Rather, he told the numerous Aruba fans who were clad in blue and black on the first-base line of Volunteer Stadium to be loud.

Really loud.

Fans from Mexico, Japan and Puerto Rico throughout the Little League World Series were loud and cheering throughout all of their respective region’s games. So Arendsz knew that if the Caribbean fans were quiet, all his players would hear would be Japan’s fans getting louder and louder.

It may not have been a strategy many would have thought, but it sure worked for Arendsz’s all-stars.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Aruba’s Emerson Mercado celebrates after hitting a two-run home run on Wednesday in an eliminiaton game at Volunteer Stadium against Japan to reach the losers’ bracket final.

The Aruba fans were loud throughout Wednesday’s game, and they only got louder when Davian Raven crushed a home run for a 1-0 Aruba lead.

And then they got a tad louder after that when Emerson Mercado crushed one.

“I think they’re super excited too to be here coming from so far. We have a very mutli-cultural society. So we have different influences that are Latin, the Caribbean, American. So we’re a pretty loud culture. You go to a game in Aruba, it’s very loud and everyone is singing,” Arendsz said. “They’re loud, so I asked them to give the kids a lot of support. We don’t sing during the whole game. Puerto Rico, Mexico and Japan, they sing the whole game.

“So I said ‘cmon, show these guys support.’ If they’re silent, they’ll keep hearing the other fans sing. That was kind of a strategy we had.”

And that helped give Aruba a sort of home-town feeling from Santa Cruz. Being loud and yelling makes Aruba players feel like they’re more than 2,000 miles back home.

“You guys heard our fans. You never hear them in Caribbean, they’re super loud. They can bring bands to the field for each side, so it’s very very loud,” Arendsz said. “They’re used to it.”

The noise surely doesn’t bother Aruba’s players, they love it and thrive with it. Not only does the rowdy atmopshere with fans and loud cheering sections help prepare Aruba for big-game moments, so does the fact Aruba has played nothing but outstanding team after team.

Wednesday was the latest example. Beating Japan gave Aruba its third win at the Series, which is the most wins for an Aruba team at a single Little League World Series tournament.

The futher Aruba goes, the more history they seem to keep making.

“I got to sit and think about it because I have all these feelings I’ve never felt,” Arendsz said. “We try to stay calm, but I can’t help it. Today, I’m not calm, I want to celebrate. We set a goal this year to build one team. We set a goal to get to the international semifinals and once we reached there, we can dream. Tonight we’re going to start dreaming.”

Regardless of Thursday’s outcome against Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Aruba has already had a summer many Little Leaguers would love to have experienced.

They qualified for the Little League World Series for just the third time in history (2024, 2011) and this year’s team already has advanced further than any preious Aruba team ever had.

“The International bracket is fire. You see sometimes coaches tend to judge a team by their size. Venezuela for instance doesn’t have a lot of size, but those kids can play ball,” Arendsz said. “Right now, anybody can win this. The last three teams with us, Venezuela and Chinese Taipei, the one that’s more perfect is going to win. Nobody has their ace or best pitchers, now it’s just a battle. Who wants to fight?”

Win or lose, Aruba has shown they’re fighters who keep coming up with great moments throughout this Little League World Series.

Oh, and Aruba’s fans are going to be loud every game for their Caribbean Regional champions no matter what.

That’s a given.