Championship season highlights Riverdale’s growing baseball success

Editor's note 7/31/26: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Luca Salanto's position. Salanto was a left fielder. 

Greater Riverdale is experiencing a wave of youth baseball successes, with wins piling up for local little leagues and high school teams this summer.

Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, or RKA, captured the Public Schools Athletic League Class A city baseball championship after an undefeated 19-0 season — the varsity baseball team’s first city title since 2010. South Riverdale Little League claimed its first District 23 juniors title, while North Riverdale Baseball and Softball celebrated championships across multiple baseball and softball divisions.

The victories, coaches said, reflect years of building neighborhood programs where the players grow up together and stay local.

“You have the community kind of helping build that culture,” RKA’s varsity baseball co-coach Rob DiCanio said.

To longtime RKA varsity baseball coach John Reingold, who retired after the championship season, the victories carry extra significance because Riverdale has rarely been viewed as one of New York City’s baseball strongholds.

“Winning a city championship is a big deal,” Reingold said. “Riverdale is not really the hotbed of baseball in New York City. There were literally several hundred teams in New York City in the three divisions, and only three teams are crowned city champs.”

The foundation for this year’s success was laid years earlier, he said. The team’s five seniors entered RKA together as freshmen, most of them having played in Riverdale’s youth leagues.

At the Academy, they inherited a program that recently graduated one of its strongest classes, players told The Press. However, even as they advanced to the playoffs year after year, the group fell short of taking home the championship trophy.

Over time, Reingold and DiCanio said, leadership became one of the team’s greatest strengths, giving players confidence that carried them through the biggest moments of the season.

Senior player Brian Torres, whose game-winning hit completed RKA’s dramatic triumph, said the relationships within the team extended beyond baseball. After four years together, players trusted one another because they had grown alongside the same coaches and teammates.

“Our coaches were always hard on us, but they also made sure, since we were freshmen, to build real connections with us,” Torres said. “It wasn’t just some random person yelling at me. It was somebody we could actually sit down and talk with. We built bonds with our coaches, and we built bonds with each other.”

Senior left fielder Luca Salanto watched the team’s transformation from early playoff exits to finally lifting the city championship trophy in his final game. After growing up playing in South Riverdale Little League, he arrived at RKA just as the program was beginning to rebuild.

“We definitely had the best chemistry that I’ve been a part of,” Salanto said. “Being with those guys was definitely the best part. We could have lost, we could have won. It wouldn’t have mattered. Playing with those guys was easily the best part of it.”

Salanto is one of several team members who got their start with South Riverdale Little League, which has served neighborhood families for more than 40 years and just experienced a championship run of its own. League President Jason Baum, who played in the league himself before returning as a coach and volunteer, said this year’s District 23 championship was the culmination of years of patience.

“It was emotional because it’s been so much work,” Baum said. “Watching these kids win for us and play so well, it was enjoyment for the kids, the coaches and everybody who’s put in the time.”

As for the North Riverdale Baseball and Softball League, which plays on Van Cortlandt Park’s Kelly field, getting to this year’s victories was not a simple journey. League president David Lipnitsky said participation had dropped to roughly 120 baseball players a decade ago, while the softball program had disappeared entirely.

Through volunteer coaching, affordable travel teams and a renewed emphasis on community, the league has grown to roughly 370 players while rebuilding its softball program from scratch.

This spring, the North Riverdale league celebrated championships in multiple age divisions, including baseball and softball Memorial Day tournament titles.

“We’re just really proud,” Lipnitsky said. “While other little leagues are seeing decline, we are seeing a resurgence. That’s something to be proud of.”

Keeping players in neighborhood programs has become a priority, he said. North Riverdale Baseball and Softball League extends this view to its travel teams. Liptnitsky said he tries to keep fees for travel teams on the lower side by having the teams be volunteer-run, allowing children to continue playing alongside classmates and friends.

That same community effort has extended to softball. This spring, the 12-and-under team won the New York City Memorial Day Tournament, a milestone for one of the city’s smaller leagues.

For coaches and volunteers alike, the wins across the area represent more than a successful season. They see them as a sign that greater Riverdale has entered a new era for baseball and softball — one where children can begin on neighborhood diamonds, grow alongside the same teammates and compete in championships for years to come.