young family went from hosting one player two years ago to two players last year and three this year.

“The Mountaineers are such an incredible part of our community and we figured this was a way we could help out,” she said, noting her children, Andrew, 10, and Emily, 7, have enjoyed sharing their home with “elite athletes” who liked playing around and were occasionally the source of souvenirs.

According to Heidi Tringe, the host family experience has already resulted in what she expects will be “lifelong friendships” with both the players and their families.

“It’s really a wonderful experience,” she said.

david.delcore@timesargus.com