PHOTO SUBMITTED - Medicine Hat and Tulsa, Oklahoma players pose after scrimmaging in Taylor, Michigan at the Junior Little League World Series Thursday.
Already relegated out of the Junior Little League World Series, Medicine Hat’s all-stars got in one last day on the field Thursday – though nobody really kept score and it was just for fun.
The Canadian champions scrimmaged against the Southwest Region winners from Tulsa, Oklahoma, traded some swag back and forth and looked forward to a relaxing final few days in Taylor, Michigan.
“It was cool playing against a team from a different country,” said Kevan Schafer. “The kids were really funny, they were nice and we traded some of the stuff we got.”
In particular, the arm sleeves each team received bore the same design of national flags but came in different colours. So now a lot of Hat players have ones in orange and Tulsa players have a red one.
Both teams bowed out Tuesday, Medicine Hat losing their two games to Puerto Rico and Mexico while the Tulsa side fell to the West and East representatives after opening with a win over the host team.
Puerto Rico beat Mexico 2-1 Thursday, advancing to the International final against six-time reigning champion Chinese Taipei. Southeast beat the host team 13-9 and the West beat the South 12-5 to set up the U.S. final Friday. The world championship game will take place Sunday.
The Hat crew will be watching and learning, as they’ve done all week – whether in their own games, visiting Major League Baseball stadiums or seeing the rest of the junior tournament play out.
“It’ll also be really fun to watch the rest of the games, like the semis and the championship, it’s good baseball,” said Hayden King, who’s apparently become Canada’s top ping-pong player in the team hotel.
“All the good teams, they don’t have a weak link. Everyone can hit the ball really hard, throw really hard and field.”
“They’re base-hit machines basically, they don’t make many errors,” added Schafer.
Hat players saw Wednesday’s game between the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners, getting to Comerica Park early enough to take in batting practice and get some autographs. Mariners centre-fielder Dee Gordon was a popular signature, as was the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera.
Hat player Cade Harrison said they had some laughs getting clocked by a radar gun at Comerica too.
“It was fun; we lost a lot of money on the pitching machine,” said Harrison. “It’s rigged.”
As Harrison’s dad and team coach Dean noted, the whole week has been a great experience but it’s about time to come home.
“We’re in relaxed mode now for a few days,” said Dean.
“We’re coasting now to the end, making sure we get home in one piece.”
