Staten Island Little Leaguers Down But Not Out After Mercy Rule Loss To Hawaii
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (CBSNewYork) -- A two-year winning streak for the boys from Staten Island came to an end Wednesday night with a blowout loss to a team from Hawaii.
Even though they're down, they most definitely aren't out. Their hopes are still alive, even though the U.S. semi-final game just wasn't their night.
Hawaii opened up the floodgates when Shawn Yamaguchi hit a grand slam in the second inning. The club went on to top Staten Island on the 10-0 mercy rule.
It's a double elimination tournament, so they can still win it all. On Thursday, they'll be back in action for a game against a team from Georgia. If they beat them, Staten Island sets themselves up for redemption in the same Hawaii team that clobbered them in the national championship game Saturday.
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It's not just the players feeling the pressure. Their parents are, too.
"Especially when my son is pitching, it's very stressful," said Greg Bruno, father of pitcher Gregory Bruno.
The families have spent the past 10 weeks traveling from hotel to hotel supporting their sons from the stands and from afar. But the parents don't get to stay with the players.
"To be honest with you, we went out to dinner two nights ago and probably spent about 20 minutes with him. But other than that -- he's been gone since August 4 -- maybe a total of 30 minutes since then," Andrea Bruno said.
"As parents, this group of parents, we get along so well. I feel like I've known them forever," said Corey Hannah, father of Jayson Hannah.
The Staten Island team hadn't lost a game in two years – a perfect 28-0. Over the years, the families have watched their sons grow into champion ballplayers and stars.
"They're not aware that they're rock stars right now. We want to keep them like that for a little while until it's all done. But they're extremely good boys and I think that they'll be fine," said Zenaida Martinez, mother of Steven Martinez.
"You get all these phone calls, your social media is blowing up. It's like you're a celebrity. And then I see my son signing autographs. I joke to him, I says, 'one day your signature might be worth a quarter,'" Greg Bruno said with a smile.
The parents are very superstitious -- from wearing the same shirts to sitting in the same order in the stands for every game.
