Ryde LL representing 2021 team which couldn’t come
Trending
In the final game at nationals for Australia, Ryde Little League right fielder Cody Bosman snagged the final out with a fly ball into right field. It wasn't a highlight-reel type catch that would show up on SportsCenter, but for Ryde Little League fans who were there, it made them think back to five years ago.
Because that summer in 2021, Bosman's cousin Zach made the final out in left field in the 2021 national tournament for Australia.
Both cousins made final outs to qualify for the Little League World Series. But, the only difference is that Bosman's cousin never got to make that trip. While Ryde Little League qualified in the summer of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Little League to make the World Series a United States-only field, meaning those Little Leaguers down under never got to travel to South Williamsport.
This year's Ryde Little League team feels as if they're playing for that 2021 team as well this year, not just themselves.
"Oh definitely we are. There's so many similarities between that team and ours. My boys being on team (in 2021), Andrew Ross being an assistant coach, Cody's cousin and a few other things," Australia manager Paul Jones said. "We're very, very close and similar between the two teams. It's a great feeling to representing the whole league."
Ryde Little League is set to represent Australia as the Australia Region champions begin this year's Little League World Series tournament on Thursday against Tijuana, Mexico.
"We've been very lucky. We're a very big association and yeah, we've been quite fortunate to get where we've got to," Jones said.
Australia's players are no doubt glad to have a day off on Wednesday after traveling for 32 total hours from Australia to South Williamsport, which included a 16 1/2 hour trip from Oakland to New York before a four-hour bus ride to Williamsport.
"This is massive. We've traveled a long, long time to get here. 32 hours, but we're really excited. We can't wait for this team to get started," Jones said. "What's happened already has been amazing. These kids are like rock stars right now and they're loving every minute of it. Took awhile to get over the jet lag, but they're ready."
There are state and national tournaments in Australia prior to qualifying for the World Series tournament, and for Jones, he saw his Ryde Little League team qualify but also their league's other Ryde team qualify, sending two teams to nationals.
"We beat our other Ryde team in the state tournament, which meant both of us went to nationals which is a rare feat: two teams from same association going to the finals," Jones said.
Jones noted they lost to their nemesis from Sydney (Cronulla), and almost prevented Ryde from traveling to the Series.
"If we'd have lost that (last) game, we wouldn't have made the finals at all. That's how good the competition is. We powered through that game and our pitching stood out," Jones said.
In that final, it was Daniel Warwick who threw 5 2/3 innings on 78 pitches to secure the win alongside a solid defensive effort and good defense.
Ryde Little League is happy to be at the World Series for the first time this year as a league, and they're glad to see the strength of their league with two representatives this year at nationals.
"We got a great program at Ryde. We have a head coach, Matt O'Neil, who does a fantastic job putting programs together and development. The board is very, very supportive of us," Jones said. "And we're very fortunate to have one of best programs in New South Wales, if not Australia."
Now Australia is hoping to show how good of a team they are by getting ready to play at Volunteer Stadium. Jones noted that the team being a solid team overall is the biggest strength and not relying on just a few individual performances.
"That we're actually a team. We're not a team of individuals, we're a team. We work together. These kids have been together as a squad since February," Jones said. "They play club baseball against each other and with each other and when they play club baseball against each other, it's a lot of fun.
"They give each other a lot of heckling, (joke with) each other but they're really really good mates on and off the field," Jones added.