The "Impressive, To Say The Least!" Story

Nick and his dad Jeff who were part of the
Manheim Township U12 team in Lancaster, PA.

It was an ordinary day.  Checking out the Facebook Page of one of my daughter's best friends from high school.  Marie's Facebook Page features photos and comments from the recent WBSC World Cup baseball tournament held in Taiwan in which her son, Nick Kurtz, played for the USA Team 12U.  It was only a few weeks ago that my son, Derek, and grandson, Caden went with me to watch a game in the  Lancaster New Era Tournament in nearby Mt. Joy, PA.  Caden had just finished his baseball season and an older team in the same Mountville organization was playing in the tournament and we wanted to see how they would fare.  

The Kurtz family.  The photos in the story were taken
from Marie's (on the right) Facebook Page.

Mountville was seeded 1st in the tournament while their opponent, Manheim Township, was seeded 4th in the four-team 12U (under the age of 12 years-old) category.  I knew a few of the players and parents on the Manheim Townshp team since I live in that area of Lancaster County.  The coach of the MT team, Jeff, also coached a few years ago at the high school and I had taken his photo for the team yearbook a few years.  

United States fans cheer at the WBSC World Cup in Taiwan.

The game started with MT batting first and the third batter of the game was the coach's son, Nick.  He came to the plate with a batter on second and proceeded to put the ball well over the fence in right field.  Very impressive!  When Mountville came to bat losing by a few runs, left-handed Nick was pitching for MT.  Very impressive!  

Nick pitching for the United States team in Taiwan.

His long stride toward the plate gave the impression of making him feel that he was a few feet closer that he really was.  He dominated the game both at the plate and in the field as MT soundly beat Mountville in a shortened game due to the 10-run rule.  After the game I talked with Jeff about his team and son and he told me that Nick was going to try out for a team that would represent the United States in a tournament to be held in Taiwan.  

Scorecard showing Nick pitching against Chinese Taipei.

Well, he made the team and helped the USA to the title of the WBSC World Cup.  The Lancaster, PA newspaper featured a story about Nick recently along with a photo taken from a game in the local tournament.  Nick got to play with boys his age from all over the United States in a setting where the home team of Taiwan had the majority of the 11,000 fans in the stands to watch the games.  Judging from the story and comments on Marie's Facebook Page, Nick was one of the stars of the team.  He was the starting pitcher in three of the nine games they played and won two of them with a no-decision in the third.  He pitched 14.2 innings, struck out 15 batters and allowed only one earned run while batting .333 and hitting a home run.  

Team celebrating after winning the tournament.

And this was against the best competition in the world!  In his first start he beat Japan with a three-hit shutout.  Very impressive!  In the championship game that featured the two best teams, Nick's coach tabbed him for the start.  He said, "Yeah, I was nervous.  I tried to focus on the plate, not worry about the crowd.  Throw strikes and let my defense make plays. (It's) the best defense in the world."  

The team receiving their medals after the tournament.

In the end the US team won 7-2 to clinch the WBSC (World Baseball & Softball Cup).  Third place was won by Nicaragua in the 12 team tournament that featured teams from Cuba, South Korea, Brazil, Venezuela, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Australia and France as well as the United States team.  

My favorite photograph of Nick releasing the ball.

Nick was selected to the tournament All-Tournament team along with teammate Zach Torres.  What an exciting  experience for Nick and his family.  Tough to duplicate that next year, but I'm sure Nick will be ready to play as soon as the next season starts.  Hey, he's only a kid and loves the game.  I know the feeling!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.