Rec Sports

Taking Liberty: In the books, 52 pickup with a full deck

By Bruce SaylerA lingering memory from the passing of the recent school sports year centered on Sam Henderson basking in the aftermath of a personal-best in the high jump.The Butte High senior had just cleared the bar at 6 feet, 10 inches and did it on his first attempt at the height. He said it […]

Published

2 months ago

June 9, 2025

Your Sports Nation

By Bruce Sayler
A lingering memory from the passing of the recent school sports year centered on Sam Henderson basking in the aftermath of a personal-best in the high jump.
The Butte High senior had just cleared the bar at 6 feet, 10 inches and did it on his first attempt at the height. He said it was the only time he attempted the height outdoors after having missed it twice indoors.
He was smiling and packing up his warmup clothes, thoughtful in conversation. Henderson was better known in the triple jump and Montana’s track fandom was anxious to await his crack at the state record to be held the following weekend. He bounded 48 feet, 7 ½ inches at the divisional a day after the 6-10 high jump and had placed fifth at the internationally prestigious Penn Relays a couple weeks previous, marking 46-8.
So, his thoughts turned warmly to Philadelphia.
“It was fun,” he said and smiled about the Penn Relays experience. “It was cool to see kids a lot better than me.”
The winning triple jump was 52-4, one of three place marks longer than 50 feet, a distance thought impossible for high school kids half a century ago.
The laugh from this perspective, though, was Henderson saying “kids a lot better than me.”
I wasn’t there on Franklin Field, but this day at the Charlie Merrifield Track of Bulldog Memorial Stadium, Gene Fogarty Sports Complex, East Middle School grounds of familiarity testified “a lot better than” him didn’t exist – not in these parts.
So, it was a foreign language and Henderson spoke it with humility. He competed with a wide smile on is face and laughed after landings. He was 4 years old again and rolling in the triple jump pit sand or bouncing off the high jump pit cushion.
Before his winning and record attempts, Henderson would acknowledge the crowd, wave, grin broadly and begin the slow clap, pounding down the runway once he had the whole stadium smacking hands in uniform.
He’s needed in sports. I hope he’s in them a long time.
Henderson’s divisional record in the triple jump was a Herculean effort that saw him splash into the sand and contort awkwardly as he milked every quarter inch he could wring out of the leap. Where he was going to get another 2 ½ inches for a state record was a mystery.
Well, he’ll solve it someday. It didn’t happen at state as the record remains 48-9 ½ and in the possession of Flathead High grad Mathew Tokarz, set in 2013. Henderson won the event, landing a sensational jump of 47-1 ½ at Legends Stadium in Kalispell, site of the state meet.
He also took third place in the high jump as one of three athletes to clear 6-4. On the basis of fewer overall misses, Jaxan Lieberg of Helena High won the event and Porter Gibbs of Missoula Big Sky got second place, all getting over 6-4. Henderson also pocketed a sixth place in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.12 seconds.
The divisional meet, though was a personal bookmark for 2024-25. No state championship meets or tournaments for spring sports were held in Butte this year, so our season as general onlookers ended early.
As a sports reporter, it was my 52nd Montana school sports year and one of only a couple I didn’t find myself on a sideline with a notebook on the last weekend.
I hope a 53rd looms, though there were some annoying health issues over the last 12 months and, dammit, it is getting a little harder, physically. They’re only reminders, though, not stoppers. And, not all is getting worse, some actually feel better.
Those state track meets did see some state records fall. The Class AA saw Flathead junior William Hollensteiner burn a 47.22 400-meter dash into the boys’ books and Wilson Schmidt of Belgrade blaze a 1:50.21 time in the boys’ 800-meter run. Also, Alivia Rhinehart of Flathead put up a new girls’ 100-meter hurdles record of 14.06 and Rae Smart of Billings Skyview chuck the javelin 162-11, a colossal distance and a record that will likely hold up a good while.
Smart’s throw was about 30 feet beyond the winning mark of last year, launched by Butte High’s Brityn Stewart. Stewart threw 127-2 this year at the state AA and placed third. She and Henderson were among the Butte kids who earned place-winnings.
Jaeger Hansen of Butte High was the runner-up in the boy’s javelin, sticking a career-best 172-1, and Butte Central sophomore Danny McCarthy got a fourth place in the Class A boys’ 100-meter dash. He clocked a personal-best 11.39. Maroon senior Keefer McGree closed his prep career with a 40.47 time while placing fourth in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles.
Neither school got to state in softball, though both gave fans plenty to cheer. Butte High lost on a tense playoff game at Missoula Sentinel that went extra innings and included a play at the plate in championship-level competition. The Bulldogs were competitive, finished fifth in the Western AA standings and seemed capable of slotting in anywhere between No. 2 and No. 6 in the league seedings and that was just about how it came out of the last regular-season weekend.
Butte High didn’t fill any first-team spots on the all-conference team, but held down four on the second team with senior pitcher Ashlinn Mullaney, senior first baseman Madisyn Swanson, junior right fielder Mattie Stepan and sophomore designated player Kendallyn Schad all earning accolades. Senior catcher Gracie Ferriter, sophomore second baseman Reese Johnson and junior center fielder Gracie Jonart were accorded honorable mention.
With no divisionals in Class AA anymore, a 12-team bracket for the State AA tourney should maybe be considered. Softball seems to be made for the 12-teamer and a small postseason could be available to all with the top four seeds in each division earning berths and the bottom four in each playing in play-ins (5 vs. 8 and 6 vs. 7) for the other spots at State.
A Butte 15-and-under team won five of its last eight games playing in a 19-and-under league through the spring. Actually, it was a Butte Central squad that started six or seven freshmen every game and had no seniors on the roster. The Maroons just missed getting a play-in game chance for state and closed strong after going winless the first five weeks of the year. Freshman first baseman Kodee Badovinac won a spot on the Southwestern A All-Conference team. She and sophomore third baseman Marly Mansanti missed the last couple of weeks of the season with injuries. Expect Badovinac to be joined by several Maroons on next year’s honors teams.
Butte Central senior Owen McPartland advanced to the state Class A tournament and came up a win short of playing for a placing. Uncooperative weather and no good indoor availability of courts greatly hinder the Butte tennis endeavors each spring.
Butte High and Butte Central teams missed State in baseball as more teams fielded teams and competition improved. The Bulldogs and Maroons will focus on next year with the state tourney coming to town next year.
Individually, this spring saw Butte High junior shotstop/pitcher Cayde Stajcar and senior second baseman Tocher Lee both gain All-Conference first-team honors, as did Butte Central sophomore pitcher/shortstop Gunnar O’Brien. The second team included Butte High senior center fielder Will Stepan, senior third baseman Matthew Donaldson and Butte Central junior right fielder Trapper Stajcar.
Promise rests in the number of good-quality athletic returnees likely to return to the gyms and fields in Butte next fall. Could be fun.
Hmmmm, year 53 …

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Rec Sports

Child porn plea brings 78-month federal prison term for former youth sports coach in Pulaski County

Dale Ellis Dale Ellis covers the federal courthouse beat for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, reporting on criminal and civil matters that impact Arkansans. He joined the newspaper in January 2018, working from the Pine Bluff bureau before taking up his current beat in January 2021. Dale started in news in 1998 at the Heber Springs Sun-Times […]

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33 minutes ago

August 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Dale Ellis

Dale Ellis covers the federal courthouse beat for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, reporting on criminal and civil matters that impact Arkansans. He joined the newspaper in January 2018, working from the Pine Bluff bureau before taking up his current beat in January 2021. Dale started in news in 1998 at the Heber Springs Sun-Times where he was a reporter and columnist. He has also worked at the Searcy Daily Citizen as managing editor and at the Wynne Progress as managing editor. Dale has state government, education, radio and television experience as well.

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Part of Dewey dubbed Joyner Lucas Ave. on Worcester rapper’s birthday

WORCESTER — Dewey Street was the site of much celebration the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 17 as the City of Worcester officially dubbed a section of the street “Joyner Lucas Avenue,” after the Grammy-nominated rapper who grew up making music there. More than 200 people gathered at the intersection of Dewey and Chandler streets to […]

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51 minutes ago

August 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

More than 200 people gathered at the intersection of Dewey and Chandler streets to watch the unveiling of the new street sign and hear from Lucas himself, who happened to be turning 37 years old Sunday, Aug. 17.

“This is the best birthday gift I could ever ask for,” Lucas said.

At one point, a small child shouted out, “Happy birthday, Joyner Lucas,” to a huge cheer from the rest of the crowd.

Lucas was joined on the microphone by friends, relatives, City Councilors Khrystian E. King and Luis Ojeda, and Mayor Joseph M. Petty, who praised Lucas as, “born and raised right here in the city of Worcester…never forgotten his roots, a very strong advocate for ADHD and depression and against drug use.”

In an Aug. 14 email to the Telegram & Gazette, Lucas wrote that he learned of the Dewey Street honor very recently and that the news came as a pleasant shock.

“Usually, it takes for someone to die before they consider renaming a street someone’s name. That person would have had to have a huge impact and have a different type of importance to that state or city,” Lucas wrote. “The feeling I felt was a lot of gratitude mixed with emotion, because I know what that really means.”

Growing up on Dewey Street

Lucas grew up on the first floor of a three-decker at 132 Dewey St. recording songs in the Worcester Youth Center’s studio and finding various ways to make a buck while still living in his mother’s household.

“I spent a lot of time doing whatever I had to do to make money. I worked odd jobs, I sold drugs, I got in a lot of trouble just trying to figure out what I was going to do,” Lucas wrote on Aug. 14. “One thing about me, though, is I never ran with a gang, and I always stayed to myself and remained neutral with everyone.”

‘I was a horrible drug dealer’

At the ceremony, Lucas ran through a list of all the various Worcester spots where he had worked and joked about his brief foray into the local drug trade, saying, “I was a horrible drug dealer and that was never going to work.”

As a youth sports coach, Ojeda said, watched Lucas grow up on the basketball court, but could always tell that music would come first for him.

“There were so many avenues in this city where he could go and he stuck with his passion,” Ojeda said. “For me, as a city councilor, that’s somebody I can point to and say, ‘He’s doing it. You can do it.’”

Destination for Massachusetts rap fans

Lucas recalled that he would often sit in his room in the house on Dewey Street and plan out the shows, collaborations, connections and promotion strategies he would need in order to make it in the music industry without having to leave Worcester for New York or Los Angeles.

As his music began to blow up, something unexpected happened. The house became a destination for Massachusetts rap fans, a phenomenon that led him to realize just how popular he was becoming.

“I didn’t even realize the music and videos was actually working until people started showing up at my mother’s house, taking pictures of her and the house,” Lucas wrote in the Aug. 14 email. “Cars driving by real slow every day and people taking pics of the tour van I had parked outside. My mom started to get paranoid, and it became uncomfortable to the point I got rid of the van.”

Lucas rose to national fame with a series of mixtapes in 2015 and 2017, collaborations with Eminem and Chris Brown, and a single, “I’m Not Racist,” that sparked controversy with its depiction of a white man and a Black man discussing race in America.

When King spoke at the ceremony, he praised the music video for “I’m Not Racist,” which has gained 154 million views on YouTube in the years since its 2017 release.

“You’ve put us on the map, not only nationally, but internationally,” King said.

‘What can I do for the city of Worcester?’

Soon after the release of his debut studio album “ADHD,” in January 2021, Lucas received the Key to the City of Worcester, telling a crowd outside City Hall that “Worcester, Massachusetts, will always be my home.”

Petty’s speech called back to that 2021 ceremony and to a meeting last year where Lucas, “came to me and said, ‘What can I do for the city of Worcester?’

“He’s always come back for his family, taking care of people,” Petty said.

Returns to visit Worcester often

According to Lucas, though a career like his requires a lot of travel and time in major music-industry cities, he does return to visit Worcester often.

“I have a lot of family and friends here, so I spend a good amount of time in Massachusetts,” Lucas wrote. “It’s where I’m from and where I’m rooted, so I like to stay as grounded as I can.”

For Lucas, the most striking aspect of the honor he received Aug. 17 was its timing, at a point in his life when he still has plenty of time left.

“What’s crazy is on the intro of ‘ADHD 2,’ I said, ‘I’ll probably be dead before I ever get flowers,’” Lucas wrote. “I guess I was wrong.”

Not only did he get those flowers Sunday afternoon, Aug. 17, he also received a birthday cake as a surprise when the street sign was revealed and his children took the microphone to wish him a happy birthday while the crowd chanted his name.

During his remarks at the ceremony, Lucas recalled one birthday many years ago, before his music hit the mainstream.

“Everyone was calling my phone, telling me to go out, but I didn’t want to because I didn’t’ feel like I deserved to celebrate. What did I accomplish?” Lucas said. “I said, ‘I’m no longer going to celebrate for nothing.’ Fast-forward to Aug. 17, 2025, and I have a reason to celebrate.”

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Rec Sports

Former Durango football stars ready to compete for Colorado

Ben Finneseth, Tagert Bardin ready to help Buffaloes improve on last season Former Durango High School football player Ben Finneseth is expected to play a big role on special teams in his fifth season with the Colorado Buffaloes. (Courtesy Ben Finneseth) A lot has changed with Colorado Buffaloes football in the last year. But, at […]

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1 hour ago

August 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Ben Finneseth, Tagert Bardin ready to help Buffaloes improve on last season

Former Durango High School football player Ben Finneseth is expected to play a big role on special teams in his fifth season with the Colorado Buffaloes. (Courtesy Ben Finneseth)

A lot has changed with Colorado Buffaloes football in the last year. But, at the same time, some things, including the team’s Durango connections, have stayed the same.

Star quarterback Shedeur Sanders is gone and is playing for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League. Heisman Trophy winner and star defensive back and wide receiver, Travis Hunter, also went to the NFL and is playing with the Jacksonville Jaguars after being drafted by them second overall. Shilo Sanders also won’t return after entering the NFL draft. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.

While those are huge losses, Deion Sanders returns for his third season as the head coach of the Buffaloes. Two former Durango High School football stars also return to help the Buffaloes prove to the country that they can win without Shedeur Sanders and Hunter.

Durango’s Ben Finneseth and Tagert Bardin return to Colorado to help the Buffaloes fight at the top of the Big 12 Conference after finishing 7-2 in the conference last year and 9-4 overall. The Buffaloes begin their regular season on Aug. 29 vs. Georgia Tech.

“The nature of college football now, is a lot of guys are coming in and a lot of guys are coming out,” Finneseth said. “So, year-in and year-out, you got different faces and different bodies. So, it’s completely different, losing all those guys, but we’ve got guys that are going to step up and fill roles. You miss their personalities and that kind of stuff, but you bring in new guys and they’re great guys as well. They (the departures) were key playmakers. But, we have other playmakers and we have other guys that are going to step up in huge ways. It’ll be just as good.”

Finneseth returns for his fifth year in the program as a safety and defensive back. Listed at 6-foot-2-inches and 205 pounds, the biomedical engineering major played in all 13 games last season, primarily on special teams. He finished the season with 12 total tackles and eight unassisted tackles. Finneseth played the fourth-most snaps on the team after contributing on kickoff return, kickoff, punt return and punt coverage.

The special teams stud worked a lot in the summer on his conditioning with new head strength and conditioning coach Andreu Swasey. Finneseth said Colorado is very blessed to have Swasey after he worked them hard over the summer. Finneseth said Sanders has been impressed with how well the defense has run to the ball, how well the offensive line gets down the field and the shape the entire team is in. Finneseth has lost some fat and has put on three pounds of muscle to feel stronger and more explosive.

After playing well down the final stretch of last season, the Colorado coaches wanted Finneseth to take a leadership role on special teams. The Buffaloes coaching staff expects him to play a big role on special teams again and increase his role on defense.

“One of my biggest focuses throughout the whole spring and this past summer was how can I be a better leader,” Finneseth said. “How can I show more passion and play the game even better? Because a lot of people are going to be coming to me with questions, looking up to me and asking me for help. That was one of the things that I was super happy about and super proud of is that the coaches see that out of me and that’s what they wanted.”

Finneseth said the coaches plan to move him around a little bit on defense. He said the Buffaloes have a lot of depth with a lot of different packages. Therefore, he should see some time at safety and at defensive back.

Bardin is in a different position as a walk-on. The former Durango High stud has had a lot of catching up to do after breaking his collarbone in a spring practice. He was feeling really good in his role on the team at the beginning of spring practice. He was running routes on a noncontact day, caught a ball and the defensive back he was going against jumped on Bardin to knock the ball away.

Tagert Bardin of Durango High School runs the ball against Harrison High School during the first round of the 2022 Class 3A state playoffs at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Herald file)

Jerry McBride

The defensive back landed on Bardin and Bardin landed on his left side. He immediately knew something wasn’t right as his left side was numb. Bardin went to the trainers and they immediately recognized that he broke his collarbone.

It took Bardin about six weeks until the middle of June before he felt ready to practice again. The team held Bardin out for another two weeks to be safe.

During Bardin’s recovery, his father was a big part of his recovery process. He drove up to see Bardin after the injury and made sure Bardin was still doing things like squats and walking up the stadium.

After he recovered, Bardin took advantage of the connections that come with the Colorado program. He reached out to former NFL superstar wide receiver Terrell Owens to see if he could workout with the Pro Football Hall of Fame player. Owens has been around the program at practices and is in the wide receivers’ group chat. Owens responded and said Bardin could.

Bardin then flew out to Alexander City, Alabama, and worked out with Owens for four days in late July. He met Owens’ mother and saw where Owens grew up.

“My biggest takeaway is he really harped on the mindset,” Bardin said about Owens. “Knowing you can win and knowing you can beat the guy in front of you. Talent or stuff like that doesn’t really matter. It just matters the effort you put in and the mindset you have going into the game, knowing, ‘I’m going to make this play. This DB is not going to cover me.”’

Before Bardin sought Owens’ knowledge and advice, Bardin and Finneseth took the teacher role in the summer as the two were a part of a group of former Demons and current college football players that hosted The Elevation Youth Football Camp at Durango High School. Fellow Durango graduate and Division I football player Josh Bates was there as well as Durango graduate and Division II player Tyler Harms.

Former Durango High School and current college football players coach the Durango youth at The Elevation Youth Football Camp at Durango High School on May 17. From left to right: Ben Finneseth, Zachary Haber, Tagert Bardin, Josh Bates, Tyler Harms. (Courtesy Ben Finneseth)

Finneseth came up with the idea for a youth football camp in Durango after one of his good friends he met at the University of Colorado did one at his high school. Finneseth’s friend’s camp did very well and Finneseth realized Durango didn’t have anything like that.

Over 60 kids showed up for the camp on May 17, which was almost triple the amount Finneseth’s friend got at his camp in Denver. Finneseth thought it was a super cool opportunity and hopes to grow it year-after-year.

“That was my first time I’ve gotten the opportunity to do that and give back,” Bardin said. “Coming from Durango, I know that, as someone who went to camps all throughout high school, there’s not really camps with that kind of knowledge from players that have played D1 really anywhere close to Durango. It’s usually up in Denver or somewhere like that.”

After Finneseth and Bardin inspired the Durango youth at their camp, they were inspired by their head coach at Colorado. Sanders announced to the press late in July that he had bladder cancer, but had surgery and is considered cure by his oncologist.

The team found out a day before the press did, according to Bardin. Everyone was worried for their coach, but Sanders harped on the idea that they were a family and he wanted to make sure they knew he was doing well.

Bardin thought it lifted the team up as Sanders didn’t pout about why it happened to him, he had high hopes and a great attitude.

“Knowing your leader and your head guy is going through something like that and you’re worried about a strained groin, or your elbow’s swollen, or your thumb is sprained or something like that, just in the grand scheme of things, that makes you think, ‘There’s no way that I can’t push through this right now,”’ Finneseth said. “So, it’s brought us all together in a huge way, because we have another why to play for.”

While Finneseth and Bardin have different roles on the Buffaloes squad, both are optimistic about the team’s prospects this year after being reassured about their coach’s.

“My vision for our team and our vision as a staff, as a team, throughout the whole building is 12-0 and a Big 12 Championship,” Finneseth said. “That’s our goal and making the College Football Playoff.”

bkelly@durangoherald.com

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Rec Sports

Oklahoma hosts first-ever NICA Youth Mountain Bike Race

After years of traveling out of state to compete, Oklahoma’s young mountain bikers finally got a chance to race on their own trail at Lake Arcadia. Over 90 middle and high school students from across the state lined up at the starting line for the first National Interscholastic Cycling Association race ever held in Oklahoma. […]

Published

2 hours ago

August 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

After years of traveling out of state to compete, Oklahoma’s young mountain bikers finally got a chance to race on their own trail at Lake Arcadia.

Over 90 middle and high school students from across the state lined up at the starting line for the first National Interscholastic Cycling Association race ever held in Oklahoma.

We’ve had to travel kids out of state to go race,” said Oklahoma NICA League Director Dave Weaver. “We’ve now brought that to Oklahoma.”

NICA’s Oklahoma chapter introduces mountain biking to students in grades 6th-12th, combining athletic training with lessons in independence, strategy and personal growth.

“The kids have to figure out how hard they’re gonna go, when they’re going to pass, what kind of strategy they’re going to do,” said Weaver. “Where other sports sometimes are dictated on a coach, a coach on race day here is nothing but a cheerleader.”

With 10 teams competing, the event emphasized not just racing but also teamwork and confidence.

“That enthusiasm for something that you’ve kind of been telling them to prepare for,” said Exec. Director of River Parks Authority Jeff Edwards. “Hey this is what race day is going to look like, they got to experience that today and to just see that smile could cap off the day.”

Among the competitors was 12-year-old Justin Lewellen, who says the best part is seeing the hard work pay off.

“What was your favorite part about today?” “Probably the finish,” said Shawnee Wolf Pack cyclist Justin Lewellen.

The Arcadia race is just the beginning of the Oklahoma NICA season. Cyclists will return to the trails for their second race September 6–7 at Turkey Mountain in Tulsa, OK.

Parents, students, and volunteers can learn more about Oklahoma NICA and how to join or support a team at OklahomaNICA.org

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‘It’s an investment we want for our kids’: Summit highlights need for more access to youth soccer

About 50 young athletes took part in the Rochester City Soccer League’s Champions of Change Summit this weekend. The summit’s goal, according to league CEO and founder Nicole Hercules, is to bring awareness to the challenges that marginalized communities face in sports accessibility and equity. Through working with local and national leaders and community members, […]

Published

3 hours ago

August 17, 2025

Your Sports Nation

About 50 young athletes took part in the Rochester City Soccer League’s Champions of Change Summit this weekend.

The summit’s goal, according to league CEO and founder Nicole Hercules, is to bring awareness to the challenges that marginalized communities face in sports accessibility and equity.

Through working with local and national leaders and community members, Hercules hopes that the league can serve as a grassroots hub to provide youths in these communities with the tools and resources to reach their full potential within the sports ecosystem.

“Nationwide, we’re recognizing that there’s gaps in kids who are marginalized, who are historically excluded for the game,” Hercules said. “And we’re really trying to get to the bottom of really making sure that there’s a change nationwide, and that’s going to start right here in Rochester.”

She founded the league eight years ago, for youths ages 4 to 14, and she said it’s grown rapidly, from serving 200 kids to 2,000.

Hercules said she wants Rochester to become a national model for grassroots soccer excellence and believes it starts with summits and clinics like the one held this weekend to show the community and leaders what can happen when people invest and give young people the right tools to succeed.

Hercules is advocating for salaried roles in youth soccer and sports development, federal and state infrastructure investments, such as a year-round dome, and equitable access to high-quality play for all youths.

“We also have grown out of the spaces that we have,” she said. “We have to put the fields in so that the kids can have a league. But that’s an investment that we make, because it’s an investment we want for our kids.”

FIFA World Cup Coach of the Year Hue Menzies served as a coach for the summit, which was held at the Rochester Community Sports Complex. He agrees that investing in soccer and strengthening Rochester’s sports community can create a trickle-down effect in addressing the problems that young people here face.

“It’s so important for these kids to be involved,” Menzies said. “And especially in the inner city and the community, we need to find something to keep them together, keep them stable, keep them on the right track.”

Menzies said creating avenues for young people, through promoting soccer and sports engagement, is key to fighting youth adversity and the challenges that marginalized communities face.

And to him, the game has an advantage in being universal.

“The game has its own language,” he said. “You don’t have to know how to speak English, Spanish. I can go anywhere in the world and coach, because the game has its language.”

Cuauhtemoc Sierra, who played in Sunday’s clinic, has been playing soccer since he was 2. He said he has found many people to look up to through this league, who have helped him on his soccer journey.

“There are a lot of role models. My coach is one of them. It’s all my teammates, I guess, with all their strategies and ways to play, they are really admirable, too,” Cuauhtemoc said. “My mom played soccer. My dad played soccer. I know a lot of people that have helped me through soccer, a lot of coaches, and it’s all due to them.”

Avery Warren, another participant in the clinic, began playing soccer with his friends. He said he’s learning new skills through the league — and like Cuautemoc, Avery has peers who he admires. He said there is an older youth in the league who he looks up to.

“He’s older than me and he’s better than me, and I want to be as good as him someday,” he said.

Avery said playing soccer with his friends is a great feeling:

“I don’t really know the best word to describe it, but just happy, free.”

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Braintree advances after beating Texas in Little League World Series

The Braintree American Little League won a win-or-go-home game Saturday evening after a 90-minute weather delay, the Wamps took the field against Texas. Braintree went down early 2-0, but they rallied back and scored multiple runs in each of the first few innings. The Wamps went on to win 7-3 and advance to play Sunday […]

Published

4 hours ago

August 17, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Braintree American Little League won a win-or-go-home game Saturday evening after a 90-minute weather delay, the Wamps took the field against Texas.

Braintree went down early 2-0, but they rallied back and scored multiple runs in each of the first few innings. The Wamps went on to win 7-3 and advance to play Sunday morning at 9.

Southside Tavern held a watch party Saturday night to watch the Wamps play. The bar was packed with fans wearing their blue Braintree shirts.

Helen Lynch was one of the Braintree faithful at the tavern. She is all about Braintree baseball, and even said “no” when family asked her to go out of town for a visit. Lynch said she wanted to stay in Braintree to root on the boys.

“Been here 60 years. I love Braintree youth sports,” Lynch said.

She brought a Braintree baseball bag that was about 50 years old. She said her boys used it back when they played.

“I kept it all these years, such a treasure, what memories. That’s what it’s about for my age makes me happy.”

There were lots of cheers, especially at the end when Braintree sealed the win. Eric Anderson was pumped for the victory and said the little leaguers are making their hometown proud.

“Everybody loves it, it’s just a great town and everybody loves baseball,” Anderson said. “I’m hoping they win and keep moving on. The more they play, the team’s get tougher so it’s going to be hard.”

Braintree plays at 9 on Sunday morning.

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