Borough Cup keeps kids baseball in NYC

A few years ago, Gary Perone and John Franco sat down to lunch. Perone, the Brooklyn Cyclones’ assistant general manager, and Franco, the former Mets All-Star, wanted to do something for New York City — and they had noticed kids were leaving the city to play Little League.

An idea was born: The Borough Cup.

Now in its fifth year, the tournament pits Little League teams from all five boroughs against one another. The 13 and 14U championship games are Wednesday, at Yankee Stadium; the 8 through 12U games Monday at MCU Park in Brooklyn. In the fifth year of the Borough Cup, 115 teams participated — a success by any measurement.

“Not every team’s gonna go to Williamsport [for the Little League World Series],” Perone told The Post. “So you have kids who still want to play baseball and some can’t afford extended travel teams to play on. So this gives them an opportunity to stay home in New York City and be a part of it.”

The number of teams has been fairly consistent throughout the years — Perone and Franco’s connections helped. They managed to get word out through WFAN, leading to conversations with the Mets and Yankees. MCU Park and Yankee Stadium soon opened their doors. Willie Randolph, Lee Mazzilli and Omar Minaya, all with deep New York baseball roots, got involved.

This year, the tournament’s board received 501C3 nonprofit status. Previously, the group had struggled to deal with the expenses of putting on a tournament while still rebuilding fields, helping out with equipment, and doing all of the little things that give kids access to play baseball. Now, they’re launching a new program — Cup Cares — to do just that.

The Borough Cup has already seen success. Now, Perone and Franco are ready to see even more growth..

“People go to Jersey, they go to Cooperstown [to play], you know, all good experiences,” Perone said. “But at the end of the day, I think it’s better we keep our baseball fields packed in New York City.”