SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Pete Lupacchino and his son, Josh, each grew up playing Little League baseball in their Pennsylvania hometown of Jersey Shore.
But their connection to the sport and organization goes deeper than that.
In 1958, Pete’s father (also named Pete) began serving as a volunteer team host for the Little League World Series, held in this town of 6,000 people 13 miles away. He continued his annual duties for 44 years until he died in 2002. By that point, his son had been his partner in hosting since 1992.
Josh, meanwhile, began volunteering as a host in 2013 and partnered with his father in 2018. So for nearly seven decades, three generations of the Lupacchino family have been helping preteen baseball players from around the world navigate an event that is both quintessentially small-town in atmosphere and globally recognized.
Volunteer Team Hosts are responsible for “ensuring that each team is on time for games and practices, arranging their team’s uniform fittings and helping with the coordination of the media activities,” according to Little League’s website.
That is just a glimpse of what is required. Days often begin as early as 6:30 a.m. for the duration of the tournament. Hosts work to keep teams on schedule when it comes to meals, help arrange off-site activities like attending amusement parks and generally work to make sure the players feel comfortable in a setting that’s often very far from home.
Throughout the tournament’s 11 days (most teams stay longer, arriving roughly one week before the first game), those early mornings and methodical schedules naturally help forge meaningful relationships.
“It’s connecting with them on a personal level, just getting to know the kids the first few days, getting to know the coaches, and you’re just here as a liaison just trying to help them make this the best experience that they can possibly have,” Josh said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these kids.”
Pete and Josh recall hosting Mo’ne Davis, who starred for Taney Little League (Pa.) in the Mid-Atlantic Region in 2014 and became the first girl to win a World Series game and pitch a shutout. Taney made it to the semifinals of the U.S. bracket that year, and Davis became a media sensation, including appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
“The whole experience with Mo’Ne and that entire team was unique in itself because it was such a big part of Little League World Series history,” Josh said.
Memories like that are a big reason why he continues to host each summer, despite having moved more than 170 miles away to Martinsburg, W. Va., more than a decade ago.
“This has given me the opportunity to give back to not only our local community but on a global stage as well,” Josh said.
Each June, team and utility hosts gather at the Little League International complex and randomly select one ball out of a bucket to determine which region (and eventually team) they will entertain later that summer. This year, 44 hosts convened — including 18 with at least 10 years of experience and 11 with at least 20 years. In all, those gathered combined to have more than 500 years of hosting experience.
Team hosts come prepared to help players and coaches with logistics and everyday nuances — from learning new languages to finding exciting activities to maximize their experience away from the playing field.
In the baseball realm, Pete, 71, and Josh, 41, go as far as helping players lose early-tournament nerves and jitters. Still, they understand their responsibilities are less about on-field play and more about helping the teams navigate an unfamiliar environment.
“Our job is not to teach these kids to do anything; that’s a coach’s job,” Pete said. “We’re here to make their life easier; the last thing I would do is step in and tell a coach, ‘Hey, you’ve got a kid with a bad swing.’”
The Lupacchinos have hosted U.S. and international teams. In this year’s draw, they picked the Europe-Africa Region one month before South Czech Republic Little League qualified for the World Series. (The team was eliminated from the tournament by Australia on Saturday.)
In the four to six weeks before the tournament, Josh and Pete watch the teams from their specific region, which can vary in the international versus U.S. streaming world. The Lupacchinos aim to find a live stream of the games on the internet to follow the region’s tournament and see which team earns a World Series bid, whereas U.S. teams’ games are typically aired on ESPN.
Checking out the teams early also gives Pete and Josh a glimpse of the players’ and coaches’ personalities.
One way hosts interact with their teams is through pin trading, a major staple thought to have begun in the 1970s when a team from Chinese Taipei brought pins to the tournament and exchanged them with players from other teams.
Pete and Josh made sure that the Czech Republic, which made its third consecutive appearance in the tournament, got in on the exchange.
“Pin trading between the teams before the tournament starts is a big thing,” Pete said. “All the kids were creating pins, and I knew (Czech Republic) didn’t have any, so I made up small bags of pins to give to each of the kids.”
Outside of pin trading, the Lupacchinos say the teams find ways to connect despite many of them not speaking the same language.
“The other teams are learning how to say hello in each other’s languages; it’s kind of neat to see that,” Josh said. “It’s definitely a privilege to have a front row seat to watch that kind of stuff.
“Probably the coolest thing is just watching them sit and intermingle with other kids from around the world,” he added. “There’s a rec room, and there’s definitely enough to keep them entertained. They’re 11- and 12-year-old kids, so they’re gonna figure out ways to keep themselves entertained, whether it’s makeshift baseball in the dorm or within the complex.
“The other night I took a picture and there was a group of them sitting around a picnic table, and I think there were four different countries and like five states all sitting together. It’s neat to see that camaraderie that they build mostly themselves, even with the language barrier.”
After the tournament concludes, the hosts’ relationship with the coaches and players doesn’t necessarily end, thanks to social media. Pete and Josh often use Facebook and even WhatsApp to remain updated with the team’s whereabouts.
The Lupacchinos recall hosting a Panama team last year. When that team returned to the tournament years later, so did some of its former players, whom Josh and Pete were able to catch up with — now as teenagers.
They even followed Davis’ softball career — first, when she starred at Hampton University and now as she is set to try out for the Women’s Professional Baseball League — after her historic performance in Williamsport.
Josh and Pete also keep in contact with Tokyo-Kitasuna, a Japanese team that won the tournament via a 10-run mercy rule in 2017. They recently learned that Tsubasa Tomii, a pitcher they hosted that year who earned the win in the title game, is headed to the Cape Cod League after committing to the University of Hawaii.
With much crossover between U.S. and international baseball, a fun part of the hosting job includes following the various journeys of players after the tournament, ultimately scouting the next generation’s talent, and Pete and Josh enjoy watching players grow.
“When (the kids) are here, you can pick those ones out that you think might be able to make it to the next level,” Josh said. “It’s neat to see those kids develop. If they’re developed and that talented at this age, there’s a good chance it’s gonna continue to follow them as they get older.”
(Photo courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball)