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Baseball: Fans relishing in Canyon Lake win
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FarkINDIANAPOLIS — When Jonah Hansen threw out Minnesota’s Alex Boxwell for the final out of Canyon Lake’s 7-1 Midwest Regional championship win over Coon Rapids, Minn., the Canyon Lake players celebrated.
They smiled. They laughed. They hugged each other and did a lap around the field with the championship banner. Not much more than a quiet shout was heard on the field.
What happened in the Canyon Lake side of the stands was a different story. It was bedlam.
“There was a lot of pent-up emotion,” Alec Winter’s father, T.J., said. “These kids have been comeback kids and it’s been an emotional roller coaster for the parents. We finally let it all go.”
“We were going crazy,” Logan Anderson’s mother, Jodi, said. “We’re the first team ever from South Dakota to go to the World Series. We’ve had a great time following these boys. It’s just been amazing.”
“They were more in awe and we were excited,” T.J. Nolan’s mother, Trisha, said. “We broke it open. It was incredible. We’ve never done this. It’s been awesome. I never thought I’d get to experience something like this.”
As much fun as the week in Indianapolis has been for the Rapid City fans, it’s also been taxing.
Many parents made the 16-hour drive, while others had to shell out big bucks for airline tickets. Parents missed up to 10 days of work, while the players’ siblings have been ignored.
Now, the team will spend at least 10 more days in Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series, putting an even bigger strain on families’ time and finances.
“That’s been a big issue for a lot of families, to be away from your job for at least 10 days,” Anderson said. “Now we’re looking at possibly another 10 and we have such a long way to travel to get our team out here.”
“It’s very stressful right now,” Nolan admitted. “I have one kid going to high school and another who will probably leave for college before I get home. We’re all going in different directions.”
“Some of us are going back home and working a couple of days,” said Anderson, who manages a medical facility. “I’m personally going straight to Williamsport. I’m going to get online (while in Williamsport) and try to get some work done on the road.”
Even with contributions from local companies, families are pinching pennies in order to get to Pennsylvania.
Even with all of the strain, the parents wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.
“I’ve never done anything this special,” Winter said. “This is the most exciting thing that I’ve ever been part of. This kind of excitement in sports is great any time, but when it’s your kid, it’s just almost overwhelming.”
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