[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20972]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE SAUGUS BOYS OF SUMMER

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and Mr. Kerry, 
I welcome this opportunity to congratulate the Little League baseball 
team of Saugus, MA for their extraordinary season and their outstanding 
performance in the recent Little League World Series.
  Throughout those wonderful weeks in August, these 12 young players--
Ryan Bateman, Tyler Calla, Craig Cole, Anthony DiSciscio, David 
Ferreira, Tyler Grillo, Joe Kazabuski, Matthew Muldoon, Yano 
Petruzzelli, Dario Pizzano, Mark Sacco, and Michael Scuzzarella--their 
Manager Rob Rochenski, and their coaches, Mike Ferreira and Bob Calla, 
showed us how thrilling the Nation's great pastime can be, and how well 
it can be played.
  With great skill and great teamwork, they won the State Championship. 
They won the New England Championship. They reached the United States 
Championship game. And in every exciting game they played, the team was 
hard working and dedicated, and they consistently maintained the 
highest level of sportsmanship.
  All of their hard work and talent took the team as far as any 
Massachusetts team in Little League history. In doing so, they captured 
the hearts of people across Massachusetts and in many parts of the 
Nation as well.
  In the World Series, this remarkable team of young men sent our 
spirit soaring with four straight one-run victories. And none was more 
dramatic than their final victory of the tournament--a stunning, come-
from-behind success. The team lost a six-run lead in the final regular 
inning, and then went down by three runs in extra innings. But they 
never gave up. They demonstrated their courage and determination and 
achieved an amazing comeback in their last at bat. By the score of 14-
13, they prevailed in one of the greatest games in Little League World 
Series history.
  In the end, the Saugus team was defeated in the U.S. Championship 
final, and finished in fourth place among the more than 7,000 Little 
League All Star teams that participated in the tournament worldwide--a 
brilliant accomplishment by any standard.
  Fifty years after the original Boys of Summer rose to greatness, 
baseball fans throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts celebrated 
our own Boys of Summer in their spectacular success last month. With 
great pride, I extend my and Senator Kerry's heartfelt congratulations 
to our ``Boys of Summer'' and their parents, families and fans who gave 
them such strong support. I'm extremely proud of them and their 
accomplishments. I wish them great success in the years ahead--and I 
hope the Red Sox scouts were taking notice.

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