Boy Who Went to Bat for Others Wins Sports Award

Zach Dwight is a 12-year-old second baseman for Woodland Hills Sunrise Little League who wears braces and loves baseball, algebra and pasta.

He also was just chosen from among 2 million Little Leaguers to win the organization’s national Good Sport of the Year award.

“I’d take 12 of him on my team,” said Woodland Hills coach Tom Cassidy.

Among the criteria used to select the honoree: helps other players, always tries hard and displays enthusiasm and team spirit.

Of the nearly 1,000 nominations for the award, Zach was selected because of his contributions on and off the field, officials said.

Last year Zach, an eighth-grader at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, heard about a team in Watts that needed uniforms and equipment. The 15 players on the City Camp Rockies live at the Nickerson Gardens housing project and play at Ted Watkins Park.

“It’s probably the toughest park in the city, bordering the Crips and Bloods,” said Michael Goldberg, team manager for the City Camp Rockies.

Zach and a friend, Aaron Sapiro, who plays for the rival Westhills PONY League, set up booths at their respective league fields seeking $1 donations to support the Rockies. After several weeks of personal appeals, they raised $750.

The money paid for registration fees, uniforms, new gloves and time in batting cages. Goldberg, a film writer and director, usually raises money for the team through his own sources, but he was grateful that Zach and Aaron took an interest in the team.

In an essay titled “My Last Sunrise Season,” Zach wrote: “I learned that it’s very easy to take equipment, a maintained field to play on and a clean snack shack for granted. These boys shared their equipment, raked their own fields and had to wait till they got home for their snacks.”

The boys from Calabasas and Hidden Hills visited the City Camp Rockies at Ted Watkins Park one afternoon and served as first- and third-base coaches.

“The fact Zach and Aaron literally drove to a neighborhood they had never been to in their lives--they got an amazing lesson,” Goldberg said. “It’s a great thing the kids are being acknowledged for the wonderful thing they did.”

Little League will fly Zach and his family to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., next month to present him with the award.

“He has the greatest attitude toward anything,” said Jason Kort, an El Camino Real High baseball player who has known Zach for several years.

Zach’s father, Marty, is coaching his son for the final time in the District 40 all-star tournament that began Monday. Whatever happens on the field won’t deter how he feels about his son’s sportsmanship recognition.

“We’re very proud,” Dwight said. “Sunrise has meant everything to our family the last seven years. He’s learned a lot about baseball and life.”