WESTON RANCH – It was a move that is guaranteed to be met with skepticism among family, friends and fans of the Spreckels Park Little League Junior Division Titans and Bulldogs, but in the end, it wasn’t about those on the periphery.
It was about the kids.
After battling tooth-and-nail over the course of the two-week District 67 Tournament of Champions, the Titans and Bulldogs were set to play for the title Monday evening at Paul Weston Park.
But after the Bulldogs and Titans had suffered just one loss throughout, to each other, instead of playing for the crown, the Spreckels Park players put down their bats and gloves and decided a champion had already been determined.
The Titans and Bulldogs are 2009 District 67 TOC co-champions.
“We got a call from coach (Eric) English this morning, and it’s funny, we were kind of thinking the same thing – how unique it was that both teams had won a game against each other,” Bulldogs coach Eddie Koeller said. “Now facing a winner-take-all situation, it was hard not to look back at the run both teams made and realize how well both had played.
“It has been one big family out here. Instead of having just 12 champs and 12 more that are going to feel really bad, we have a chance now to have 24 champions.”
Both squads convened in centerfield about 15 minutes before game time to discuss the situation. Titans’ manager Chris Van Warmerdam said there was a sense of shock among the players at first, but it didn’t last long.
As Van Warmerdam filled out his lineup and prepared a game plan for Monday’s tilt Sunday evening, English gave him a call to propose the idea.
“I thought about it for a while, and I wasn’t too sure, because you’ve got to play the game to be the champ,” Van Warmerdam said. “But I started thinking about it a little bit more, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
“It seemed like the right thing to do.”
After the meeting in centerfield ended, the party began for both the Titans and Bulldogs, many of whom had been playing alongside each other their entire lives.
The teams posed for pictures together, raised the championship banner and sprayed each other with silly string.
“We wanted to give them a reward,” Van Warmerdam said. “I coached some of these kids to the TOC championship last year, and it was such a great feeling that I thought if we get 24 kids out here to have the same feeling, then that’s just the icing on the cake.”
Said Koeller: “It was coming home to Spreckels no matter what. For someone like Kevin O’Neill, who helped get Spreckels on its feet and build it into what it is, I think he’s going to appreciate this. From what I understand, the whole city has been following the tournament through the paper, and hopefully they’ll appreciate this tomorrow too.
“I know there are some kids on our team that wanted to compete today, and that’s what makes them special. But we threw it out there to them, and you can see how happy they are.
“I don’t see any down faces, and that’s what it was all about.”
To contact Brandon Petersen, e-mail bpetersen@mantecabulletin.com, or call (209) 249-3543.
