David Scott Slayton - Boys in the Field: A Championship Journey from Red Land to Williamsport

DAVID SCOTT SLAYTON

Assisted by JEANETTE SLAYTON AND NANCY ZIMMERMAN

Copyright 2016 by David Scott Slayton

Print ISBN: 978-1-945169-02-1

Digital ISBN: 978-1-945169-03-8

Editorial Assistance provided by Jeanette Slayton.

Photos generously provided by Nancy Zimmerman.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Printed in the United States of America.

Published by

Orison Publishers, Inc.

PO Box 188

Grantham, PA 17027

www.OrisonPublishers.com

DEDICATION

To Trey, Riley, and BayBay

The three best teammates a man could ask for.

Always keep a foot in your field.

And to Kelly, the Captain of our Team,

Whose love, patience, and kindness has made our team a family.

PROLOGUE

I t started with Braden Kolmansberger. It always seemed to start with BK. He was their leadoff man, so it only made sense. What he initiated quickly spread down the line to his teammates. The eight-year-old little leaguers refused to turn around and show their faces to the cameras. They had participated in all the appropriate things good sportsmanship demanded, but they just could not face the group waiting to greet them.

They kept their backs toward the third base line where the cameras awaited their faces, their smilesbut those smiles would never appear. To turn and face their parents, to capture this moment on film, and worseto smile , would mean to accept second place, and they didnt, they couldnt , accept defeatnot even a little bit. In their minds and in their hearts, they should have won this tournament, and they were angry with themselves for not meeting their own expectations. Therefore, they kept their backs turned to their parentsnot out of contempt, but because of that uneasy feeling they had deep in their gut. They lined up as a team as they were asked, but they would not turn around.

We cant even see the trophy! shouted one parent to the group of kids who now stood unified behind this decision of perceived defiance. They stood together, refusing to salvage even an ounce of satisfaction from their runner-up status.

Braden (BK) Kolmansberger, the keeper of this symbol of shame and leader of this small rebellion, held up the trophy without ever turning around. He placed it on top of his head and gave the small crowd of amateur photographers what they seemed to be cravinga photo opportunityof their backs.

Click.

The trophy could now be seen just as clearly as the last names on all their jerseysKolmansberger, Peifer, Walter, Rodenhaber, Cramer, Cubbler, Wirt and all the way down the linenot one face was photographed. Finally, when all the cameras were securely put away, the boys turned around, walked to their parents vehicles, and started the journey home.

It was only then, in the privacy of the ride home, that their anger, their humiliation, their frustration softened to what they were truly feeling in their eight-year-old heartssorrow, disappointment, and failure. Soon thereafter, came the tears. Fathers would tell them to toughen up and remember this moment. Moms watched helplessly as they saw their little boys hearts breaking. They wanted to hug their sons and tell them that everything will be all right. Both were correct.

The kids had no idea exactly what they were feeling, they just knew they did not like it, and they never wanted to feel that way again.

Their competitive fire had been ignited. In fact, this second place finish, in a game and tournament they so desperately wanted to win, served as the catalyst for what would become an inferno. That spirit, that fire, would be stoked, rekindled, prodded and would ultimately drive these boys for the next four years toward becoming the 2015 Little League National Champions.

What the thousands of supporters who traveled to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the millions of Americans who watched on ESPN witnessed August of 2015 was the result of what that tournament loss and those competitive flames produced. Long before their dominance, their precision, their raw displays of power (both offensively at the plate and defensively on the mound), these boys spent thousands of hours refining the skills of their chosen craftbaseball.

They started merely as boys. They developed into a team.

And then, they became Champions .

This is the story of thirteen kids who dared to chase a dream, a dream they shared as ballplayers, and the men who guided them each step of the way. They came togetherworked hard together, aspired togetherand together , in the summer of 2015, they formed a team that captured the hearts and imaginations of people everywhere.

From the headlines of National newspapers, to the highlights on sports broadcasts, these kids with their unbridled enthusiasm and their contagious smiles seized the attention of the American public for two magical weeksbut their journey started long before that. Despite the overwhelming attention they received, these kids played the Great American Pastime with the same joy as children at recess, and the purity of a son just having a catch with his dad in the backyard.

What started in front of a few dozen parents on the fields of Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, concluded in front of 45,000 frenzied admirers in Howard J. Lamade Stadium and millions of others glued to their television sets. However, the journey that these kids, this team, and their coaches made, and allowed America to take with them, took them much farther than the ninety-seven miles between Lewisberry and Williamsport.

Through sacrifice, struggle, and the building of relationships between fathers who had to harden their sons, and mothers who had to comfort them, this group of individuals became unified to one purpose. As a result, boys became friends, friends became teammates, and working together, they became champions.

Throughout this entire experience, a small community simply known as Red Land, which is nothing more than an eclectic collection of even smaller towns, came together to not only stand behind these boys, but to walk beside them every step of the way. Soon, it was not only their small hometown that was supporting them, but small towns all across America, and America itself. That is one of the pure beauties of this countryits citizens unabashedly embrace those causes that lift their spirits. There is something intrinsically uplifting about being able to support a team whose players still believe in Santa Claus and like to be tucked in at night. These kids restored the common mans faithnot just in baseball, but in humanity, and they made watching the News tolerable.

Cole Wagner enamored baseball purists everywhere with his skill and dominance. Jaden Henline became Americas sweetheart with his brilliant smile and bona fide charisma. Adam Cramer personified the Carpe Diem mentality with his brilliant performance in front of a prime time, national TV audience. And AmericaAmerica fell in love with this team, and with these boys.