The right arm of a former Cy Young award winner and National League Rookie of the Year, whose career highlights include a no-hitter, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before one of the New Jersey Last Dance World Series games.
A mound appearance from Dwight Gooden, who racked up 194 victories and 2,293 strikeouts during a 16-year career, the bulk of which was spent in New York with the Mets and Yankees, highlights several compelling story lines for the pool play round of the tournament, which begins next week.
The event, which features 222 teams of high school-aged players and recent high school graduates, runs from July 14 through July 31 with the championship to be played at Arm & Hammer Stadium in Trenton, home of the New York Yankees’ Double A affiliate.
Tournament officials will make public a master schedule with starting times, official pairings and locations for opening round games of pool play sometime before Wednesday at 5 p.m.
A preliminary draft of the tournament schedule is being emailed overnight to coaches of participating teams.
Gooden, affectionately known as “Doc,” is scheduled to throw out the first pitch before a pool play game to be determined at Snyder Avenue Park in Berkeley Heights, according to Mike Murray Jr., the head coach and athletics director from St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, who founded the tournament.
The four-team region at which Gooden will make an appearance features players from Governor Livingston, Summit, New Providence and Oratory Prep high schools.
The four-time MLB All-Star and three-time World Series champion will get a chance to meet in person many of the same Governor Livingston players he addressed during a video conference call with the program in May.
“Doc hopped on a call with those guys to talk about the adversity of losing a season,” Murray said, noting the coronavirus pandemic canceled the 2020 scholastic campaign. “It’s cool to have him hop back in when they are able to play a game.”
Gooden will make himself available to join reporters from across the state for a conference call on Thursday, Murray said.
In scheduling for pool play, Murray said he and directors of host sites maintained flexibility to ensure games would not conflict with some high school graduating ceremonies.
“We wanted to work around graduations and things that impact the 2020 seniors who have been told they have to miss something too much already this spring,” Murray said.
Some of the other schedule highlights for pool play include:
- A team from East Brunswick will be playing in the Lincroft Regional against a team from Christian Brothers Academy, meaning the Kenney brothers, head coach Chris from East Brunswick and head coach Marty Jr. from Christian Brothers Academy, will square off during a round-robin game. The meeting will take place on a field where their father Marty Sr. won many of his 832 career games during 46 seasons. Only veteran mentor Ken Frank of Toms River South has won more high school baseball games (894) in New Jersey.
- Cliffside Park is in the same region with host Don Bosco Prep, whose players have entered the tournament under the moniker Diamond Backs. The North championship trophy bears the name of Ben Luderer, the late Cliffside Park head coach whose life the coronavirus claimed. Luderer was the starting catcher for the 2008 Don Bosco Prep baseball team that finished 33-0 and which multiple news organizations crowned national champions. He was 30 years old at the time of his passing on March 30. Cliffside Park and Don Bosco Prep will meet in pool play.
- Players from towns with longstanding rivalries, such as Westfield and Scotch Plains-Fanwood, as well as all three Hamilton Township schools, will also meet in pool play.
United States Specialty Sports Association, a Florida-based governing body, is sanctioning the tournament, which is not affiliated with the NJSIAA or any of the statewide athletic association’s member schools.
Professional scouts from Major League clubs are expected to attend some tournament games to evaluate players.
College coaches are prohibited from attending in person because the tournament is being contested during an NCAA recruiting dead period.
The Last Dance is considered a youth sporting event. As such, participating teams are prohibited from using school-issued equipment and uniforms. The tournament will follow national federation on-field rules.
The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds for the North and South regions will be contested July 21 and July 22. The North and South semifinals and finals are slated for July 28 and July 29.
The single-elimination round games of the tournament will be contested at the home stadiums of independent and minor league teams including the Somerset Patriots (TD Bank Ballpark), Sussex County Miners (Skylands Park) and Lakewood Blue Claws (FirstEnergy Park).
The Last Dance tournament will only be charging admission to games contested at independent and minor league parks, with the entry fee likely being $5 and not exceeding $10.
The cost is to help defray the expense of conducting games at professional venues, where ballpark operations staff will help provide a wonderful gameday atmosphere. The stadiums will also help facilitate social distancing among spectators.
All players, coaches, and umpires must adhere to the protocols and guidelines Murphy's administration delineated for youth sports, which include health screenings, temperature checks and other safety measures.
Under the state's youth sports guidelines, players will not be allowed to share personal gear, beverages or snacks. They must use sanitizer to clean their hands during practices and games and are not to share rides with teammates to those activities. Players will not be required to wear face coverings while practicing or competing, but coaches and officials are encouraged to wear a mask when in close proximity of players.
Murray's committee of more than a dozen baseball coaches, including Millburn High School head coach Brian Chapman, is working with athletic training companies to ensure medical personnel will be on location at every host site.
His committee has established an emergency action plan for each host location and secured a sponsor to cover the cost of infared thermometers to take the temperature of all participants, coaches and umpires.
The North championship trophy will be named after Ben Luderer, in memory of the late Cliffside Park High School baseball coach, whose life the coronavirus claimed. Luderer was the starting catcher for the 2008 Don Bosco Prep baseball team that finished 33-0 and which multiple news organizations crowned national champions. He was 30 years old at the time of his passing on March 30.
The South championship trophy will be named after Jim Brown, a beloved youth sports coach, educator and devoted family man who died on April 2 at the age of 48 of complications from the coronavirus. Brown was the principal of Grover Cleveland Middle School in Caldwell at the time of his passing.
Streaming services will be available from some sites, championship rings will be provided to the region and overall tournament winners, and pool play has been amended to provide for an extra hitter and free defensive substitution, making it easier for coaches to manage their rosters.
Email: gtufaro@gannett.com
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