Baseball field named for Saladino matriarch – TBO.com

BRANDON — When Tony Saladino III was growing up, the baseball fields off of Parsons Avenue in Brandon were more than a just place of play, it was a safe haven, even a second home.

On Feb. 20, the opening ceremonies for South Brandon Baseball — its first season under the umbrella of Pony Baseball after transitioning from Little League Baseball — once again brought Saladino to the fields he played on, coached on and celebrated on.

This time the reason was a somber one as South Brandon honored his late mother, Bertha Saladino, who passed away Jan. 24, by dedicating the major level field — a field where two years ago her son coached his son and others to a Little League World Series trip — to her memory.

“For me, this is perfect because this was a safe-haven as a kid,” Saladino III said. “I would get dropped off, spend all day here, and it was a safe environment.”

“How fitting for a field — a safe place and second home — to be named after her. It’s absolutely perfect.”

Mrs. Saladino’s daughter, Bette Nunez, echoed her brother’s thoughts, speaking to the response the community has had to her mother’s passing.

“Mom was very precious and never met a stranger,” Nunez said. “To see how people react and respond to her love is very important to us.”

South Brandon president Tammy McKernan was emotional as she made the dedication, while a large contingent of the Saladino family, including Mrs. Saladino’s husband, Tony Saladino Jr., looked on.

“You can’t be a part of Brandon and not know the Saladino name,” McKernan said. “I’ve lived here my entire life; that name is something you just knew. When I heard of her passing, I knew right away that we had to do something for this family.”

Bertha Saladino Field will continue to be a place for play, something her husband said would make his wife very happy.

“I’m very proud of all the things I’ve heard, seen and read to know how much she meant to everyone,” Tony Saladino Jr. said. “Our son played on this field, our grandkids played on this field; this culminates everything and this is a proud feeling. I know she would be proud, too.”

Tony and Bertha Saladino have been mainstays in the Hillsborough County baseball community for nearly 40 years hosting the annual Saladino Baseball Tournament, which pits area high school baseball teams in a week-long tournament over spring break and has grown to four sites and 28 teams. The annual event will begin anew on Saturday, but without its matriarch for the first time in 36 years.

However, this season’s tournament has proven a healing salve for a family and husband in mourning, according to Mrs. Saladino’s son-in-law Todd Feist.

“The fact that my son (Jordan Feist, who plays college ball at Polk State), that Nico (Saladino, a freshman at Brandon High) have started playing and we have been preparing for the tournament, has meant we’ve all been able to get back to something we love,” Feist said, “Baseball has kept all our minds on something else, and that’s a great thing.”

For Tony Saladino III, the impact his mother had on the area has been shown in the outpouring of affection from former players, friends, coaches and community leaders. However, its on the patch of clay and grass at South Brandon Baseball where he said he knows that his once safe-haven will be that again for a new generation — and that his mom will continue to be a part of things there.

“As her son, I was on the inner-circle so I almost didn’t realize how many lives she touched in such a powerful way,” Saladino III said. “I’m in awe of this community’s response, really.”

“If you met my mom, you loved her. The impact she had, the way she touched people, immediately making them feel welcome and warm, I hope that this can continue that in some way.”

The loss felt by the Saladino Family will continue, but maybe on a baseball field in South Brandon there will be a little healing every time someone yells, “Play ball!”