May, Carter are both living the dream yet again
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Grayson May smiled after throwing a second strike against Florida and moving Nolensville, Tennessee one pitch from history. It was ironic, because he and Nash Carter have produced smiles throughout their community all summer.
A lot has changed since last year, but May and Carter are Nolensville constants. And they are living the dream again.
May and Carter are the lone returning players from last year's Nolensville U.S. runner-up team. They also have developed into two of the world's premier Little League players and showed a worldwide audience just why yet again last Friday when Nolensville defeated Rhode Island, 8-1. May earned the win and threw 4 2/3 brilliant innings. Carter was 2 for 2 with three runs, while conducting a defensive clinic at shortstop.
"Nash and Grayson, having them back from last year, it's irreplaceable," Nolensville manager Randy Huth said following the Rhode Island win. "There's no substitute for it at all."
That came shining through late in that Southeast championship game against previously undefeated Florida. May stifled a potent Florida all night and smiled toward Huth as he prepared to throw his last pitch.
He knew what was about to happen and turned swagger into production. May struck out the batter on the next pitch and Nolensville became the first U.S team to reach three straight Little League World Series since Lock Haven from 1947-49.
"I'm not sure how he felt on the inside, but you wouldn't know it was any different than any other game all year," Huth said. "He looked at me and grinned after the second straight, as if to say, 'Yeah, I've got this.'"
That confidence May and Carter have displayed all summer is contagious and has spread throughout the entire roster. This is a loaded team with 12 true all-stars, but having two players with Series experience provides Nolensville a major boost.
It also helps that both are elite players. Carter dazzled in all facets against Rhode Island, while May took a perfect game into the fourth inning. Carter set the game's tone when he drew a lead-off walk in the top of the first and scored the first run on Turner Blalock's RBI single.
Nolensville scored in every inning which Carter batted and he scored after reaching base in his three at-bats. Carter ignited another rally with a lead-off single in the third inning and did it again in the third, scorching a triple down the right-field line. He was able to both talk the talk and walk the walk.
"I was very nervous last year going into our first game because you're playing on national television with thousands of people there. This year I wasn't as nervous," Carter. "I was telling everybody not to be nervous because it's the last time you will play as a 12-year-old in Little League on this stage, so just don't be nervous and play your best."
Carter has done that throughout the past two summers, playing a critical role on those regional champions. He set the offensive tone against Florida and then repeated that against Rhode Island. Still, as good as Carter was on offense those games, his defense stood out even more.
A year ago, shortstop William Satinoff turned heads with his dazzling plays, while also igniting the offense from the lead-off position. Carter now plays an identical role and repeatedly shut down potential Rhode Island threats with his fielding gems.
Carter saved three potential hits, doing so in different ways each time. He moved to his right, lunged and somehow reached a Brady McShane grounder in the second inning before making a laser throw to first. He hustled down the left field line in no-man's land in the fifth inning and made a running catch. And, maybe fittingly, Carter clinched the win by charging a slow-rolling grounder on the grass, quickly scooping it and making a snap throw across his body.
As Carter made those plays, thousands at Lamade Stadium watched and millions more did worldwide on television. But he was able to make those plays by working so hard when nobody was watching him.
"This kid wants to take ground balls all day, from sun up to sun down. 'Coach can we take some ground balls?' Practice is over, 'Coach can we take some ground balls?' In the dorms, 'Can you bounce me some balls? Can you roll me a ball?' Huth said. "He probably takes 1,000 ground balls a day and that's why it shows. It's because of his hard work."
It's the same story with May. The crafty left-hander has been at his best pitching in big games all summer and also shines defensively, while providing offensive production from the No. 5 spot in the order. May threw a complete game five-hitter against Florida in the Southeast championship, while also producing two clutch hits which produced two runs.
Against Rhode Island, it was May's arm and composure which stood out again. He mowed through Rhode Island on just 29 pitches through three innings, walked none in 4 2/3 innings and struck out four.
"Last year I didn't get to pitch. Stepping on that mound today, I was like, 'Let's go. I'm going to shove,' and I did,'" May said. "I just had to paint the corners and do what my coaches called. Whatever pitch they called, I threw it where I was supposed to."
It sounds simple, but of course, it's not. That goes double when pitching on this stage, in front of this many people against some of the country's best teams. But that is just the way May likes it.
When the fans' heart rates soar, May's seemingly slows down.
May proved it again when Rhode Island broke up his perfect game in the fourth inning, pulled within 5-1 and loaded the bases with no outs. The tying run was at the plate as Rhode Island had its Nos. 3-4 hitters up, but May owned the moment again. He first induced a flyout to shallow right field before fielding a grounder to the mound, throwing home and starting an inning-ending double play.
"That's big time when a 12-year kid can do that under brightest of lights on the biggest stage on TV," Huth said. "He's got ice in his veins when you add that stuff together."
The stats can measure what Carter and May do at the plate, in the field and on the mound. They cannot calculate how much their experience, poise and leadership mean. But look at what Nolensville has done and where it is.
That says the most about how much that dynamic duo means.
"It's one thing to tell the team something. It's way different coming from their peer," Huth said. "Their friend is saying, 'This is what we're going to do. This is what it's like. We're going to go on the field; there's going to be a ton of people yelling, it's going to be awesome.'
"That helps calm everyone."
Seems like Carter and May bring some fire and ice.