Down on First Street in Bayonne — beneath the city’s signature bridge and across a park from boxing legend Chuck Wepner’s statue — sits the peninsula’s Little League complex.
Last week, after the dozen 12-year-olds on Bayonne’s All-Star team claimed New Jersey’s state championship, they all reported to the field for practice at 5 p.m. the next day. It was their last workout before departing for the Metro Regional in Bristol, Conn. When the official three-hour workout was done, Mason Rincon, the power hitter who blasted three home runs in the state title game, stayed another 90 minutes for hitting with three teammates.
“We had to just shut the lights off,” said Kenny Kopacz, an administrator. “Otherwise they wouldn’t leave.”…