Buckhead Little League Story

In a break from the norm here is a story about Buckhead Little League, on Pharr Rd., and their quest to make it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.


Buckhead Little Leaguers in spotlight
Atlanta team a game away from World Series

By BILL SANDERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/11/05
On a perfectly lit baseball field, with TV cameras everywhere, a bunch of kids will cry Friday night.

Some will be in the dugout, hiding their faces; others probably will cry right there on the field for everyone to see. But for as many who shed their grief, there will be the others, equal in number, who experience an elation that will live with them a lifetime. They will pile on top of one another somewhere near home plate or the pitching mound, acting no more or no less like kids than their counterparts, just different.

Friday's game between Buckhead's 12-year-old Little League team and Maitland, Fla.'s is a big deal. No way around it. The game is on national TV. And the winner goes to the Little League World Series.

So don't try telling a 12-year-old boy to pay no mind to those cameras that are broadcasting the game to anyone in the country who cares to watch.

Or, "Don't get too hyped up about what lies ahead. Just go out there and play the game like you have all year."

It'd ring hollow, even in the ear's of middle schoolers.

"Our coach keeps telling us when we go out there to just take a deep breath and that'll help," said pitcher John Stelling. "I'm trying to focus more on the game, but I'm sure during warm-ups and all I'll be pretty nervous. I don't think it's all hit me yet."

Center fielder Thomas Patton knows his stomach will be in knots.

"I get a little more nervous as we go further because every game is more important than the one before it," he said. "I think once the game starts, I'll be thinking about baseball."

Maybe, but even that's not going to be as easy as they think.

Every time they run off the field, they'll see the cameras and probably notice how much brighter the field is than normal. Then, they'll have to wait to run back onto the field until ESPN tells them to, said Buckhead Manager Gip Johnston.

"It's like the game starts and you forget about it all, then you are reminded every time you run on or off the field," he said. "I just want them to enjoy it all."

That being said, Johnston is doing what he can to get his team prepared for disappointment or success tonight.

"There's no way for them not to know what's all going on, not to feel it and get caught up in it a little," he said. "We talked today about how one team is going to be awfully disappointed (Friday) night and that some kids are going to breakdown. But I'm reminding them that even for whoever loses, there are thousands of kids who'd have loved to be here doing what they got to do. Still, there's nothing you can say that makes it better at the moment."

Johnston believes the weight of this game will ultimately be good for the kids.

"It's a maturation experience for sure," he said. "A lot of these kids are going to go on and play in high school and have a lot of big games. But they aren't going to win them all. They're not going to be state champs every year. They are going to have learned from this experience, whatever happens."

Rick Van Haveren, a psychologist who specializes in youth sports, said kids usually see moments like this in the immediate, which if they lose, is a good thing.

"Adults, in high-stake situations with a lot on the line, tend to see things more as how it affects their future and plans," he said. "Kids are focused on the moment. They might not realize how significant it might be if they win, where in 20 years they would. But the good part of that is at 12, they also realize they will have other chances and might see a loss only as a momentary thing too."

By being together all week, they're learning how to live with each other if nothing else.

The team sleeps in a big dorm room about 50 yards away from the field.

"Earlier in the week it was kind of hard to sleep because all the other teams were there too," Stelling said, not trying to sound smug. "Now it's not as noisy."

Center fielder Thomas Patton said the week has bonded the team closer together.

"We don't fight or bicker as much now," he said. "We're having a lot of fun.

LITTLE LEAGUE REGIONALS

Who: Buckhead vs. Maitland, Fla.
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Gulfport, Fla. Little League Complex
TV: ESPN. ESPN Zone in Bukhead is hosting a viewing of the game for the Buckhead faithful not making the trek south.
Stakes: Winner is the Southeast Region champion and goes to Williamsport, Penn. For the Little League World Series, which begins Aug. 19.