International flair at Pony World Series
After winning their first game against Peters Township, the Los Mochis, Mexico team takes the field for the opening ceremonies of the Pony League World Series Friday at Lew Hays Pony Field.
The 10 teams competing in the Pony League World Series take the field while the national anthems are played during opening ceremonies Friday.
Washington County might be 12 time zones from their home city, but that hasn’t stopped players from Chinese Taipei, who will play on Lew Hays Pony Field, this week from getting some “home team” support.
“(Chinese Taipei immigrants) show strong support. They show up at the airport with signs and banners,” said Michael Chiang, 28, of Taipei. “They got in touch before we came.”
Chiang is the interpreter for the Chinese Taipei team, one of three teams from outside the United States competing this year in the Pony League World Series. Those teams bring diversity to the sport that Abe Key, president of PONY League Baseball and Softball, expects to strengthen as interest in baseball grows overseas.
“It makes the event better,” Key said. “It makes the level of competition better.”
The Taipei team earned the right to play in the tournament by winning the Asia-Pacific Zone.
Paderborn, Germany, is the champion of the European Zone.
Los Mochis, Mexico, traveled 2,300 miles by bus to represent the Mexico Zone.
Caribbean Zone champion Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, pulled out of the series Tuesday because of visa problems.
PONY, which is based in Washington, added the Mexico and European Zones within the last six years, Key said.
Baseball will return to the Olympic Summer Games when they’re held in Tokyo four years from now, and Key expected an uptick in the sport’s global popularity as countries put more national resources into developing the sport at home.
“I think you’ll see that start to snowball over the next few years leading up to 2020,” he said.
Among signs of the sport’s growing presence in Europe was Max Kepler, the first German-born player to make it to Major League Baseball. The Twins rookie hit three home runs last Monday against the Cleveland Indians.
Paderborn players waiting to enter the dugout late Saturday afternoon knew Kepler’s name.
“I’m a fan because he’s German and because he plays really well,” said first baseman and pitcher Simon Bäumer.
Bäumer, 14, was excited to play on a larger field and for a bigger crowd than in Germany, where he said many youth teams play on soccer fields.
“This is very new for me,” he said.
The Germans beat Washington County, 12-0, Saturday on a no-hitter by Elian Gentner.
Chiang said the tournament is a chance for the Chinese Taipei players, who’ve lived together and focused on baseball as they prepared for the tournament, to see some of the outside world.
“They spend most of their time on baseball, training,” he said.
“These guys have been preparing for the tournament for a few weeks, since they won in the Philippines (to qualify). These guys have been training and practicing a lot so they just want to get out there and play.”