The Backyard Batting Cage

Starting out when most youths have a couple of seasons under their belts, David is soaking up instruction and having a blast. The fourth-grader is riding a surge of new players drawn to the game by the Giants' exciting and improbable World Series win.

“I watched almost every playoff and World Series game. It was really fun. The Giants are my favorite team,” said David, a wrestler and football player. “This year, I wanted to play baseball.”

Westside Little League, where David plays, has had a 12 percent increase in players. With the new season under way, youth baseball leagues across Sonoma County report similar gains.

More youths playing baseball in the North Bay contrasts with a national trend that finds the numbers declining over the past decade.

Much of the North Bay's growth is at the youngest ages, when boys and girls start out in T-ball and machine pitch divisions without keeping score or standings. Yet new players well into elementary school have signed up in surprising numbers for competitive play leading to regional and all-star tournaments.

“Through the ranks it seems there's a lot of first-time players, more than I've ever seen,” said Mike Harris, president of the Rohnert Park Cal Ripken league, where registration is up 15 percent. “The Giants created some baseball fever.”

Such unexpected growth means finding more parents to coach, fields to play on and extending schedules to accommodate games.

“We pressed a lot of inexperienced coaches into service. We're maxed out on fields,” said Keith Lua, Westside Little League president. “We're bringing in new blood.”

For the Tigers in Westside's minors division, that includes both David and his father, David Zarate Jr.

“I've never played baseball,” Zarate said. “But when I went to the coaches meeting, there was no coach for his team. I stood up and said I'm willing to learn and do it for the kids.”

Father and son have been learning together. Zarate participated in a class and clinic to learn basic rules of the game and drills to teach skills.

Having a pair of assistant coaches who played and know the game helps.

“Just being a team and working with these guys, we let them know there's a way to play baseball,” Zarate said.

Learning how to catch, throw and hit a baseball when his teammates are picking up finer points of the game has not discouraged David. He too must know cutoffs on throws from the outfield or tagging up to advance on a fly ball.

“I'm getting there,” David said.

Pitching has been a highlight of the season. David recorded 15 strikeouts in the first three games and made a memorable play.

A batter struck a ground ball up the middle that David snagged on a dive and then threw out the runner trying to score from third base. “It felt really good,” he said.

Coming back to baseball never felt better for Nick Goodacre, playing in the Rincon Valley Little League in east Santa Rosa.

“It's getting way easier. I've learned a lot. I think I'm going to improve a lot for next year,” Nick said.

The same could not be said five years ago when, as a 7-year-old, Nick put away his glove after a first season with few highlights.

“I didn't really enjoy it that much. I didn't even watch baseball much,” said Nick, who also plays tennis.

That the Giants weren't very good then didn't help. Nick's enthusiasm, though, grew two years ago when the team contended and fell just short of the playoffs, recording San Francisco's first winning campaign in five seasons.

“After the Giants started doing good, I started wanting to play. But I wasn't totally sure about it yet,” Nick said.

Nick began playing catch and hitting balls again with his father, Matt, that season. Father and son played more often during the Giants' run to the 2010 World Series title.

“It influenced me a lot,” Nick said. “It made me think that I could be doing that same thing in Little League.”

Having to try out and be drafted onto a team in the Santa Rosa league was an initial indication baseball would be more competitive this time. Landing on the Orioles was a plus as the birds of Baltimore also wear orange and black.

“I like hitting and outfield. Stealing bases is a really important part of baseball that I want to do,” Nick said.

Nick is brave to play in the majors division, where the nation's best teams reach the Little League World Series. Experienced coaches and encouraging teammates have eased Nick's return to baseball.

“I'm kind of anxious like I want to get on the field. It's very exciting,” he said.

Growth in the Petaluma American Little League — up 10 percent — is split between young players and those in the age 9 to 11 ranks.

Drawing players who are coming back to baseball is a pleasant surprise, said league president Jorge Villarreal

“When you're coming in green as an older kid, it can be intimidating at times, but actually the kids do well,” he said. “Our goal with a kid like that is to make sure we give them proper instructions and give them an opportunity.”

The Giants' success surely sparked more interest in playing baseball, Villarreal said.

“I think it helped out. You see a lot of the excitement,” he said.

The way in which the Giants reached baseball's pinnacle — the torture of nail biting games — revealed the game for its difficulty and its reward.

Young players know how challenging baseball can be. But the better you get, the more fun you have playing this great game.

“A lot of mistakes will be made, but we keep it fun,” said Zarate, the Westside league manager. “We're having a great time. That's the most important thing.”

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