PPBA Starts Season with Pancake Breakfast

Keeping up a tradition dating back to the 1960’s, the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association held its annual pancake breakfast on Saturday to christen the 2013 season at the Palisades Recreation Center.

On a cool, crisp morning, 12-year-old Alyssa Wallin, the league’s only female player, threw the ceremonial first pitch to her younger brother Wylie before games officially got underway. Alyssa, who played softball in Santa Monica last year, is a shortshop on the Bronco Orioles.

The morning was joyous as parents and players alike shared food and commaraderie. Bob Benton, the league’s longtime commissioner, was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Chamber of Commerce for his service to the PPBA with a plaque that read: “In recognition of over 20 years of tireless effort on behalf of the youth of Pacific Palisades, their parents and the community at large.”

“I was totally surprised,” Benton said of receiving the award. “I wasn’t prepared to make any remarks. This was very nice of them.” Benton has owned a sporting goods store on Swarthmore since 1982.

Equally surprising to Benton was that Mother Nature cooperated less than 36 hours after rainstorms pelted the area and put Saturday’s ceremony in jeopardy.

“We were really on pins and needles as to whether we were going to get the games in,” Benton said. “But we had a lot of hard work from the guys on the board and some good fortune that made Saturday happen.”

For many, opening day is a chance for Palisadians from different parts of town to mingle and interact with one another, all while enjoying pancakes, fresh fruit and orange juice.

“This is the greatest,” said Jason Reese, who runs the Red Sox organization and coaches his 12-year-old son Bryant, a sixth grader at St. Matthew’s. “To see all the smiling faces of all the kids being with their friends from other schools, it’s just really good for the community.”

Some on-field highlights included thrilling affairs between the Mustang Cardinals and Cubs (won by the Cardinals, 12-11, as they rallied from an 11-0 deficit) and the Pinto Dodgers and Phillies, won by the Dodgers, 13-12.

Another component of the breakfast was fundraising, with players receiving a variety of prizes if they sell the most tickets.

Winners included Zachary Ritts of the Mustang Orioles, who earned the opportunity to be a bat boy at a UCLA baseball game, and Lucas Bzura of the Pinto Tigers, who will be a bat boy at a Pepperdine game. Preston Barnes (Mustang Tigers) and Jacob Enenstein (Pinto Red Sox) earned one-week stints at various baseball camps for their efforts.