Published June 26, 2020
By COLE LEPLER
Growing up within the Melrose Little League system has shaped me into the person I am today and helped me to find the game that I fell so deeply in love with. I am certain that the lessons I learned playing baseball go beyond how to field a short hop or hit a high fastball. I learned not only about what it means to commit to a goal bigger than myself and how to work with my teammates to achieve it.
As a member of Melrose National I will argue that, of the three leagues at the time, we were the outright best. This healthy league rivalry helped me develop my competitive spirit which has pushed me to outwork the next guy and really propelled me to succeed at each level that I have played at. This has extended beyond the ball field to school, music, and being a leader in my community.
Melrose Little League was the first environments outside of my home that allowed me to develop my own sense of belonging. Out of the car and straight into a new place hidden by trees to the baseball mecca of Melrose: Conant Field. Filled with excited parents and hopeful kids, this was the perfect place to spend a beautiful Spring afternoon or if you were lucky, a summer morning with the All-Star team or Jimmy Fund team.
MLL is not just a baseball program, it is a place for kids to learn and develop attributes such as teamwork and loyalty that will go past the baseball field into the community. The lessons we learned at the field from our volunteer coaches were valuable life lessons which helped kids develop humility, respect, and unity. Playing against our friends allowed us to have a friendly rivalry, but in the end, we were all just having fun and building long relationships that would last throughout high school and college.
Every year, I would look forward to the surprisingly brisk Spring day of the Little League parade. Sporting our new hats and jerseys, we embodied a sense of pride and hope that this year would be just as great as last season or even better. The hat that we received would be on every kid’s head the next day at school and worn throughout the year until we got a new one next season. Even to this day when I get a new Melrose High School baseball hat and my jersey with 34 on the back, it brings back the same feeling of pride and love for the city of Melrose. I represent the city whenever I put it on and that is because of the values I learned as a minor leaguer on the Marlins.
The skilled coaches teach kids the important fundamentals and basics of the hardest sport in the world, not because they want to be recognized but because each of them has a deep, steadfast love for the game of baseball. The love each one of them has for the game rubs off on us and plants a seed for each kid.
My coach when I was growing up through the league, Scott Moss, taught me the basics and instilled qualities of grit and determination due to his specific coaching style. He did not just hit us ground balls and expect us to teach ourselves, he was right there with us in the dirt, getting muddy and showing us the right way. I had no idea that the MLL would have such a big impact on who I am but it all hit me when the varsity team was included in the parade that every single one of my teammates had marched in when they were a kid. All the kids looked at us like we were the Nolan Arenados and Mike Trouts of Melrose. I was in the exact situation when the 2008 varsity team joined me on my first parade. I wanted to be one of them and they really showed me who I wanted to become and the work I needed to put in to get there.
I did not think I would get the opportunity to be a captain of my beloved Melrose baseball team when I was seven years old, but due to the traits that were drilled into me throughout the 10 years I was a part of the program, I am. I always looked up to Corey Bright and Ryan Long and strived to be like them. They are only two examples of the many role models that I tried to emulate who came out of MLL, but there were plenty to choose from.
As I forfeit my senior season due to the pandemic, I look back to the home run derbies, the city series games, and just normal practices at Conant and realize how lucky I was to have opportunities like these as a kid. I will take the lessons I learned from Melrose Little League to my next step in education as I continue to be a leader in the classroom, my community, and on the field.
