INDIANAPOLIS - The Harney Little League All-Stars traveled farther - nearly 1,100 miles over the course of two days - to get to the Little League Baseball Central Region Championships than any of the other teams competing.
After that kind of trip, it's important to get into some kind of routine that the 11- and 12-year-old players can count on, Harney manager Raye Bledsoe said. That's what Saturday was about, and that is what today is about heading up to tonight's 7 p.m. MDT round-robin game with Cherokee, Kan., Community Little League, which lost its tourney opener 11-1 to Daniel Boone National Little League of Columbia, Mo.
"We've got to keep the kids focused, and we have to make sure they get some rest," said Bledsoe, whose team opened the Central Regional Championships on Friday with a 3-0 loss to the Blair, Neb., Little League All-Stars. "We have to try to keep things as normal as possible."
The players and coaches are staying in dorms on the Ruben F. Glick Little League Baseball Center. While the trip is supposed to be fun, Bledsoe said there also has to be a business-like approach.
"You have to make sure to control your kids' energy levels," he said. "We came out and practiced a bit (Friday) morning, and then we went back to the dorm to let our kids rest. You can control the amount of time they get on the field, but you also need to watch their energy level, too. Everyone needs to stay rested up this week. It's easy to use up a lot of that energy in this situation."
Bledsoe and his coaching staff stayed busy watching their players Saturday, but not their opponent. The tournament needs to be fun both the coaches and the players.
"That is the most important thing," Bledsoe said. "We have 13 kids who are representing hundreds of Little Leaguers from South Dakota. That's a big honor. And this is an opportunity for our kids to meet players from other states. It's supposed to be fun. They need to remember that."
That's one reason why Bledsoe does not want his team to dwell on Friday's loss. But it's Bledsoe's philosophy that no loss is worth looking back at too much.
"One of the rules on our team is that there are no tears after a loss. There are tears over losses in life - not losses in baseball," he said. "You stay positive, and you learn from a loss. If you dwell on it, you don't learn anything because you're not looking ahead. There are enough losses in life. You don't need to dwell on a baseball loss."
