Coach’s philosophy inspires Little Leaguers

Joe Sorbanelli began coaching Little League seven years ago. He’s a fire captain in Englewood, N.J., and he volunteered to coach because his son, Charles, loved baseball.

What has happened since mirrors the game itself. Once the first pitch is thrown, there’s no telling what will happen in the innings that follow. There was no way of knowing what a wondrous series of events that simple decision would lead to:

• That Sorbanelli’s coaching style would rely less on mechanics and more on the importance of hard work, commitment and perseverance — attributes he learned in part from his experiences as a 9/11 first responder. That the youngsters would respond so positively to those messages.

• That Sorbanelli’s son and a teammate, Myles Campbell, would become such close friends. That Myles would be so impressed by his teachings that he got together with his brothers — Jack, Sal and Conor — to write a series of poems based on Conor’s Little League District All Star Tournament games this season.

• Or that “Life Rhymes From the Diamond” would be presented to, and accepted by, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.

In a neat coincidence, Sorbanelli saw the poems for the first time over the weekend, just ahead of Thursday’s opening of the Little League World Series.

Sorbanelli’s coaching philosophy is simple.

“I have two daughters and one son,” he said. “I coach my son in baseball and my daughter in softball. But it’s never been about winning or losing, for me. It’s about going out there, making friends, doing the best you can, playing the …

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