The Monmouth Little Lion’s Baseball season came to an end on Thursday night at Harmon Park in Monmouth with the annual award ceremony picnic. A fantastic turnout was treated to a hot dog, chips and a drink. Following the meal, the regular season and tournament champs were recognized. The same team earned both awards in the minor league with Midwest Bank garnering both trophies. Stanton Insurance won the regular season major league title with Leary’s Construction pulling the upset over Stanton in the postseason tournament.
The final award of the night was The Vernon Schaub Sportsmanship Award. Schaub was a former neighbor of Harmon Park. He started the award around 25 years ago. Coaches nominate a 12-year old player from each team that exhibited great sportsmanship and leadership throughout the season. The winner this year is Ryder Caldwell. I got a chance to talk to one of Ryder’s coaches during the season, Lucas Johnson, about why Ryder was chosen.
Ryder shared some of his leadership qualities that he tries to bring to the team.