More than 100 people gathered around a chain-link batting cage, an 18 by 74 feet rectangle on the edge of the Sleepy Hollow baseball field, in late June that was dedicated to the memory of Michael Birrittella, a long-time Tarrytown Dad’s Club manager, coach and benefactor.

What started as an idea from Mr. Birrittella’s seven sons, (each of whom have a name beginning with the letter M), quickly became a reality. Most people may know the Birrittella family from the bakery that bears the family name, a 100-year-old business that was started by Michael’s father, Vincent Birrittella, an immigrant from Sicily. It turns out that a love of baseball and softball runs just as deep as the dough.

“When my dad passed away in 2007 at the age of 85, Nancy Coffey of Coffey Funeral Homes asked us if we wanted to give him a memorial,” said Myles Birrittella, one of Michael’s sons. “She said we could give some money to TNT Baseball, and TNT came to me asking what to do with the money we gave them, and that’s when we decided to build a batting cage.”

But this is no ordinary batting cage. The floor is lined with artificial green turf, and the cage can accommodate both softball and baseball players. Although it will be open to the public, its caretakers will work diligently to preserve it for future generations.

“The primary users of the batting cage will be Sleepy Hollow High School teams, and TNT teams,” Birrittella said. “Yet our main objective is to allow everyone in the community to use it.”

Possibly the most remarkable part of this ambitious project was the community effort put in to remember a man who served for three decades helping Tarrytown’s youth. Though Tarrytown’s citizens contributed many financial donations, the most significant payment they gave was in their time and service. What would normally be a $40,000 project actually totaled much less, due to the copious amount of volunteers willing to sacrifice their time and contribute their expertise in memory of Mr. Birrittella. The Department of Public Works helped out by sending volunteers, many of whom worked for free. Anthony Iannarelli , the head of construction for the project, was extremely committed to the job, as were Westco Electric and Earth Improvements. Others who played vital roles were John Sutherland, president of TNT, and Mimi Godwin, president of the Board of Education, who helped approve the project.

One of Myles’s fondest memories is of his father driving around in a beat-up old station wagon, carrying both loaves of Italian bread and a big bag of baseball equipment. Michael Birrittella embraced the term “dedication;” he lived in Tarrytown his whole life and thrived off of being able to help younger citizens through his love for baseball. Now his spirit lives on in a similar fashion; through the batting cage dedicated in his memory, he will forever continue to enhance Tarrytown athletics, extending his three decades of service until an undecided time, probably many years in future. Yet so far, there is no end in sight.

“This whole project has been really amazing,” Birrittella said. “My father was very good to us and his community and he loved this town. He gave so much to it.”