Good Sportsmen

The closing ceremonies were last night (more pics to come) and Bermuda won the Good Sportsmanship Award. We hadn't won a game but won everyone over with the good attitudes during the games and the desire to meet new friends from all over. Well done!

More Pictures

Wendy Lee, Coach Joel's wife, came out for part of the week and has shared some wonderful pictures.

Double click this link to see them all in a Web Album. Pictures from Wendy

Tournament Results

Courtesy of the excellent site at http://www.littleleague.org/

Carribean Regional Results Page

Friendly Game - Bonaire vs. Bermuda 6-5

The tourament organizers assigned liasion officers to each team. Ours has been Fonzje. He is a Bonaire native, working for the government and has spent time in the Netherlands working. He has been absolutely incredible in making sure we were where we needed to be and taking excellent care of us.

Coaches Joel and Stowe had hoped to have a game after the tournament ended for Bermuda. Talk had loosely flowed about playing a local team of 9- 10 Year olds. Fonzje would have none of that and arranged a friendly game between Bermuda and the Bonaire tournament team. Apparently his nephew is on the coaching staff (sounds like back home). Bonaire had a win in the tournament against the US Virgin Islands 8-7.

Perhaps it was the pressure taken off from being in the tournament or not having 500 people watching or simply the new gained experience but it was our best game yet!

The boys played with joy and a love of the game. Each team cheering each other's good plays and cheerfully laughing at silly mistakes. They arrived and left on the same bus, making friends. It was a great afternoon and a great wrap up to the week.

Thanks for the Memories!

The tournament is over for Bermuda but memories of the event will live on. This post is the start of the memory gathering. Pictures will be posted here as they are gathered from different sources.

These pictures on the right are from our arrival.


The pictures below are from the parade leading into and the entry into the stadium for the opening ceremony.

Well Done!!!

We are proud of you guys!!!

Fourth Game - Bermuda vs. Jamaica 6-7

Bermuda had it's final game today at 1:30 local time. Narrowly losing to the Jamaican team with a score of 6-7. Yari Ming showed sensational pitching, David Jones some exceptional speed and Zach Stecko hit an in the park home run.

The game was a nail biter and could have gone either way with Jamaica triumphing in the end. Both sides played their hearts out and if it had to go this way, Jamaica certainly earned this first win in their three years of coming to the tournament.

Pictures are on the right in a slide show and double click to View in a web album.

This might be the end of this tournament for Bermuda but it is a great beginning for Bermuda Youth Baseball. Our boys have learnt much in Baseball, teamwork and other cultures. Team, Coaches and Parents are tired but proud of what has been accomplished and already looking forward to what can be improved to pave the way for future years.

Third game - Santo Domingo vs. Bermuda 10-0

Our third day and our guys, with two games experience behind them, did extremely well. Again this a game where the score belies the drama and skill shown. Our hitting and fielding were both in top form. Conor Lohan and David Lehman pitched fine games, both striking out opposing players and with Conor not giving up an earned run. Bermuda hung in there and the score was 1-0 going into the third.

The kids also watch other games as well, after our game we watched Aruba vs. Curacao. Curacao has one the tournament every year since 2001 when Little League split the Caribbean out of teh Latin America division. It is an understatement to say that the level of Baseball is so high as to engender disbelief that no boy is older than 12.

We are also glad to see that the boys are making friends with boys on other teams and citizens of Bonaire. This trip, although devoted to, is not all about the Baseball. It is a learning experience for everyone.

On the right is a slide show of the third game, please double click to go to the web album.

Bonaire website back online

http://www.bonairelittleleague.com/ , the official site of the tournament, is back on line with schedule, results and picture galleries of the tournament.

Second Game - St. Maarten vs. Bermuda 14-4

It was a great game against St. Maarten! Starting a 4:00 the team did very well with Tyler McNeil's pitching. There was no score until the second inning. It is recorded as a loss at 14-4 but going into the bottom of the fifth, the score was a nail biting 5-4. Fielding was excellent and the boys were hitting the ball well.

The announcers were funny and at least one new nickname resulted "Micky Dolly" for Mikey Daly and "Ka-nicko". (Not quite the same without the accent) Edit: David "Lemon" as well.

Look at the right for a picture slideshow which you can double-click to access the web album.

This trip has been an eyeopener. We can see what should be worked on going forward. For example, last night's game showed that one of the things that the other teams have is more depth in their pitching bench. It is a learning experience for everyone and that is why we are here.

We are all very proud of our guys.

First Game – Bermuda vs. Puerto Rico 0-36

Following the Sunday morning draw by all the officials, the boys drew a place in the first game of the tournament against Puerto Rico. The game was supposed to commence at 2:00 pm local time (Eastern standard) but, perhaps in honor of Bermuda, it didn’t start until 2:30.

Puerto Rico has been a breeding ground for Major League Baseball players for years. It was a little disconcerting to see Rodriquez, Ortiz, and Delgado among the names on their player’s backs.

The score ended as 0-36. It was a defeat but the score doesn’t take into account the spirit and pluck shown by the Bermudian players. We should be and are proud that they did their absolute best against a superior team. They showed good teamwork and skill and had several good plays. Even to the end of the game, when one of the Puerto Rican boys was being pitched, the fielders would go into their crouches as ready as at the start of the game.

The kids are very positive and appreciate the level of Baseball they are seeing. This is Bermuda’s first Baseball travel team competing with some of the best in the world. It is a learning experience for the boys and shows them and Bermuda what they can aspire to.

Bonaire Life

Slideshow on the right and double click to view the guys relaxing in the pool, some views and (boys will be boys) their rooms!

Tournament Schedule

Pool A
Bermuda
Puerto Rico
St. Maarten
Jamaica
Santo Domingo

Pool B
US Virgin Island
Aruba
Curacao
Bonaire


Sunday 20/7/08

2:00 pm Bermuda vs. Puerto Rico
5:00 pm St. Maarten vs. Jamaica

Monday 21/7/08

11:00 am Santo Domingo vs. Puerto Rico
1:30 pm US Virgin Island vs. Aruba
4:00 pm Bermuda vs. St. Marten
6:30 pm Curacao vs. Bonaire

Tuesday 22/7/08

11:00 am Bermuda vs. Santo Domingo
1:30 pm Aruba vs. Curacao
4:00 pm Puerto Rico vs. Jamaica
6:30 pm US Virgin Island vs. Bonaire

Wednesday 23/7/08

1:30 pm Bermuda vs. Jamaica
4:00 pm Aruba vs. Bonaire
6:30 pm St. Marten vs. Santo Domingo

Thursday 24/7/08

1:30 pm US Vigin Island vs. Curacao
4:00 pm Puerto Rico vs. St. Maarten
6:30 pm Jamaica vs. Santo Domingo

Friday 25/7/08

2:00 pm 1st Place Pool A vs. 2nd Place Pool B
4:00 pm 1st Place Pool A vs. 2nd Place Pool B

Saturday 26/7/08

1:00 pm Loser Semi Final C vs. Loser Semi Final D
4:00 Winner Semi Final C vs. Winner Semi Final D

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was fantastic! Drummers, majorettes, cheerleades and native dancers. We think that at least 2500 of Bonaire's fourteen thousand people attended.

The boys were actually in a parade leading up to Bonaire's Football Stadium and people lined the streets. On the left you can see a slide show you can double-click to see the web album and in the video bar, you will soon find a video of the festivities. It is two hours boiled down to four minutes and set to the team song, "The Cha Cha Slide."

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was fantastic! Drummers, majorettes, cheerleades and native dancers. We think that at least 2500 of Bonaire's fourteen thousand people attended.

The boys were actually in a parade leading up to Bonaire's Football Stadium and people lined the streets. On the left you can see a slide show you can double-click to see the web album and in the video bar, you will soon find a video of the festivities. It is two hours boiled down to four minutes and set to the team song, "The Cha Cha Slide."

Bonaire Little League

The Bonaire Little League have been gracious hosts, meeting us at the airport and escorting us to practice. They have a fabulous stadium for the tournament. They are into youth baseball in a big way.

They have a great website at http://www.bonairelittleleague.com/ The Curacao TV station will broadcasting the games over the internet and it can be linked from this website!

Edit: this link appears to be down at present, probably due to high traffic from the event.

Kids on a Plane

In the Video Bar to the right, you will find a short video of the boys saying hello to their parents.

Don't worry Mum and Dan, the demonic eyes were caused by the camera's night vision. The kids have been angels!

Long Journey but we have arrived at Bonaire

In the Slideshow section to the right is a picture gallery of our trip so far.

We had to be at the airport in Bermuda far too early on Thursday. It was a triumph getting all 14 kids, 14 adults and accompanying luggage, documents, forms and tickets organized so everyone could be heading in the same direction.

The flight to New York went well, once there we made sure to stop at every Bermudian's first food place of choice, McDonald's. However, we were dismayed to find that the flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, would be delayed by four hours. This meant missing the connection to Bonaire. Organizers Extraordinaire, Jacquie Lohan and Brenda Lehman, sprung into action and negotiated with the airline to try and hold the Bonaire flight as our 28 made up most of the planes 40 seats.

Unfortunately when we arrived in Puerto Rico, it was to find that the flight had been cancelled until the morning. We were put up by the airline in the hotel right in the airport. It was a late night to a tiring day.

Coach Joel had the kids cracking and at the airport in San Juan for 7:00 and another round of tickets, forms and luggage. While waiting for the flight, we had a bit of a scare they had announced an hour delay due to maintenance, some of the boys had been allowed to go play video games but then they started boarding 5 minutes later!! Everyone was rounded up.

A small plane to Bonaire and we have arrived. A quick lunch and out the field to practice. Bonaire is very dry so there is no grass on the field so extra fielding practices because if you miss a ball it goes right to the fence.

Training Hard

The Bermuda Little League travel team has been training hard for Bonaire, but still having fun! Look in the video bar for a music video.