Swinging into Summer with Sandlot Nights

Brigantine Baseball and Softball Association’s weekly pickup baseball games continue for the third year on Thursday nights

text by Kristen Dowd | photography by Kelly and Craig Photography

"There's just something about baseball."

Brigantine Baseball and Softball Association President Tom Repici couldn't quite quantify that "something." Part of it, he said, is getting to experience a game out in the open air with friends. It's the crack of the bat, he added, and the pop of the ball into a glove.

"Those sound cliche, but at the same time, there's something about it that connects everyone," Tom reflected. "I love being able to connect with people this way. I want to keep building up the program for the kids."

This is Tom's second year at the helm of the largest athletic program in Brigantine, which first started swinging on the island around 1950.

Before leading the charge, he was the unofficial "commissioner of T-ball" starting when his now 13-year-old daughter, Cecelia, took up the sport in 2015. Tom's T-ball days continued with his son, Robert, who is now 10 years old.

"And then COVID hit," Tom said, "and nobody really played that season." Since then, Tom - along with former league leaders Chris and Jill Tate - set his sights on bringing the program back from the pandemic downslide. And the efforts worked, back to pre-COVID numbers last season and nudging up a bit in 2023.

Tom is quick to say the program is not about winning or becoming the best ball player. For Tom, it's about achieving a goal with your teammates and friends. And more than that, it's about having fun.

"I want to do everything I can for these kids to make this program as impactful to them as possible and as fun as possible," Tom said. "I'm not going into this to teach the kids the real intricacies of baseball. The coaches handle the legwork. I work on bringing more to the program to make it more fun for the kids."

Towards the end of the 2022 season, Tom was remiss to see it come to an end. One day as he and his wife, Jessica (who is also one of the league's vice presidents and the "backbone" of the whole program, according to Tom), were out hanging sponsorship signs, their kids started a pick up game on one of the empty fields. They wound up staying for three hours as more kids came to play.

"They kept the teams even, they kept calls fair, and although they had been letting their friends know via cell phone where they were and what they were doing, it felt very similar to how we grew up," said Tom. "That's where the idea for weekly pickup games came from."

This got the ball rolling, and a true grassroots effort brought weekly summer Sandlot Nights to life in Brigantine.

The kids run the show at Sandlot Nights, too. Parents are there for support, of course, but the kids are in charge. The first night brought 124 kids out to the helds.

“We put it in the paper, on social media. We told kids to tell their friends to tell their friends," Tom said. "All four fields were going with games, with more kids than they really could handle."

Numbers settled down to 80 to 100 every week, a combination of local kids, summer residents, weekly visitors and other out-of-towners. Kids who showed up without a glove were able to borrow one. Kids as young as six years old and as old as 15 years old took part, although the majority were between seven and 14 years. Regardless of age, everyone was mindful of playing games with kids of different abilities. Tom also encouraged the kids not to keep score.

The snack stand at the fields was open during Sandlot Nights, selling all refreshments for $1 a piece. At the end of the games, the kids fanned out and collected any wayward trash that made its way onto the fields.

"They had a blast with it," Tom said. "It really felt like old times. It was neat. The kids were out playing, the parents would socialize. I met a lot of people at Sandlot Nights.”

Tom is excited to bring Sandlot Nights back for summer 2024. The plan is to continue the games from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday nights, just like last year. For the first time in about 20 years, the Brigantine Baseball and Softball Association will be hosting a tournament in July, and Tom wants to tie the tournament into Sandlot Nights, too.

There's a plan to end this year's Sandlot Nights season in the same way it ended last year, with an outdoor showing of the 1993 baseball classic "The Sandlot."

"We had over 120 people watching the movie last year. Rita's donated water ice," Tom said. "It was the perfect ending to the Sandlot Nights for the summer time."

Sandlot Nights will start July 11th for the 2024 season and will continue every Thursday from 7pm-9pm.