44°
POUND RIDGE, N.Y. The Mount Pleasant Renegades baseball team faced an 11-and-under team from Argentina Thursday at Pound Ridge Elementary School in what was the culmination of much planning and effort.
The Gauchitos arrived in the United States last Friday and will return to Argentina Thursday night. The team played six games against Westchester teams throughout the week, including teams from Somers, Mount Kisco and Lewisboro.
Pablo Stalman, an Argentinian native and Bedford resident who organized the event, came up with the idea of bringing the Gauchitos to America because he wanted to give the children both a competitive and a cultural experience.
Most of these kids are from low, low income beginnings, Stalman said. For all of them, its the first time they are in the U.S. and for many its the first time they got on a plane. So we wanted it to be a competition but also cultural.
Stalman sent an email to several local baseball coaches throughout Westchester and received an overwhelming number of positive responses. Scott Carpenter, a retired police officer from Pelham Manor and coach of the Renegades, jumped at the chance to play against an international team.
Oh my God, how could you not respond to an offer like that? Carpenter said. Its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the boys. This is actually a highlight for me and the coaches, as well as the boys.
Carpenter and the Renegades have played in tournaments in Cooperstown, but the coach said Thursdays game would be unlike any other they have played before.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Pound Ridge and receive free news updates.
