Swinging bats in the living room, bouncing baseballs off the fireplace, playing whiffle ball in the street – in the snow – it’s all a part of being a kid, and driving your parents crazy.
Liam Hamill, 10, is known for his hitting prowess. He’s the kid with the big bat. The kid they call the Hammer. The kid whose smile, personality and school smarts have him rounding the bases toward success both on and off the field.
“He plays well above his age,” said Jerry Costa, manager of the Bayside Little League. “He tracks the ball extremely well from the pitcher to the bat; he’s got a very unique and keen eye.”
About to enter the sixth grade at Sacred Heart in Bayside, Hamill is not the prototypical home run hitter. He almost never strikes out. Costa said that in about 100 at-bats this season, Hamill struck out only twice. His bat speed is something that Costa marvels at and compares to the greats of yesterday and today.
“I don’t care how hard I to pitch to him, it’s scary how hard he hits the ball,” said Costa, who routinely pitches batting practice in Bayside. “He’s so relaxed and so smooth at the plate; it’s a true professional approach.”
Just as he approaches each individual at-bat with a focus rarely seen in the little league ranks, the right-fielder also takes each game as it comes. He doesn’t let a loss carry over to his next game; something that quite a few professional athletes have trouble with even after joining the pros.
“I don’t like losing, but you have to know that it is part of the game,” said Hamill. “You just have to get ready for the next game and try to win.”
Hamill, like all of the other kids in Bayside Little League, benefits greatly from all of the life lessons that baseball offers. It is not just about improving your swing or learning how to track a fly ball; in team sports, kids learn how to accept losing as a part of everyday life.
“Life is filled with loss. If you can learn to handle losing with grace, then you’ve got an important aspect of life down,” said his father Denis Hamill. “Sports teach kids how to set goals and how to bring some discipline into their lives.”
Hamill said that his perfectionist son is always focused on winning and improving athletically and academically. And it has always been well known to the kid that in order for him to play sports, school has to come first and foremost.
“He knows school is numero uno,” said Hamill. “He’s not going to play sports unless his school work is in order.”
Keeping his school work in order and a top priority has never been a problem for Hamill. He’s an exceptional student who has made the principal’s list for his outstanding academics. While he admits that sometimes his mother, Jeanette, helps him with his homework, he’s never really found it difficult to keep his grades up.
“I work on school stuff usually right after or before sports,” said Hamill. “If you focus and stick to getting your work done on time, school can be easy.”
Hamill has also written for his school paper and even went through a fad that had him writing a horror film screenplay. It’s not something he does frequently, but it is another sign of this power hitting right-fielder’s versatility.
And Hamill’s versatility has the potential to expand indefinitely with the help of little league, according to Costa. He said that team sports in general tend to give kids confidence to speak up in leadership situations, especially when they have the talent to back them up.
“Little league helps kids develop their leadership skills,” said Costa. “They learn to support each other no matter. I’ve never seen a happy losing dugout, but they need to be supportive no matter what.”
While supporting his teammates, Hamill will continue to support the Mets, his favorite pro team. Hamill’s favorite player is Jose Reyes, but he doesn’t model his game after him or any other Met. It is the people who watch Hamill who compare his plate approach to greats such as Babe Ruth.
“I don’t really want to be compared with Ruth – he’s a Yankee,” said Hamill. “I just want to be Liam.”
