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Asbury Park Little League held the opening ceremonies for their 2014 season on Saturday, April 6.

About 105 Asbury Park children ages five to 15 signed up to play this year, said League President Danny McKee. The league includes teams in T-ball, pony minor, major and junior divisions.

The first game of the season saw the the Asbury Park Braves beat the Asbury Park Tigers 9-7.

For the second year in a row, the league has two junior division teams, whereas in the past the league struggled to get one team together, McKee said.

“It’s a great program for the kids,” said McKee. “Sometimes I’m astounded that more kids don’t sign up.”

Asbury Park players duke it out against teams from Point Pleasant Beach; Spring Lake and Sea Girt; Spring Lake Heights; Neptune City and Bradley Beach; and Belmar, Avon and Lake Como.

McKee became league president in 2005. His involvement spurred from growing tired of watching the Asbury Park High School baseball team lose consistently, oftentimes by more than 20 runs, he said.

“But they kept coming back — it shows the kids just love to play the game,” McKee said.

McKee knew the only way for the high school team to get better was to have a good league program. The high school team won their season opener this year, and one of the kids McKee used to coach hit a walk-off home run, he said. A better high school should help McKee’s effort come full circle.

“Hopefully the high school will have a really competitive team and it will create more interest in the younger kids,” he said.

In addition to the training and regular season games, the league sends four kids to the Detroit Tigers’ spring training facility over the winter in Lakeland, Fl., for instruction and sponsors trips for about 20 kids to Williamsport, Pa., for baseball camp each year, as well as hosting barbecues and other events.

“Everybody says they want to stop the violence and all this other stuff, but you have to work with the kids if you want to do that,” he said. “Being a baseball coach is not only a great way to get them to play baseball, but to mentor them and to put something positive into their ear that hopefully sticks.”

The league relies on fundraising to cover much of its operational costs. Each child’s family must pay $85 for the first child and $30 for each additional child. This covers about $5,000 of the league’s annual $40,000 budget, McKee said. The remainder is raised through donations from individuals and companies throughout the area.

Home games are played on the baseball diamond on Sixth Avenue, near the high school.

Click here to see a schedule of upcoming games. Click here to see individual team schedules.

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