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A few months ago, maybe a day or two before the South Jersey South Shore Baseball League SJSSBL) season began, I ran into Hammonton Hot Shots manager Pete Berenato walking his dog.
“How’s the team looking?” I asked.
“We’ll be OK,” an optimistic Berenato said.
The Hot Shots turned out to be more than OK this summer.
Last week, Hammonton capped a stellar season with their first SJSSBL championship, defeating their old Atlantic County Baseball League (ACBL) rivals, Margate, to win the title.
Berenato was a member of a pair of Hammonton teams that topped Margate for ACBL crowns almost a decade ago, and last weeks win was a special one for him.
“I remember all those games against them when I was 17 or 18 years old. They were special and this one is, too. We always seem to match up with them at some point, so it meant a lot for us to win it against them,” he said.
Berenato is the link to the Hot Shots former championship teams, as there are no players left from those squads. He took over the Hot Shots when longtime manager Sam Rodio Jr. chose to step down last winter.
Rodio was among the dozens of fans beyond the outfield fence at Hammonton Lake Park who turned out to support the Hot Shots championship run.
“I’m so proud of Petey and what he’s done. There was no one better to take over and continue what we built with the Hot Shots. Pete was a big part of that and now he’s brought us another championship,” Rodio said.
Berenato knows the history and made sure his players knew what the title meant not only to the team but the community.
“I told them to take a look out there. That’s what they did. They brought all these people out to support and cheer for us. It’s been unbelievable just to see them all. You expect family to come out but to see kids and people from town coming out every night, it’s very special and its something I’ll never forget,” Berenato said.
Dan Russoman is the news/sports director of The Gazette. Follow Russoman on X @DanRussoman.
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