West Side and National merge, form new Warwick North Little League

Kevin Pomeroy, Sports Editor
Posted 11/25/14

Carlos Rodas never really understood why they call it Warwick West Side Little League anyway, since it sits on the north side of the city.

Now, they’ll have a more fitting name for …

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West Side and National merge, form new Warwick North Little League

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Carlos Rodas never really understood why they call it Warwick West Side Little League anyway, since it sits on the north side of the city.

Now, they’ll have a more fitting name for Warwick’s newest Little League.

West Side and Warwick National have been formally approved to merge, effective Dec. 1, creating Warwick North Little League.

The boundaries haven’t changed, as any player within the National and West Side areas will now fall into the North area and will be part of a bigger, more stable program this spring.

“We’re excited about it going forward,” said Rodas, who has served as West Side’s president and will serve as a co-president with National’s David Palumbo for the new league. “We think we’re going to improve the Little League experience. I honestly think that this is going to improve it, and not just for the all-star cycle, but the Tuesday night games, the Thursday night games. If you get more kids in the league and you make that experience better, you’ll get more kids the year after and the year after and the year after.”

The merger forces the end of two Little Leagues with a rich history both in the city and the state. National won the 12-year-old all-star state title in 1958, while West Side did the same in 1968 and 1985.

But the achievements of the past won’t simply be thrown out the door, as the facilities for both leagues will keep their names, and games will be played at each of them. There will be Warwick North’s West Side fields and Warwick North’s National fields.

“We’re going to try to keep the tradition of the facilities in tact,” Rodas said.

The merger was put together out of necessity, as West Side had five teams in its Majors Division last year, but was forced to stretch out its Minor League program in order to reach that number. National, meanwhile, had only three teams, and was also fairly stretched. The two leagues used an inter-league play format last year along with Warwick American simply because of the dwindling numbers. 

That was where the idea of the merger was hatched, as the leagues realized that since they were already relying on each other, combining might make some sense in the future. 

Now, the numbers shouldn’t be an issue. Warwick North is hoping to put seven strong teams in its Majors Division while also strengthening its lower level. 

“Too many other things going on now with lacrosse, soccer is becoming a year round sport, hockey, football – there’s so many other options now for kids to play,” Rodas said. “We need to improve Little League.”

West Side and National are in the process of merging their boards and their funds, with the bylaws being drawn up. 

The color scheme for the league is not official yet, but will likely be black and white. 

There is also the matter of softball, which will now be played under the Warwick North name as well. West Side has had one of the more successful softball programs in the state over the past few years, and could grow stronger with an influx of girls from the National end who want to join. 

“We’re hoping now that Warwick North has more girls playing Little League softball,” Rodas said. “That’s the hope.”

On the all-star side, because of the population of the area that Warwick North now draws from, Little League mandates that Warwick North put out two all-star teams in each age group.

That means that North will have two 12-year-old all-star teams, two 11-year-old all-star teams and two 10 year-old all-star teams. The league is appealing that decision and hopes to put out just one all-star team at each level. 

Regardless of that decision though, Warwick North is here to stay. 

“We want to let everybody know it’s going to be fine,” Rodas said. “The kids are going to get a great experience.”

It’s a big change to the city’s baseball foundation.

“None of us were on a power trip,” Rodas said. “We just wanted to do what was best for the kids. So we did it now. We’re thinking five, 10 years from now, that’s kind of going to be status quo for Little League. I think the days of five or six Little Leagues in a city are over.”

Continental, American in talks

With the merger happening on one side of the city, Warwick Continental and Warwick American have been in discussions about a merger of their own. 

American, which had only two teams in its Majors Division last year, has also discussed joining Warwick North. Continental had five teams in its Majors Division, and also had a successful all-star season, where the 11-year-old team won the state championship. 

There likely won’t be any sort of merging prior to the 2015 season, but Continental and American are planning inter-league play this year as a way to begin the feeling out process and the two leagues will meet regularly to discuss options going forward.

“Just get the two leagues together this year, see how things work out,” said Continental president Richard Petrarca. “We don’t know how they operate and vice-versa. We thought it might be better to experiment for a year or see how things go for a year.”

There is also discussion about combining some of the lower levels, like the Minor Leagues and tee-ball, perhaps as soon as this year.

Yet, it’s all still up in the air. The 50/70 Division will almost certainly remain unchanged for the time being. 

“We just need to decide exactly what we want to do this year,” Petrarca said. “At a minimum, we’d inter-league, possibly combine some of the minor leagues and tee-ball and stuff like that. We really don’t have a lot of definite just yet.”

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