During the winter of 1972 (January / February), a group of concerned Woodbridge fathers got together at the home of Tony Malafronte to consider replacing the existing B - W (Bethany / Woodbridge) League at that time with a more competitive league of their own. The existing BW League had children up to the age of 10 playing softball and these fathers truly felt that these kids could be much better prepared for Junior High and High School Baseball by playing hardball, not softball. Those fathers present at this meeting were Tony Malafronte, Dave Ryan Sr., Joe Ciaburri, Stan Gedansky, Andy Esposito, Dolph Luciani, Dr. Mark DeNegre, Dave Rosenthal, Bob Laemel, Dom Proto, Herb Savitt, George Krall, George Kolligian, Frank Pizzuti, John Carroll, Dr. Barry Josephs, Bernie Buteau and Vinnie Romei.

During the meeting, it was unanimously decided to go forward with their league, thus founding the Woodbridge Fathers Baseball League. As there were only a few months remaining before the start of the season, they had a tremendous amount of work to do to become organized, hold Registration, order uniforms / equipment, locate Team Sponsors, recruit Coaches, etc. What was amazing to all those fathers was how quickly their plan all came together, through hard work and total cooperation. Tony Malafronte was elected as the WFBL’s 1st President, Dr. Mark DeNegre was the first Treasurer, Dolph Luciani went out and gathered up the required Team Sponsors and Herb Savitt quickly drew up the WFBL’s By-Laws and handled the legal matters for the League.

The WFBL opened that year successfully, playing at (3) fields at Center, (2) fields at West River, Amity High School field and (1) field at Clark off Newton Road (where a home is now located). The League consisted of approximately 200 Players between the ages of 8 – 15, made up of 15 Teams or so. This inaugural season lasted into August, with (2) half-seasons and a playoff between the division winners of each half season. At the time, there was no Tee Ball or Softball available, although some girls did participate in the League. Back then, the fathers pitched to the 8 & 9 year olds, which now relates to what we do with our 7 & 8 year olds in our Rookies Division.

Also, not to be forgotten, are the efforts of the wives of the founding fathers (WFBL Auxiliary) who cooked, baked and ran concessions for the League. Dolores Malafronte, Rita Gedansky, Rita DeNegre, Marilyn Laemel among others truly made a positive impact and made the games that much more special by serving hot dogs, hamburgers and soft drinks.

From that initial season on, the WFBL continued to prosper and grow for many years. In 1986, under the presidency of Paul Musco and through the vision of Walt Cichocki, the WFBL expanded to include Tee Ball, which encompassed both boys and girls between the ages of 5 – 7. This League Division was established to help develop the skills of the younger Players and teach them the knowledge / rules of the game, so by the time they were drafted up into the Minors or Majors, they were adequately prepared. This continues to be extremely popular among the youngsters today.

The following year, in 1987, the WFBL expanded by adding Girls Softball to its program. Harry Moore was the initial driving force behind the establishment of our Softball program and helped pave the way for our present Girls Softball Minors and Majors Divisions.

In 1988, the WFBL expanded once again to include an Intermediate or Rookies League Division, which was a step in-between Tee Ball and Minors where the fathers pitched and allowed the players a chance to experience “live” pitching before facing it in the Minors.

In 2003, the Girls Softball program, not being able to find competition in the local area, spun out of the WFBL and joined Little League. They became the Beth – Wood Softball Little League and participate against Towns such as Orange, Milford and West Haven, to name a few. This has given them a wonderful opportunity to expand their League that will enrich competition and spurn new growth for them. We wish them much success !!

Also, special thanks are to be given to the Bethany Summer League (BSL) and their involvement with the WFBL throughout all these years. This opportunity has allowed Players from both Woodbridge and Bethany to play together on the same Team and / or against each other, which has established many lasting friendships that extend on through High School.

Under the untiring leadership of Dwight Rowland and his Boards, the WFBL has given back so much to the Woodbridge community by making our fields not only better to play on but more importantly much safer. With League generated funds, we have replaced backstops at the West River and Center Road fields, including safety fencing and fenced in dugouts. We reclaimed West River Field #1, which used to be the old 90’ diamond and turned it into a beautiful 60’ diamond, reconstructing the entire infield, back in the early ‘90’s. We were instrumental in constructing the permanent dugouts and home run fencing up at the two {2} Acorn Hill ballfields in 1996 ; we have heard from many visiting Towns that this is one of the nicest complexes in the State. In 2003 / 2004, we also installed 2 fully – enclosed Batting Cages at the Acorn Hill ball field site, complete with pitching machines and a pre-built storage shed to house our equipment.

In 2005, the WFBL (in conjunction with the Town of Woodbridge) replaced the deteriorating, unsafe backstops and fencing at both Beecher Road School ballfields to make them safer for our children to play on. In 2006, the WFBL constructed Scorekeepers / Press booths at both of it’s Acorn Hill Ballfields.

In 2006, the WFBL formed the WFBL Auxiliary, which is comprised of many talented women who will help supplement and provide much support to the every day operations of the WFBL. These will include fund raising efforts (marketing of WFBL clothing / merchandise, Ads for our annual Program Book, Field Signs at Acorn Hill), assisting at Opening Day (they plan to organize a booth with a radar gun) plus organizing / scheduling Team Photos for the League. In 2007, the WFBL Auxiliary held its first Auction that proved to be extremely successful ; as a result of the monies raised, the WFBL will be installing electronic Scoreboards at both their Acorn Hill Ballfields in the Spring of 2008.

Also in 2006, predicated on a directive from Babe Ruth League Headquarters, the WFBL incorporated a 4-year old Tee Ball Instructional Division. In an effort to give these 4’s a great head start in learning the game of baseball (combined with a lot of fun), we will continue to plan to hire a professional Coach to work not only with the 4’s but also our Coaches. This has proved to be very successful and will be continued in years to come.

In 2009, we have formed our new League: Beth - Wood Baseball League.  The WFBL and BSL joined forces in December, 2008 to form this new organization.  It will essentially be business as usual with no major changes anticipated and this will not only help us streamline the operation of this League but should make us stronger in the long run in the years to come.  We are all very excited to be working together as a single organization !!

Also in 2009, another important step that was taken with Cal Ripken is that our Majors program (Players whose ages are 11 &12) are now participating on a 50' / 70' Baseball field - both fields up at Acorn Hill are currently being converted into a combination 46' / 60' and 50' / 70' diamonds; we are also planning to convert one of the fields at the Bethany Community School into a combo field as well in the Spring of 2010.

In the Fall of 2009, Beth - Wood Baseball sponsored its first Golf Tournament at Laurel View Country Club in Hamden - we had 44 golfers turn out for this inaugural even and a great time was had by all on a beautiful day, which included raffling off some fabulous prizes donated by local businesses.  We plan to continue to host another Tournament in 2010, so look out for the notice ...

In 2010, we have decided to merge the Rookie Players (ages 7 & 8) from both the Towns of Bethany and Woodbridge onto the same Teams - we will be holding mandatory screenings for all Players so the Coaches can carefully evaluate their talent.  Teams will then be drafted in early March to form Teams with equal talent.

Combined, we currently will have over 500 children who participate in both the Beth - Wood and Beth - Wood Softball Little League programs on over 50 Teams between the ages of 4 - 15, 3 times the size of the original League.  As long as there continues to be positive support not only from the Towns of Woodbridge and Bethany but also from their respective communities, we are sure Beth - Wood Baseball should prosper and grow for many years to come.