No better place than Cooperstown for a baseball player to have a good week.
Shane Sullivan traveled to the fabled birthplace of baseball with his US9 Prospects club team and came home with the Golden Arm trophy.
The 8th grader also hit five home runs and knocked in 14 runs in seven games while batting against some of the country’s best youth baseball teams.
“He had a monster week,” said Frank Curreri, the head coach of the US9 Prospects team. “Good doesn’t even compare.”
Every summer, the Cooperstown Dreams Park hosts a series of week long tournaments that attracts teams from across the country and even Canada. One feature of the tournament is a skills competition.
Curreri chose Sullivan, an infielder and pitcher, because he felt he wouldn’t get intimidated by the big crowd and pressure of the moment.
“He has a quality arm and is really accurate,” said Curreri, a former Abington resident. “I thought he’d be able to handle it well, and he handled it better than well. He beat them pretty well.”
The 80 competitors had to hit a target from 120 feet away. In the finals, Sullivan missed the target on his first throw but his aim was dead on for his second and third throws. He ended up earning more points than the other three finalists combined to win the Golden Arm title.
Sullivan, who played for Abington Little League this spring, admitted being nervous during his first throw. Even after a good second throw, he felt he needed more. And when he hit the target on throw three?
“I was pretty happy,” he said. “It was cool that I was the best thrower out of 80 kids.”
Sullivan, who likes playing shortstop and counts Mike Trout as his favorite player, says the three-tier trophy is now in his room.
“I have to get another shelf to keep it on,” he said.