SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Henderson became the second Nevada team to reach the Little League World Series on Friday, beating Utah’s Snow Canyon 10-0 in the Mountain Region final on Friday.
“We were good, but obviously not as good as these guys,” said Henderson coach Ryan Gifford, 47, who played on Henderson’s Little League All-Star first team 36 years ago. “As a child I dreamed of this. Everyone dreams of this. Is incredible”.
Henderson now trails 2014 United States champion Mountain Ridge among Nevada teams that have made it to the World Series. And they have done it in a dominant way.
Gifford’s 12-year-old son, Nolan, pitched a no-hitter while striking out 11.
Utah’s lone running back was a mistake. There was also a fly ball to right field. Other than that, all strikeouts. All K’s.
“He just keeps throwing strikes,” Nolan said. “This is crazy. It’s unreal. We went out and played like we should. This is very important to Henderson.”
The Mountain Ridge race rocked Las Vegas like few sports stories have. The team was named the United States champion after a Chicago team was stripped of the title for using ineligible players.
The star of that Mountain Ridge team, UNLV fifth-year outfielder Austin Kryszczuk, tweeted shortly after Friday’s final out: “Congrats to the Henderson Little League guys! Go, enjoy and have fun.”
Henderson begins play in the World Series on Wednesday at noon PT (ESPN) against metropolitan champion Smithfield, Rhode Island, at famed Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
They will have a chance with pitching and hitting like Friday.
Henderson scored three runs each in the second and third innings and four more in the fourth, totaling nine hits in the afternoon, to end the game in the fourth on the margin of victory rule.
The young Gifford was just dominant. At one point, he struck out seven in a row, his fastball unassailable for the Utah boys.
Arlie Daniel is a first baseman who went 2-for-2 for Henderson with a double and RBI.
“It means a lot because Henderson has never gone this far,” Daniel said. “I thought this game was going to be much closer.”
When it was over, when his team had taken a victory lap around Al Houghton Stadium, when photos had been taken and family members had cheered from the stands, Ryan Gifford gathered his players in left field with this message:
“I just told them to enjoy it,” he said. “They are 12 years old. They have worked a lot. With age, some stop playing baseball. Some of these guys will be playing for a long time, but their days may be numbered for some. For all of them, I just want them to enjoy the moment.”
It has been said that your story is the greatest legacy you will leave for others. The one Mountain Ridge wrote in late August 2014 marked a milestone of pride throughout the city. The watch parties grew with each passing game and 14 boys became overnight celebrities throughout the valley.
Now another team from Nevada will make the trip to Williamsport.
“We have to fill the shoes of that Mountain Ridge team,” Gifford said. “It was an incredible team with incredible athletes. We hope to do the same as them and just keep going.”
Thirty-six years later, he did.
He and a Little League special team all-star from Henderson.
