A team of local 12-year-old baseballers named Whatcom Americans have become somewhat of a legend as they proceeded to shut out team after team during the past few weeks during regional tournament and World Series play. It wasn’t until yesterday, a mere three games away from taking the 2015 Cal Ripken Major/60 World Series, that invincibility began to fade.
Whatcom Americans took the field against the New England regional champs. Almost immediately, the Whatcom Americans found themselves in the unusual position of being down 4-0 before they even got to bat in the first inning. They held New England scoreless for the next few innings while recovering to a 9 to 4 lead by the fifth inning. But then New England rallied with seven runs in the fifth and the game ended after 6 innings, 11 to 9, with the win going to New England.
According to a story in the Bellingham Herald, the relief pitcher was injured by a line drive in the fifth inning and had to be taken to the hospital. The coach is quoted as saying that may have been the difference between winning and losing the game. “But that’s baseball.”