Try to find Chris Pinto, and you’re probably five minutes too late. “I had to secure an umpire for the girls and then run over here,” said Pinto, moving between baseball games at separate fields last week. “It’s just one of those days.”

That breakneck pace is all too common for Pinto when April rolls around and Mosholu Montefiore Community Center’s (MMCC) baseball season begins. Pinto has directed the Center’s large league for 14 years, and he shows no sign of tiring.

“I’d like to stay as long as they’ll let me,” said Pinto, 49. “I feel very blessed to be in a job I love.”

Under Pinto’s leadership, the Center’s baseball league program has grown from 200 kids when he started in 1991, to its current roster of 800. MMCC hosts over 40 teams ranging in age from kindergartners to 15-year-olds. The league is large enough to compete internally — except for the girls, whose numbers pale in comparison to the boys — and hold their own championships. Every day, Center little leaguers are playing games somewhere in the area for the 10-week season.

This bounty of baseball means plenty of time for kids to shine and parents to cheer, but for Pinto, it also requires fields to secure, umpires to coordinate, and equipment to haul. “It’s a lot of work,” admitted Pinto, a strapping fellow with a barrel chest. “But I’ve been doing it long enough that I know what to expect.”

Pinto, who lives in White Plains, starts his day at noon by answering his 50-plus daily phone messages. He confirms umpires, checks the weather, and by 4 p.m., he’s out to the fields. After securing them, Pinto and an assistant manicure the fields before games start at 6 p.m.

Pinto floats between games at Allan Shandler Recreation Area and Harris Field, located in Van Cortlandt Park and near Lehman College, respectively. He speaks with coaches and parents, resolving the occasional dispute over calls. After packing up, he’s home by 9 p.m.

Then he repeats it all over on Saturdays, and occasionally Sundays, starting at 6 a.m. “In this business, you have to work on the weekends. It’s just part of the job,” Pinto said.

It’s his love of kids, and the sport, that keeps him going. “I say to parents, ‘It is a pleasure to be a part of your children’s lives,’” said Pinto, whose office is lined with team photos.

Pinto prides himself on running a league that is not about cultivating all-stars. All players receive trophies at the end of the season, and no one is allowed to just sit on the bench.

The Center’s league has recently faced some competition for participants from the Fordham Bedford and New Millennium leagues. Pinto thinks the Center’s emphasis on egalitarianism makes their program unique. “We are not a league where only the best nine kids play,” he said.

Yanire Montanez of Rochambeau Avenue said that philosophy helped her son, who wasn’t naturally athletic, gain physical and academic confidence along with his best friend. Montanez, 31, now coaches two teams, and enrolled her 6-year-old in tee-ball.

Javier Trujillo, another coach, loves watching the kids have fun, and develop personally. “It instills a positive attitude in them,” said Trujillo, 50.

Parent Valerie De Jesus, of Hull Avenue, likes how the kids work together. “The younger ones help the older ones,” she said.

Not all parents value that cooperative spirit. Montanez said she occasionally has to ask Pinto to help her deal with overzealous fathers. On the flip side, Pinto has parents who don’t support their kids enough. “This is not a babysitting service,” he said.

The league can’t compete with those from higher-income areas, where fields are pristine and resources plentiful. Gabrielle Beauchamp, whose 11-year-old daughter once played in the suburbs, said the Center league is less organized in comparison.

Though he would love to have better conditions, Pinto is a pragmatist. “Part of the challenge is to make it work,” he said.

Baseball season also means that Pinto’s personal obligations must occasionally take a back seat. Last month, he had to miss his daughter’s birthday party because of Saturday games. “It gets tough, but you have to accept it,” said Pinto, who is married with two young children.

That dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Chris has brought his commitment to kids, his organizational skills, and a calmness to the program,” said Don Bluestone, the Center’s executive director.

After baseball ends, Pinto’s workload lightens some, but he’s still busy running the summer sports camp, football and soccer programs, and the Center’s weight room. He brings to all of them his intensity and a philosophy that sports are for everyone.

“[Playing] is about feeling good,” Pinto said. “Every time a child has success, it’s a milestone for me.”