LAKE MARY, FL LITTLE LEAGUE ALL-STARS & PITT COUNTY, NC GIRLS SOFTBALL

Like many international competitions, the Little League World Series and Little League Softball World Series produce highlight reels. Unlike other big-time events, one of their videos is devoted entirely to sportsmanship. This year’s 5-minute montage features more than a dozen moments of empathy, compassion and fair play. For example:

  • Teams representing the Southwest and Latin America, formed a circle, arm in arm, before their game.
  • A catcher from Canada tied the shoes of a batter from Puerto Rico, followed by the catcher from Puerto Rico paying it forward to an opponent from Germany because … have you ever tried to tie a shoe while wearing batting gloves?
  • A batter from Canada gave a high five to a pitcher from Chinese Taipei, who nabbed his hot line drive for the third out of an inning.
  • An injured player from Colorado unable to play helped the professional grounds crew water the infield dirt and tend the grounds. He received the groundskeeper’s award that the pro crew normally bestows on one of its own.

“Those moments are such a big deal,” Coach Jonathan Anderson of Lake Mary, Florida, says. “We want these kids to be competitors, but we emphasize that we share the experience of a lifetime and that we’re all in this together.”

The two moments garnering the most attention, though, were strikingly similar and came from the top of the heap – the winners of the baseball and softball tournaments. Before celebrating their victory in the baseball tournament, players from Lake Mary embraced and consoled their competitors from Chinese Taipei, who had just lost in heart-breaking fashion.

With the score tied 1-1 after regulation, the bottom of the eighth inning began with a Lake Mary runner on second. The first batter bunted to the pitcher, who wheeled and threw to an unmanned first base. The ball sailed into foul territory, and the runner on second scored the game-winner. Stunned players from Chinese Taipei dissolved into tears.

Lake Mary recognized their disappointment and honored it. Ignoring the language barrier, players reached out to their rivals, embracing and consoling them. “You want to say something, then realize the players might not speak English, so you just give them a shoulder,” Coach Anderson says. “Seeing the kids do that was a great feeling.”

A nearly identical scene played out at the Little League Softball World Series after the team from Pitt County, North Carolina, defeated the team from Sterlington, Louisiana, 1-0 in the final. Before relishing their own victory, the champions first gathered around Louisiana’s catcher to give her a group hug, then embraced the rest of their opponents.

“You’re trying to instill in them to be good people,” Pitt County Coach Brad Medhus says. “It’s something that makes you very proud.”

Pitt County’s show of compassion and empathy, he says, stems in part from the sting of last year, when six girls on this year’s team lost in the series final. “Last year was a difficult moment, but a big growth moment,” he says. “As a manager, you try to prepare them to do their best, win or lose.”

The girls from Pitt County also were at their best when holding a vigil the night before the start of this year’s World Series. A team from the Philippines had endured numerous travel delays, forcing them to miss the pre-tournament hoopla and even putting their participation in jeopardy. So Pitt County created signs and organized well-wishers to welcome the team when it finally arrived after 10 p.m. on the eve of the series opener.

“Our girls felt bad that the team from the Philippines missed the fun part,” Coach Medhus says. “They decided to be their greeting party and let them know how excited we were that they made it. It was a cool thing, because the girls were there in their pajamas. They rounded up as many girls as they could from other teams. But they came up with this all on their own.”

By winning this year, Pitt County earned the distinction of serving as champions for the tournament’s golden anniversary. Organizers honored players from the first championship during the “fun part” of the pre-Series celebration. “The landscape in athletics for women and girls has changed so dramatically,” Coach Medhus says. “It was good for our girls to meet those ladies, to see where they’ve come from and where we can go.”

In one sense, both girls and boys teams already have reinforced where Little League is headed, carrying the torch of sportsmanship to pass on. “They have brought inspiration to so many,” Coach Anderson says. “As 11- or 12-year-olds, they are role models for so many little ones that are coming right up behind us.”