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By KaiUcca Simtt
j
Seasons
By Kathleen Szmit
kszmit@barnstablepatriot.com
KATHLEEN SZMIT PHOTO
PART OF THE FAMILY - Cotuit Kettleers player Reese
Havens shares a moment with his host "father" Rich
Petze of Centerville. The baseball player and the Petze
family formed a strong and lasting friendship while he
bunked with them this summer.
To
everything there is a season. This
can be said of aging, of life, and even of
sports. Last weekend marked the close
of another season for the Cape Cod Baseball
League.
Even as Wareham and Y-D were duking it
out for the top spot, players from other Cape
teams had packed their bags and were head-
ing off-Cape, returning home aftera long sum-
mer away.
How different was their departure compared
to their arrivals, particularly for those new
to the League. In early summer they arrived,
fresh-faced and eager to impiess coaches,
scouts and the host families with whom they
were staying. Those host families became an
integral aspect of those players' summers.
The rosters of Cape League teams read like
a true cross-section of America, with young
men coming to play baseball here from all cor-
ners of the country. They come from places as
close as Harwich and as far away as California,
Hawaii and even Alaska.
For most the trip here means bidding
goodbye to family and friends to summer
in a strange and unfamiliar place. Although
not children, these young men certainly feel
a pang of anxiety at stepping outside of the
confines of their comfort zones.
Enter the host families. Since the modern-
era of the Cape League, host families have
been one of several backbones of the organiza-
tion. They open their homes and hearts to the
boys of summer, providing safe havens and,
truly, homes away from home.
The host family experience is a facet of the
CCBL experience that is as unique as it is spe-
cial. Throughout the sometimes-too-long, yet
inevitably too short, summer, players and the
families form bonds that remain strong long
after the players move on to graduate school,
AAA ball, the Major Leagues, but oftentimes
just life.
Terri DiGiovanni and her husband Tino,
president of the Hyannis Athletic Association,
which supports the Hyannis Mets, housed
three Mets players this summer: Charlie Fur-
bush, Matt Mangini and Ramon Corona.
Relishing her role as mother hen, Terri was
pleased to dote on the boys, keep them well
fed, and keep them in line on occasion. The
rapport was apparent to anyone who hap-
pened by for a visit and saw their friendly
ongoing banter.
Rich and Joni Petze hosted Reese Havens
of the Cotuit Kettleers, becoming his biggest
fans, attending every game with their sons,
Dominic and Anthony. By the time the All-
Star game rolled around, Reese seemed an
extended member of the family, a brother to
the boys.
When the season came to an end, emotions
were bittersweet regardless of team stand-
ings. While players like Mangini, Furbush and
Havens were happy to be reuniting with their
families before heading back to college, leav-
ing their new families on Cape Cod was tough.
With heavy hearts and knots in throats,
rooms were cleaned out, duffel bags were
tossed into backseats, and last hugs were
offered. Sturdy, burly ballplayers and the
families that had come to love them fought
back tears, sometimes unsuccessfully,as they
waved until their cars were out of sight.
For a while the host homes will seem
strangely empty, each feeling as if key famUy
member is missing. Soon, however, the first of
many letters will arrive, school will begin, and
the life will establish its familiar rhythm.
Beneath it all lies the gleeful anticipation,
the knowledge that everything has its season,
and the boys of summer won't be gone forever.
Out of The Box
Jason Lyon in top
form in Falmouth
Road Race
By Kathleen Szmit
kszmit@barnstablepatriot.com
KATHLEEN SZMIT PHOTO
LYON'S ROAR - Jason Lyon.of
West Hyannisport was the first
Cape Cod finisher inthe Falmouth
Road Race last Sunday, turning
in a time of 37:54. Lyon plans to
continue running at Dartmouth
College this fall where he will be
a freshman.
W
hen it comes to
running, there are
those who tough
it out and then there are
those who seem to have
a gift. Jason Lyon of West
Hyannisport has the gift ,
possibly in spades.
At the age of 18 and
freshly graduated from
Barnstable High School,
he has logged more miles
on local roads than most
folks' cars, only he's done
it wearing his favorite
running shoes.
On Sunday, Lyon added
several more miles, and
one important accolade
to his record. Lyon was
the first Cape Codder to
cross the finish line at
Sunday 's 34th Falmouth
Road Race, with an im-
pressive time of 37:54. He
was 42nd overall and 34th
for his gender.
Ironically, Lyon wasn't
aware of his placement
until later Sunday eve-
ning when he checked his
time on the Web.
"I was actually running
with the elite women,"
said Lyon. "Joan Benoit
Samuelson almost got me
but I beat her by three
seconds."
The running bug bit
Lyon in the late nine-
1
ties when he older sister,
Kate, was a student at
BHS, though it turned
out to be a temperamen-
tal bug. "I don't really like
the training," explained
Lyon. "I like racing. The
training is a necessary
evil."
Because he is still en-
thralled with the sport ,
it's an evil he is willing
to tolerate. He spent
countless hours this sum-
mer training in order to
compete in Falmouth and
prepare for cross-country
season this fall when he
begins classes at Dart-
mouth College.
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:11
Cool runner
Lifesaving
competition
showcases Cape
Cod's finest
By Kathleen Szmit
kszmit@barnstablepatriot.com
wmmmmmmmmmmm - immmmmm
TRUEWINNERS-Membersof theTownof BarnstableTeamenjoy I
amomentinthesunduringtheCapeCodLifesavingCompetition1
heldat Craigville Beach in Centerville last Friday.
|M||||g|jg£gjittjgg|tiflMttNtf -J
H
H
M
i
f
l
All
summer long, life-
guards can be seen dot-
ting beaches across Cape
Cod, their red suits like a bright
beacon against the white sands
and blue skies.
For the most part, they sit
in their high towers keeping
careful watch on the bustling
beachgoers beneath, occasion-
ally blowing their whistles when
a sv/irnrnerstrays too far or
there'stoo much roughhousing
happening somewhere onshore.
It's only on rare occasions that
these dedicated souls are called
upon to demonstrate the skills
that make them such a vital and
needed fixture on the Cape.
KATHLEEN SZMIT PHOTOS
BEAUTYONTHE BEACH- Barnstable 's
Chelsea Leroux maintains a strong
pace during the 4x1 mile race, the
first of many races in the Cape
Cod Lifesaving Competition held
last Friday at Craigville Beach in
Centerville.
THE MAD DASH - Adam Golas of Sandwich, a member of the Town of
Barnstable team, heads for the water for his leg of a relay swim during the
Cape Cod Lifeguard Competition. Barnstable came in third in Division B.
GAINING MOMENTUM - With
teammates behind him shouting
encouragement, Barnstable's John
Nucci makes a go at the finish line
during the 4x1 mile race in the
Cape Cod Lifesaving Competition at
Craigville Beach last Friday.
Most Cape lifeguards must
wait to show their stuff at the
annual Cape Cod Lifesaving
Competition, an event now in its
32nd year, hosted last Friday at
Barnstable's Craigville Beach.
As clouds from the previous
night'sstorms broke, allow-
ing the bright summer sun to
emerge, teams of lifeguards
from beaches across Cape Cod
gathered to participate in a
number of physically- and men-
tally-challengingevents, intent
on showcasing their talents
while having a little fun, to boot.
John Nucci of Boston, a mem-
ber of the Town of Barnstable
team, competed in the event
for the first time, takingpart
in the 4x1mile beach run, and
the four-person paddle, a relay
involving the long rescue boards
used by the guards.
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:11
Shining stars of the seashores
Hyannis's Jesse
Barboza to appear in
local amateur event
By Kathleen Szmit
kszmit@barnstablepatnot.com
Walk
into David's Gym
in South Dennis and
it seems like any ordi-
nary fitness center.It has the
usual array of cardio and weight
machines, as well as a lineup of
standard aerobics classes.
It's what takes place in the
gym's basement that really mat-
ters. Beneath the establishment's
standard fitness center interior
lies the boxing capital
box in a wall mirror, and strive
to get themselves in top form for
fighting, all under the watchful im-
ages of their favorite boxing greats.
Several have their sights set on
"ANight of Champions,"a USA
Olympic Amateur Boxing event
that will take place on Sept. 1
at the Four Points Sheraton
Hyannis Resort.
Jesse Barboza of Hyannis is
one such young man. A 2003
graduate of Barnstable High
School, Barboza first became
interested in boxing after hearing
his grandfather 's stories of his
days in the ring.
"My grandfather.Walter, was
a boxer," said Barboza, taking a
break from training. "I was always
interested but I wanted to get
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:11
of Cape Cod.
Down in the base
ment of David's,
young men work
away on punching
bags, shadow-
DOUBLE
TROUBLE
- Jesse Barboza
of Hyannis
and Andrew J
Nevsky of M
Russia will ¦
take part in fl
"A Night of ™
Champions "
USA Olympic
Amateur Boxing
tournament at
the Four Points J
Sheraton Resort j
on Sept. 1. I
-
BHS grad shows
lighting promise