If you've ever played an organized sport, you've been hit hard by defeat. It stings whether you're at the neighborhood field or at the Little League World Series, but sometimes, all it takes is the right coach to put things into perspective and remind you why you ever picked up a bat.
On Monday, the Cumberland American Little League team from Rhode Island was defeated by Chicago's Jackie Robinson West, with a final score of 8-7. After this heartbreaking loss, several members of the team began to cry, and that's when Coach David Belisle sprang into action and gave a pep talk that will likely stay with the players forever. "There's no disappointment in your effort — in the whole tournament, the whole season," he said. "It's been an incredible journey."
Belisle said that the team went out on the highest note possible, and everyone was proud of them, from their parents to all of New England. "They like fighters," he said. "They like sportsmen. They like guys who don't quit. They like guys who play the game the right way. If everyone would play baseball like the Cumberland Americans, this would be the greatest game."
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Belisle also reminded the team that win or lose, they still had each other. "It's OK to cry, because we're not going to play baseball together anymore," he said. "But we're going to be friends forever. Friends forever." Listen to Belisle's entire talk below, and good luck not getting teary-eyed. --Catherine Garcia
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