As the Westport Little League all-stars enjoy a day off following last night’s 3-2 opening-round win, Rob Stone — father of catcher Matt Stone — provides this glimpse into life in the limelight:
The boys are treated like rock stars whenever they are outside the players’ residences. They’re mobbed by young kids for autographs and photo ops, or doing media meetings or other events.
In between, they do what they really want: play baseball in these beautiful parks.
They have a night off tonight, and don’t play until Sunday (2 p.m., ABC-TV). We had a team family dinner — it’s a rare thing for us to see them for more than 20 minutes.
Noah Plantamuro (the ace pitcher from Edgewood, who eliminated Westport in the 10-and-Under state tournament) was down to see the Little League World Series. The Westport team has taken him in. He is a terrific kid, a great baseball player and now part of the gang. This is absolutely what youth sports should be about.
Leaving dinner tonight, enjoying life as 12-year-old rock stars.