Jordan Hill prefers the big time when it comes to baseball diamonds. The 11-year-old commutes from Media to play with the South Philadelphia Senators travel team.
Sure, there are other leagues closer to home, but they follow Little League rules. His new teammates play by major-league regulations.
"Here you can take leads and throw from the stretch," Hill remarked.
He gets to the local field with a little help from his father, Mark Hill, who took his son for a tryout over the summer. After watching a few practices, the elder Hill noticed the training techniques were unlike any program he has seen.
"Steve [Koplove] teaches these kids the major league game at age 9, 10 and 11, while others are being taught Little League baseball at that level," he said. "These kids are bright enough to get it and take it and progress with it."
And Koplove knows how to shape raw baseball talent. He coached his son Mike Koplove, 26, now a relief pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On Sunday, a couple of prominent guests did the teaching — Philadelphia Phillies manager Larry Bowa and retired major-league catcher and local native John Marzano. Ten teams from South Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania visited the Senators’ field at 35th and Moore streets to be critiqued on their daily practice routines.
"It’s just an unbelievable team," Marzano said. "They are probably the most prepared team in the country for their age group. Steve does an excellent job of preparing them mentally and physically to play the game of baseball."
The athletes, in turn, enjoyed the visit from the pros.
"I feel like I am in paradise," said 8-year-old Joey Gorman about playing in front of Marzano and Bowa. "We learn the right way to play."
The educational session is a small part of the Senators’ travel program, which is preparing young athletes for future standout baseball careers on the high-school and college levels. Their 62-19 record shows this is a team with all-star potential.
Highlights include winning their second consecutive Philadelphia Department of Recreation championship and finishing second in the state in the American Amateur Baseball Congress Championships. The Senators also traveled to Cooperstown, N.Y., in the summer to compete against the best teams of 10-year-olds in a national tournament. The squad finished 4-6, but Koplove called it the turning point of the season.
"Some kids actually blossomed," Koplove said. "We are undefeated in the fall, beating teams handily that we lost to in the spring."
Most of the 11 players on the team represented the Delaware Valley Youth Athletic Association and won a tournament in Glendora, N.J., two summers ago. Last summer, the all-stars reunited and finished the season 37-12, which includes winning the Department of Recreation’s city championship.
After playing an occasional home game at Ashburn Fields in FDR Park last summer, the Senators decided they needed a home field so they could use major-league configurations. Little League teams have their bases 60 feet apart and the pitcher’s mound 45 feet from home plate. The Senators play with bases 70 feet apart and 50 feet from the pitcher’s mound to home plate.
Koplove said the team approached the Department of Recreation in March to find out if there were any facilities available where the team wouldn’t interfere with other programs. When James Finnegan Playground in Southwest Philadelphia was suggested, the Senators started drawing up their plans to present to the city. But the process was taking too long, so the team decided to seek out a different location.
"They wouldn’t allow us exclusive use of the field, and the cost of field renovations were too extensive," Koplove noted.
With baseball season fast approaching, one of the parents suggested checking out the field on the north end of the Sunoco Refinery. The little diamond in the rough served as the home field for the Audenried High baseball and softball teams, who dropped their programs during the 2000 season due to a lack of athletes. Koplove said that when the parents checked out the field in April, it had overgrown weeds but enormous potential.
Once everyone approved of the venue, the parents raised $35,000 through loans and personal donations to get it in baseball shape in a mere month.
"Sunoco was terrific," Koplove said. "In a matter of four weeks, we had the field resodded and reconfigured."
The project involved laying down new infield dirt and putting up outfield fencing. The team raised some money through an ad book, but the members are covering the majority of the expenses on their own. The team parents contribute $50 a month in dues to help pay back the loans.
The project is far from finished, as future plans include adding a scoreboard, batting cage and sprinkler system and grading the outfield.
Coach Joe Gorman — Joey’s father — said visiting teams are raving about the field.
"Other teams find it hard to believe that you can find a field like this in the city," he said.
Since the squad doesn’t have the Philadelphia Phillies’ ground crew available to manicure the field, team parents take on the responsibilities of dragging the infield dirt, cutting the grass and raking the pitchers’ mounds. The kids keep themselves busy playing pickup football games in the outfield.
When it comes to practices, the parents are back on the field teaching their sons different skills. With such an advanced program, each parent takes the time to learn different aspects of the game, ranging from catching skills to middle infield drills.
The Senators hold voluntary practice every day after school and move into a Grays Ferry indoor facility during the winter months, where professional pitching and base-running instructors work with them for 16 weeks.
Koplove developed a similar program in 1987, when a group of South Philly 10-year-olds competed in the Continental Amateur Baseball Association World Series in Aurelia, Iowa, against the best youth teams from across the country, including Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and Oklahoma. Through 1995, the nucleus of the team stayed together and went on to win city and state championships, and ultimately the AAU National Championship.
The majority of those players went on to play Division I baseball, including Tim Gunn (St. Joseph’s), Louis Marchetti (Drexel), Neumann baseball coach Gaeton Lucibello (Temple) and Mike Koplove (Northwestern/Delaware).
Steve Koplove now is going through a similar process with his 8-year-old son Kenny, and is enjoying every minute.
"It’s the best thing I do," he said. "I look forward to being with my son. I couldn’t ask for more."
More importantly, parents are witnessing firsthand what a year-round commitment to baseball can do for their sons.
"If you bring your kid there for a year, you can see the difference," said coach Dave Jennings, whose son Demetrius is one of the youngest members of the team. "It’s just awesome to see the kids progress and grow."
