The Cayman All Stars recently travelled to Orlando to compete in the annual ‘Salute to Baseball Festival’ held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Head coach Stuart Know led the team of enthusiastic boys in the 12 and under competition bracket, which showcased 6 teams from Puerto Rico, 1 team from the Dominican Republic, 9 American teams from Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio.
Cayman All Stars vs. Westside Warthogs, Westside, GA
Cayman was the first team to the batting box but the Warthogs made short work of the All Stars with a strikeout and double play. The Warthog’s offense started the bottom of the first inning with a quick base hit. The runner advanced off the third batter’s base hit and scored. The All Stars Josh Dikau pitched the first inning striking out two of the Warthog batters. The inning ended with two runners stranded. Warthogs lead 1 – 0.
Cayman batters were not connecting in the second inning with two runners unable to beat the through to first base. The All Stars played tough defense in the seconding inning catching two pop flies but allowed one run before closing the bottom of the second. Warthogs lead 2 -0.
The third inning saw Kyle Fraser walk to first, steal to second and advance to third on a sacrifice hit from Eric Wight. The Warthog defense stranded the Cayman runner on third. The Warthog’s scored two runs in the third and three runs in the fourth. Warthogs lead 4 – 0 after three and 7 – 0 after four innings.
The Cayman All Stars struggled to hit the ball solidly until the top of the sixth inning when Kyle Fraser cranked a ball into right field. Unfortunately the right fielder did not have to move very much as the ball sailed right towards him for the out. Josh Parsons doubled but the Warthogs stranded him on third based to close the game out with a 7 – 0 win over the Cayman All Stars.
Cayman All Stars vs. Liga Erique Cruz, Dominican Republic
The All Star batters faced the Dominican’s defense in the first inning with a strike out, a walk and then an in-field fly out and double play. Johnny Thompson faced the Dominican batters and saw a hit squeeze past the short stop and caught by the left fielder Michael Peck to hold the runner to a single. The next batter walked and the third batter earned a two base hit and brought one runner home. A ground ball to the shortstop and throw to first baseman Tanner Hatch stopped batter no. 4.’s dream. Batter no. 5 singled to right field. Batter no. 3 stole home on a passed ball. Batter no.’s 6 & 7 met their demise at first base with ground balls thrown by the second baseman and the bat catcher respectively. L.E.C. leads 3 – 0.
All Stars’ Josh Dikau grounded a ball and the shortstop picked him off at first base. Cayman’s next two batters struck out. The bottom of the second inning saw the Santa Domingo team, walk, hit & steal their way to eight runs. L.E.C. leads 11 – 0.
Cayman batters no. 1, 3, and 5 walked but strike outs from batters no.’s 2., 4., and 6. left the bases loaded at the close of the top of the third inning. Tyler Lee stepped up to the mound in the third for the Cayman All Stars. The first batter advanced to first on a walk but a fly out to the short stop, a strike out and a short hop to the third baseman Kyle Fraser gunned out the runner first to close the third allowing no runs. L.E.C. leads 11 – 0.
The bottom of the fourth saw a walk and a steal from Josh Dikau. The next two Cayman batters were retired on strikes followed by a walk for Tanner Hatch. The two runners were stranded on base after the third strikeout. The Game was halted on time limit with Liga Enrique Cruz taking the win 11 – 0.
Cayman All Stars vs. P.R. Cobras, Puerto Rico
The Cobras batted first and faced Tyler Lee at the mound. A two base hit started the game. All Stars’ second baseman caught a fly out off batter no. 2. A single to centre field brought home batter no. 1. Batter no. 4 walked. Third baseman, Kyle Fraser caught a grounder and threw to 1st for the second out but batter no. 3 scored. The sixth batter singled but the All Star’s ended the Cobra’s inning when the throw to bat catcher, Joshua Parsons, tagged the runner attempting to steal home. Infield grounders to the third baseman and pitcher resulted in outs at first all three All Star batters ending the 1st inning down 2 – 0.
The second inning saw six batters step to the plate. A grounder to the 3rd baseman and throw to Tanner Hatch at first resulted in the first out. A walk, a base hit followed by a walk loaded the bases. A deep fly ball to centre fielder Joshua Dikau was caught for the second out and the throw to the infield limited scoring to one run. The third out came at the glove of Johnny Thompson at shortstop. Cayman All Stars ignited in the second with a single from Joshua Dikau followed by a steal to second. Designated hitter, Alex Pascal’s two base hit, brought home Cayman’s first run in the tournament. Johnny Thompson went down on strikes for Cayman’s first out. Tanner Hatch singled but an error by the Cobra first baseman allowed him to advance to second and Alex Pascal scored. Kyle Fraser singled and stole to second. The Cobra pitcher baulked advancing Tanner Hatch home and Kyle Fraser to third. Eric Wight’s fly out to the third baseman resulted in a double play to end the inning tied at 3.
Cayman obtained two ground outs with 3rd base throws to 1st on batters one and three, but the third out was illusive until Sean Larson caught the 10th batter’s fly ball at second. Cobras scored 4 runs. Cayman’s Josh Parsons hit the ball to the second baseman and the ball was thrown the 1st for the out. Tyler Lee aired the ball under the centre field for the fly out. Sean Larson advanced to 1st on a walk and would be the only run manufactured by Cayman that inning. Cobras lead 7 – 4.
The Cobras faced pitcher Michael Peck in the fourth inning and were kept to two runs. A fly out by the pitcher, an out at first and a strike out summed up the defensive play for Cayman. The All Star’s dug in, starting off with a two base hit of Johnny Thompson’s bat. Tanner hatch followed with a walk. Kyle Fraser singled. Eric Wight singled allowing Johnny Thompson to score but the force play at third resulted in Cayman’s first out. Josh Parsons had a two base hit advancing Eric Wight to third. Tyler Lee’s pop fly was easily handled by the centre fielder for Cayman’s second out. Then came mighty Mike Peck who’s double brought in two runs giving Cayman four runs in the inning. Paul Foster’s attempt to steal home on a passed ball ended the inning with the Cobras leading 9-8.
The Cobras rallied in the 5th with 5 unanswered runs to win, 14 – 8.
Cayman All Stars vs. Collins Hill, GA
Collins Hill was off to a quick start with a walk, a single and a 2 RBI double before a fly out to left field was caught for the first out. The next two batters each hit RBI singles to increase the lead to 4. Collins Hill runner was tagged out at third by Kyle Fraser on an attempted steal. The third out came on strikes. Cayman All Stars dug deep. Tyler Lee walked and stole second. Paul Foster walked. Michael Peck went down on swings and Joshua Dikau loaded the bases with his single. Cayman’s loyal entourage exploded with excitement when designated hitter Alex Pascal’s 2 RBI double put Cayman on the board. Johnny Thompson singled. Tanner Hatch’s RBI hit to second base resulted in an out at first. Cayman’s last out came on strikes. Collins Hill leads 4 – 3.
Short stop Johnny Thompson gunned out the lead batter at first. Bat catcher Joshua Parsons caught a foul ball for the second and third baseman Kyle Fraser’s through to first ended Collins Hill’s inning. A single from Eric Wight started the action but Collins Hill were playing stingy defense. An out at first followed by two strike outs ended the second inning with no runs. Collins Hill leads 4 – 3.
Second baseman Eric Wight caught the ball at the outfield fringe and threw the ball to first for the out. Short stop Johnny (Scrooge) Thompson snapped up two balls and rifled them to first base and stranded one runner. Michael Peck’s hit was caught by the pitcher. Joshua Dikau doubled. Alex Pascal’s hit was scooped by the short stop who froze the runner at second before throwing the ball to first for the out. Johnny Thompson walked. Tanner Hatch’s 1 RBI single tied the game. Johnny Thompson stole home on a passed ball and gave Cayman the lead. Kyle Fraser was thrown out at first. Cayman leads 5 – 4.
Cayman guarded its lead in the 4th inning with Kyle Fraser and Scrooge Thompson felling runners at first and pitcher Joshua Dikau finishing one off at the plate. Collins Hill were no slouches and stranded Eric Wight on third after his single, advance and steal. Cayman leads 5 – 4.
Collins Hill singled and following a series of errors scored the runner on passed balls tying the game. Pitcher Josh Dikau caught the second batter’s fly ball. A fly out at centre field and double play at second retired the side. Collins Hill played gritty defense and their short stop accounted for two outs at first and the catcher picked of a foul ball. Game tied at 5.
A single, an out at first and a single and some stolen bases placed runners on second and third for Collins Hill in the bottom of the 6th. Then a baulk was called on pitcher Joshua Dikau. Runners advanced one and Collins Hill takes the lead. Coach Stuart Knox called time and approached the mound for a conference. Whatever they discussed worked as Joshua (Sniper) Dikau struck out the next two batters. Collins Hill leads 6 – 5.
Johnny Thompson tattooed the ball out to the center field fence line for a double. Tanner Hatch strikes out. Kyle Fraser doubles advancing Johnny Thompson to third. Eric Wight walks. Bases are loaded. Joshua Parsons walks. Johnny Thompson scores. The game is tied at 6 with bases loaded. Tyler Lee’s RBI single scores Kyle Fraser and the game is won 7-6 after a gritty comeback.
Consolation Knockout Tournament
Cayman All Stars vs. P.R. A.R.V.A.J.A., Puerto Rico
Cayman All Star’s Tyler Lee hits a long ball out to centre field for single and then steals second as the pitcher is concentrating on the batter. Johnny Thompson walks. Michael Peck singles loading the bases. Joshua Dikau strikes out. Alex Pascal is hit by the pitcher for walk and Tyler Lee comes home. Tanner Hatch strikes out. Eric Wight is thrown out at first for the final out. Cayman’s defense started out strong with a ground ball scooped by the pitcher Joshua Dikau and tossed to first for the out. A fly ball to left fielder Michael Peck is caught and hurled to first baseman Tanner Hatch who is chasing the runner and sets up a double play to end the inning with Cayman leading 1 – 0.
Kyle Fraser’s hit to the second baseman picked him off at first. Paul Foster’s bunt was one handed by the third baseman and he was picked off at first. A solid hit off the bat of Josh Parsons to centre field yielded a single. Tyler Lee’s hit was scooped by the third baseman and thrown out at first. Puerto Rico’s batter sails one out to and eager Cayman centre fielder who gloved the ball. Second baseman Eric Wight and the pitcher Joshua Dikau each transferred the ball skillfully to first baseman Tanner Hatch to retire the Puerto Rican side. Cayman leads 1 – 0.
Johnny Thompson is walked. He then steals two bases and is in scoring position. Michael Peck is walked. Joshua Dikau strikes out. Alex Pascal hits the ball into right field but the fly ball is caught for an out. Johnny Thompson sails home to increase the lead to 2. Tanner Hatch singles. Eric Wight’s pop up to third is caught and the Cayman side is retired. The first two Puerto Rican batters walk and the third singles. Bases are loaded. A single brings in a run. Another single and the score is tied. Pitcher Joshua Dikau catches a fly ball for the first out followed by a fly out from left fielder Michael Peck. Confusion hit the infield when catcher Joshua Parsons tags the runner and the umpire calls the out. The ball drops out of the glove. The ball is then picked up and thrown to make an infield play. The Puerto Rican coaches protest the call. The umpires review the play and over-rule the initial call. Runner is safe at home. A walk, a double and single kept the bases loaded and some sloppy in fielding kept runners coming home. Puerto Rico scored 7 times before the All Star’s stopped the carnage with an out at first. Puerto Rico leads 7 – 2.
Puerto Rico’s defense kicked in and denied Cayman an opportunity to respond with Kyle Fraser’s fly to left field being picked off. Sean Larson’s bunt was transitioned to first for the out. Finally, Joshua Parsons was caught leading off first by an alert Puerto Rican pitcher. Cayman’s defense responded in kind with a strikeout, a scoop by the pitcher to first followed by a scoop from the second baseman to first.
Tyler Lee crushes one to the centre field fence for a double. Johnny Thompson’s hit gets past the third baseman for an RBI double. Michael Peck strikes out. Joshua Dikau singles with an RBI and in successive opportunities, steals second and then third. Alex Pascal is struck out. Tanner Hatch is thrown out at first. Puerto Rico leads 7 – 4 at the bottom of the fifth inning. Puerto Rican batters connected regularly and scored five runs when the game was halted on maximum time played. Puerto Rico wins 12 – 4.
In addition to each team shaking hands at the end of each baseball game, teams exchanged pins, flags and other souvenirs. The Cayman All Star team gave their opponents pins of the Cayman Islands flag which were eagerly sought after by spectators and players alike. On days off, theme parks were visited and the Rock’n Roller Coaster, the Tower of Terror, Space, Splash and Thunder Mountains and Everest Express rides all utilized to their fullest extent. And who will ever forget meal time at the All Star Sports Café. The experience of travel, competition and camaraderie was enjoyed and will be remembered by the team players, coaches, chaperones and parent spectators alike.
Cayman Islands All Stars:
Joshua Dikau, Paul Foster, Kyle Fraser, Tanner Hatch, Shawn Larson, Tyler Lee, Joshua Parsons, Alex Pascal, Michael Peck, Johnny Thompson, Eric Wight.
Head Coach: Stuart Knox
Assistant Coach: Andrew Hupman
Chaperones: Erwin Dikau, John-Michael Foster, Quatro Hatch, Thomas Parsons
Cayman Entourage: Keith Larson, Graham and Jane Peck, Keith Larson, Richard Pascal and Caren Wight.
Related Videos
