Being prepared aids Post Oak as it gets ready for Little League World Series.
Coaches think ahead, arrange to practice at an indoor facility
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Little League Baseball thinks of just about everything for the 16 teams that qualify for a trip to South Williamsport each year.
Just in case, the Post Oak All Stars coaching staff made sure to take care of anything that might slip through the cracks.
Before they even flew out of Houston, the coaches arranged for use of an indoor facility, the Liberty Arena Sports Complex in Williamsport.
While construction of an expansion project closed one of the entrances to Liberty Arena and weather kept other Little League Baseball World Series qualifiers off practice fields, the Texas East and Southwest Region champions from Post Oak got in full workouts Monday and Tuesday.
“When we won in Waco, we had reached out,” Post Oak manager David Rook said. “As soon as we won, one of our coaches started calling around looking for spots.”
Post Oak practiced outside and hit in the outdoor cages Sunday while most of the U.S. field was just getting to Williamsport. It moved more than a step ahead of some opponents by being prepared to improvise.
‘That Arena deal was great’
Rain dumped about six inches of rain on an already-wet Williamsport area and caused flooding and significant road closures around Pennsylvania as Thursday’s openers approach.
It all made for a lot of idle time — at least in terms of baseball — for many Little Leaguers prior to the opening schedule that includes Post Oak’s 6 p.m. game on ESPN2 against the New England champions.
Practice fields at the Little League Complex, normally bustling Monday and Tuesday, were quiet. But that didn’t stop Post Oak.
The Liberty Arena includes artificial turf fields and high-enough ceilings to do a full practice.
The Mid-Atlantic team (Mid-Island from Staten Island, N.Y.) caught on and joined Post Oak at Liberty Arena on Tuesday. Little League officials also moved one of their promotional events there.
“Our routine has typically been to do something on a field and then to hit, and when we hit in Houston, we hit indoor,” Rook said. “That Arena deal was great.”
For the most part, the other 14 teams were limited to batting cages and were getting a bit anxious as a result when they arrived at Penn College for the Little League Picnic prior to Wednesday’s annual parade through Williamsport.
Post Oak has been a bit ahead of the game throughout, knowing this trip was possible, even though the organization had never sent a team to Williamsport before. There are people in the Post Oak organization to lean on who have been to similar national tournaments; this current crop of Post Oak players won a state 10year-old title together two years ago, and nearby Pearland has represented the Houston area at the World Series three times since 2010.
“Winning the state championships as 10-year-olds kind of proved we could make it to the regional,” Rook said. “Then we had injuries last year as 11s and lost to Pearland East in sectionals. Understanding the talent we had, if we stayed injury-free, I thought we had a real shot to make it.”
For some of the teams that join Post Oak in this year’s field, the whole run has taken them by surprise. That is not the case for the team that ripped through the Southwest Region, annually one of the strongest, by a combined 43-5 score in four games.
“When we won states as 10s, it became somewhat expected,” Rook said. “And, those expectations are hard because of rain or injury or if the ball doesn’t bounce your way in a particular game, and then you’re done. It’s not easy. The 11-year-old year made us appreciate that more.”
The 13-year-old Intermediate team reached the U.S. final in Livermore, Cal. in 2013, providing a model within Post Oak for how it could be done. So did a generally successful group a year ahead of this team.
“We really built off of that; how they built the team from a chemistry perspective,” said Rook, who explained a process that also includes skills training by former professional players Mark Quinn and Reagan Buckley, who are not part of the in-season coaching staff.
First impressions by players
Practically experts on the Williamsport scene by now because of their Saturday arrival, the Post Oak players have had plenty of time to enjoy themselves.
Ethan Goldstein, who has a pingpong table at home, is taking on challengers at the tables in the International Grove where the team dorms are housed. Goldstein joined Ryan Selvaggi in taking that skill outside to the picnic where they turned back dozens of opponents, holding on to a table until it was time to join the parade.
“We’re across the hall from Latin America, the Panama team, and they’re really nice and friendly,” Goldstein said. “We’ve traded some shirts and pins.”
When Houston fans watch on the ESPN networks, the Post Oak team will be easy to recognize.
“I’m a big fan of the jerseys,” outfielder/pitcher George Kugle said, “because we’re from Houston and we have kind of the retro Astros look.”
Andy Guy is used to playing on television after the Southwest Regional. As a catcher, he’s aware he’s almost always on camera — “except during the pitching changes” — and usually gets to watch himself the next day.
The camera can’t do it all justice, however.
“The stadium looks way different in person than what you see on TV,” pitcher/catcher Andrew Stover said.
The Post Oak team is settled in, feeling at home and prepared to try to make an extended stay in its first visit.
Coventry, R.I., which could not complete the New England Region schedule until Sunday because of rain, will not be able to use pitcher Logan Lama, the winner in that 3-2 victory over Pittsfield, Mass., because he needs one more day of rest.