The Little League World Series can often produce incredible moments, both in terms of awe-inspiring athletic achievement from the youngsters on the field and awesome sportsmanship on display.
On Tuesday, we saw the latter on display in the first inning of the Southwest Region Final between Texas East and Oklahoma, when the Texas East pitcher, Kaiden Shelton, had a fastball get away from him and hit Oklahoma batter Isaiah Jarvis in the helmet. It was a scary scene, but happily the helmet did its job and Jarvis was alright, able to continue on in the game and take his spot at first base to continue the inning. However, Shelton was very shaken up by what had just happened and was struggling to move on from the moment, so the batter strode to the mound and gave him a hug, consoling him and encouraging him to keep on pitching.
After getting hit in the head with a pitch, this little leaguer showed a true act of sportsmanship by comforting the pitcher
pic.twitter.com/AbzXaLL5uz
— ESPN (@espn) August 9, 2022
It’s a very cool moment that is pretty unique to an event like the Little League World Series, and kudos to Jarvis for being willing to show that kind of compassion for his opponent who very clearly delivered that high and tight pitch on accident given his reaction. Shelton would still leave the game afterwards, as it was understandably a difficult thing to continue on the mound after having a pitch get away after, but he’ll surely appreciate the show of support from Jarvis and everyone else at the ballpark.