Making history

Huntley Little League head coach Scott Crowe announced via a July 26 press release, that Huntley Little League’s tournament team, the Huntley Senators, would be representing the Minor Division of players comprised of kids ages 8 through 10 at the Little League World Series (LLWS).

Crowe explained to My Huntley News that the Minor Division can only compete at the state level versus being able to play against international teams in the LLWS, an event that is televised. The international games are reserved for kids ages 10 to 12 that are in the division above the Minors.

However, going to state was still no easy feat for the young athletes, seeing as the Huntley Senators are only the second team from Huntley to come this far in terms of tournaments since 2019, according to Huntley Little League president Bill Meyer.

“I happen to know the coach that was there two years ago. So, I’ve spoken with him a few times [about] just tips, tricks, advice and I also learned that [his team] never won. So, they got there, they lost two games and they were out. So, Saturday (July 31) made us the first team ever from Huntley to win a game in state,” Crowe said speaking of the Huntley Senator’s 6-4 score victory against the Little League team from Champaign East.

Unfortunately, the Huntley Senators did lose their Aug. 1 game to the Hinsdale Little League team with a score of 7-17, though were able to remain in the tournament due to it being a double elimination round.

On Aug. 2, the Huntley Senators played off against the Little League team from Peru, Illinois.

Crowe was excited at the prospect of a rematch against the Peru team as the Huntley Senators had lost to them in a prior tournament game.

The Huntley Senators won against the Peru team with a score of 12-7, advancing to be one of the final four teams in state.

Despite giving it their all, the Huntley Senators lost their Aug. 3 game to the Clear Ridge team, the Little League District from the Chicago-Midway area.

Even if the Huntley Senators didn’t win at the LLWS state tournament, Crowe credits the success of the team going as far as they did to the longevity of staying in the league.

“So, little league is more of a house league, instructional kind of level. Not travel baseball or anything like that, but a lot of kids [if] they stick around long enough, do tend to get pretty good. Most of the kids on our team have been together for two years. Some of them three [years]. We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well and we think as coaches, three of our four coaches have been with the team the last three years, think the kids and the team have grown,” Crowe said.

Crowe added that coaches continue to work with different ways to challenge each player on the team.

“We even this year, towards the end of our season, had the opportunity to kind of challenge them to the next level. New rules that they didn’t play by this year like lead offs, pick offs and things like that, that aren’t part of this tournament, but we do play travel teams in preparation for this,” said Crowe.

Crowe encourages parents interested in little league baseball to check out how kids can get started on a Huntley Little League team. With time and practice, a child may even have the opportunity to play for the Huntley Senators, an all-star team comprised of the top players in the league.

To learn more about the Huntley Little League, visit www.huntleylittleleague.com.

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