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City Boy Shines At Maryland Tourney

Eleven-year-old Anthony Cosme won the tournament Most Valuable Player award for the Western New York Muckdogs at the Chesapeake Classic this weekend in Aberdeen, Md. Submitted photo

Anthony Cosme had himself quite a weekend.

Not only did Anthony’s Western New York Muckdogs with the 10U championship at the Chesapeake Classic in Aberdeen, Maryland, but he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Trailing 10-3 after the first inning, Anthony entered on the mound and shut down the Brooklyn Falcons for the remainder of the game, allowing his Muckdogs to rally for an 18-10 victory.

A left-handed pitcher, outfielder and first baseman who bats right-handed, Anthony also had a pair of hits, including a double, in the title game.

In the first game of the Championship Bracket on Sunday morning, Anthony was named the game MVP as the Muckdogs beat the Lions, a team from Long Island, 7-5.

Western New York then topped Brushbacks Baseball 9-7 in the semifinals to set up its championship game meeting with Brooklyn.

Competing in a division with 24 teams, the Muckdogs cruised through preliminary round play, beating the Lancaster Cobras 13-4 on Thursday evening. On Friday afternoon, Western New York topped the Hatboro Hornets 18-1 and on Saturday morning the Muckdogs beat the Wantagh Hawks 16-0.

Making the weekend even more memorable for Anthony, the 11-year-old son of Josh and Elizabeth Cosme who will be a sixth-grader at Jefferson Middle School this fall, was the fact that the games were part of the Cal Ripken Experience.

Each game was played on a replica field. Anthony played three of his six games this past weekend at “Memorial Stadium, ” modeled after the Baltimore Orioles home from 1954-91. Anthony also played two games in Nationals Park, while the facility also includes replicas of Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Boston’s Fenway Park and New York’s Yankees Stadium.

Anthony’s first game of the tournament was played at “Cal Sr.’s Yard,” which according to ripkenbaseball.com “is a two-thirds scale replica of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. An on-site Marriott Hotel modeled after the storied B&O Warehouse in Baltimore overlooks right field, and paints the backdrop of this one-of-a-kind youth baseball destination.”

The Muckdogs are not Anthony’s only team as he also plays with the Jamestown Knights, the Academy Stars and Baseball Youth Elite.

Anthony was also recently featured in the August issue of Baseball America. In a feature titled “For The Love of The Game” on youth baseball/softball players it reads: “Anthony’s father, Joshua, is a combat veteran who has worked to instill discipline and a sense of self-respect. Anthony is looked up to as a leader in his hometown and excels as an honor student at school. At age 8, he was picked for the all-star team but noticed there were not many kids of color chosen, so he decided not to participate. As a result, a travel team was created to promote inclusion, open to all kids who want to compete. Today that team has grown four times in size.”

Anthony, who also plays football for Northside, is a three-time Baseball Youth All-American and won a Gold Glove at the All-American games in August of last year.

Anthony will return to tournament action next month when he plays with Baseball Youth Elite out of Louisville, Kentucky in a tournament at Cedar Point, Ohio.

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