09/10/2015
All Roger Homefield ever wanted to do as a child was to play baseball all day long. The 64-year-old resident of Pompano Beach is living the dream of his youth by playing softball for Tony's Tigers in the Pompano Senior League at Pompano Beach Baseball Complex.
The Tigers completed a sweep in the Pompano Senior League by winning both the regular season and the playoff championships. In addition to the Pompano Senior League, the team has competed in numerous softball tournaments during the season.
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The Tigers 16-4 regular season record gave them the first one seeding heading into the tournament. Jesus Lopez's squad came very close to pulling off an upset versus the Tigers in the semifinals. Down 7-6 in the seventh inning the Tigers rallied for four runs to take the game 10-7.
In the championship final, Team Ritacco and the Tigers were in a back-and-forth match that ended with a 19-16 Tigers victory. Ernie Henley, at 80-years-old, took to the mound and earned the victory, while teammates Ron Szczapinski and Homefield helped provide offensive power.
Player and Coach Tony DiPierro was very pleased with the Tiger's performance.
"Everyone on our team contributed," DiPierro said. "Ron Szczapinski and Roger Homefield were our big sticks and Serge Gagnon was excellent in the field. Our pitcher Ernie [Henley] was solid both pitching and hitting. I feel bad trying to single out only a few [players] because everyone on the team contributed. It was a pleasure to coach this Tiger's team."
Gagnon splits his time playing softball in the summertime in Montreal and in the winter when he comes to Pompano Beach. The 65-year-old snowbird has been playing baseball and softball his whole life.
"I'm in shape and train often with running and biking," Gagnon said. "During one of the tournaments this year we played 10 games in five days and that was very tough, but I liked the challenge. I played for a good team [with the Tigers] and I really like this league and the players."
Homefield moved near the Pompano Beach baseball complex a few years ago and the close proximity gave him an opportunity to pursue his passion.
"This is the best fun in the world and you can play softball year round," Homefield said. "It can't get any better than this. Coming to the Pompano Senior League was like adopting over 100 brothers. We were expected to win, so the pressure was on us. We went wire to wire and really hung together. We had fun times, liked each other and helped each other. It sounds like Little League, but this is far better than Little League."
