HOME TEAM PRIDE
Cumberland Little Leaguers at New England tournament will wear uniforms made in hometown
CUMBERLAND — Last Saturday night, like most moms of the Cumberland American Little League All-Stars. Melissa Machado’s stress level soared at Kennedy Field in Johnston Memorial Patk.
Her favorite team, including Machado’s own Joey Cote and his mates, faced a winner-take-all game for the state championship, and an automatic berth to the New England Regional event in Bristol, Conn.
“I was sick to my stomach before that game on Saturday, wondering what was going to happen,” Machado said. “But they just did what they do best, and won it, 14-4. Before the game, some of the moms kept telling the boys, ‘How bad do you want it? You’ve got to want it badly!
“When it was over, we (as parents) were all on the field, taking pictures, and two of the boys came up running up to us yelling, ‘We wanted it more!’ It was so cute.”
At that moment, Machado switched from being a mighty proud momma into a stressed-out production manager of Impact Custom Apparel, located at 30 Industrial Road here in town. Even before CALL had earned the crown, she already had set the wheels in motion to provide the players and coaches state championship baseball hats and practice jerseys.
(She claimed head coach Tony Tarara and his staff wanted to wear their red-and-white Cumberland American competition jerseys during the tourney in Bristol for superstitious reasons. “They’ve played so well wearing them; who wants to go against the mojo?” Machado laughed).
“This plan actually started last year, when we won the District IV (Major Division) 10-11 championship,” she explained away from the buzzing machines completing the hats’ stitching and printing of jerseys. “We did the same thing after we won the state title in Wickford. This team has been so successful the past couple of years, it’s
become tradition.”
She indicated 24 hours after the latest triumph, parents and their kids drove to Tarara’s home for a “team meeting,” where they discussed how the moms and dads would purchase caps and jerseys, but also have the chance to buy their own fan gear.
“We’ve done all the Cumberland Youth Baseball and Softball League uniforms, so the parents know where to come and who to talk to,” Machado stated. “I feel bad saying this, but I actually decided to talk to our art director (Carmen LePine) before we won the championship. I didn’t do it because I was overconfident, but just to get a leg up on the process.
“We were only going to have so much time to get the whole thing going. I just wanted it to run smoothly … I will say this: The most stressful part was getting the artwork to where we all wanted it to be. Carmen did a fantastic job.”
Among the more pressurefilled tasks: She had to order 70 hats from Oregon, 25 of those to be given to the players, coaches and league officials (the rest to parents, family members and friends). They, however, didn’t arrive until Wednesday afternoon, perhaps 52 hours before Machado would present them to the team at Friday night’s scrimmage.
She handed out those practice jerseys to the kids and coaching staff at the same time. She promised none were made available to anyone but the team.
“I wanted those to be exclusive to the kids,” Machado stated. “They’ve done something very special, so they deserve something very special for their achievements.”
Not long after that meeting at Tarara’s abode, on Monday morning, she sent out order forms to parents with five different items for sale, including men’s and women’s soft-style T-shirt, alternate vintage tank tops and men’s and women’s tonal hoodies. She also gave all options as to whether or not they wanted their favorite player’s name and number on the back.
Due to demand, she ordered 87 in all. All items are black, except the men’s hoodie (red stripes down the arms), and all have a beautiful crossed-bats insignia in the same colors, with the words “Rhode Island State Champs” and Cumberland American printed across the design.
As for the caps, they have a red visor and back with a white front, with the letters RI printed in red with gray trim. The players will receive them with their name printed in white across the back, and ‘Cumberland American’ across one side.
“I have to thank the owner, John DeDonato,” Machado said. “The night of the championship game, he texted me, ‘How’s it going down there?’ We already had discussed how crazy this week would be if we won. We knew it would be really busy already because we just purchased a new piece of equipment.
“When I texted him back, we were up – a lot – so I just wrote, ‘We just went from crazy to crazy-crazy!’” she added. “Just like he did last year, he donated all the Tshirts to the players and coaches. This is a big thing for a small business like ours; we’re so honored to make these things for the players, coaches, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and fans. It’s a community thing, and we’re so proud.
“We had a very tight time line; we’ve been dealing with different aspects of this project since we held that meeting at Tony’s. Actually, these items are supposed to be at Gauvin Field (she looked at her watch) … right now. It’s 4:30 (p.m.).”
With that, she thanked her visitor and hustled back to the mammoth printing room for packaging the items. (By the way, fan gear is unavailable for public purchase).
One thing’s a given: When the team arrives at Gauvin Field this morning at about 6:45, where Mayor Bill Murray and city officials have planned a huge celebration/sendoff to Bristol, it’s going to look collectively sharp.