Tuesday’s Southwest Region Championship to qualify for the Little League World Series was going to be the end of the road for one of these teams from Pearland, Texas and Tulsa, Okla.
But regardless of the result, both teams had every reason to be proud of themselves for one of the best displays of sportsmanship we’ll see in any baseball game.
In the first inning with Tulsa’s Isaiah Jarvis at the plate, a pitch from Kaiden Shelton struck Jarvis on the side of the head. Jarvis went down, but would be OK to remain in the game — the ball thankfully hit his helmet. Shelton, though, was visibly shaken up on the mound, and Jarvis noticed that the opposing pitcher needed some help.
He called time and made his way to the mound to console Shelton.
"Hey, you're doing just great"
Oklahoma little leaguer gets hit in the head and then comforts the pitcher who is shaken up afterward pic.twitter.com/hYYLiy511K
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) August 9, 2022
What a moment.
We could hear Jarvis say to Shelton, “Hey, you’re doing just great.”
It doesn’t get much better than that, and baseball fans understandably appreciated the genuine moment of sportsmanship.
This was how Twitter reacted
You love to see it https://t.co/4T6coeOtra
— Brandon (@PHXCards11) August 9, 2022
Wow this is amazing sportsmanship and caring! This needs to be on all the news! Great young boys! #LittleLeague https://t.co/6O5bnJJcIR
— Connie Carberg (@ConnieScouts) August 9, 2022
We need more of this on our timeline. https://t.co/31W4So98JK
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 9, 2022
sports, man https://t.co/MMkQnst5ys
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) August 9, 2022
This brought tears to my eyes! This is the way it should be. https://t.co/EMbFck4US7
— Shannon Angel (@73SNAngel) August 9, 2022
Most of the grownups in America could take a lesson from this young man. Get's drilled in the head and is competing but more concerned about the pitcher.
Well done! https://t.co/uV7RTlFFx3
— Cache Walker (@CacheWalker) August 9, 2022
Major tip of the cap to the kid for reassuring the pitcher he’s fine. Really great to see sportsmanship like this. It’s also pretty frustrating to see people in the comments calling him soft for comforting him https://t.co/OszkwtjfUA
— Ben Creighton (@Ben_CreightonTV) August 9, 2022
no YOU’RE crying https://t.co/7uW7vE8Oyi
— todd bonzalez (@doinkpatrol) August 9, 2022
Adults could learn a thing or two… https://t.co/o85mHnUJzF
— Andy Specht (@AndySpecht) August 9, 2022
That’s how it should be done.
