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Accidentally, my husband clicked on to the television broadcast of the Little League World Series Championship this past week. We’ve caught games here and there in the past. But the Sunday game, the final game, was special for a number of reasons.
First of all, one of the teams in the finals was a Florida team! The kids were from Lake Mary, a suburb of Orlando, and let me tell you, they were good. Keep in mind these were 11- and 12-year-olds. We caught a couple of games during the week, but on Sunday we happened on the final game where the Lake Mary team played against Taipei.
The last game was a tight competition and went to extra innings. The Lake Mary pitcher had been sick the day before with a 102 degree temperature, but you’d never know it on Sunday. Aside from the outstanding plays by both teams on the field, there were two things that impressed me. The first was when the Lake Mary player made a sacrifice bunt, perfectly executed, and was responsible for the winning run. But even more moving was the behavior of the Florida players immediately after winning. Of course, they were jumping with joy at the win, but when they saw that the Taipei players were crying, first the coaches went over to comfort them.
And then his team went to the other team's members to console them in their own individual ways.
* * * *
When we see so many kids getting sidetracked in their lives, it’s so rewarding to see kids who are disciplined and determined. The coach made it clear in his press conference that they were taught to be aggressive in their play, and to not give up. He said he saw the kids like his sons, and loved them. And clearly, he was enormously proud of them. There will be a parade for them in Lake Mary on Saturday.
When the coach was asked how he approached the final game, this is what he said:
‘I told them, the story is being written right now. Let’s finish the story, we’re in the final chapter,’ Lake Mary manager Jonathan Anderson told reporters in a postgame news conference. ‘And, oh what an ending to a story it is. Holy cow, these last two games on Saturday and Sunday had to be the best two games that you guys have ever been able to watch. My goodness. My goodness.’
Discussion (9)
CHARTER MEMBER
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It was good strategy. Bunt the ghost runner (they were in extra innings) to third where he may score on a well-hit fly ball even if the batter is out.
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For anyone who might not know, we live in Florida. Thus, my enthusiasm!
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That’s a helluva way to lose. I am happy for the kids from Florida but I feel for the kids from Taiwan, especially the 2nd baseman who forgot he was supposed to cover first.
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It was really sad. But this is also where kids learn about winning and losing.
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If you want to understand the baseball details, you can do as I did and watch Matt Antonelli's breakdown of what happened. His channel is almost the only baseball I've watched the past few years, because he explains things like this. His channel is where I learned about this game. In the comments I read a little more about how the winning coach handled the situation after the game. I learned even more from the OP.
Antonelli was briefly a major league player, and had been a hot prospect when he first signed. He now coaches at a level where he can stay close to home and family.
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