When the Central Iowa Little League all-star softball team returned home from a brilliant performance at the Little League Softball World Series, plenty of fans and media were waiting for them at the Des Moines Airport.
But that wasn’t the only homecoming the girls received. More than 50 people — family, friends and media — all gathered in the small town of Slater and had dinner with the team and welcomed them back from the national tournament in Portland, Ore.
The girls left Iowa as a little bit of an unknown, but they returned as the most popular softball team of the year, and one of the most popular ever.
And none of that popularity came from something they did. But the way the team and the fans handled themselves after what someone else did should be commended.
Another little league team was accused of, and later admitted to, losing on purpose to keep the Central Iowa squad out of the semifinals.
The coach of the West all-stars, Fred Miller, tried to use a flawed system as a reason to justify what he did.
And while the system may be flawed, I would have a hard time telling seventh- and eighth-graders that they needed to purposely lose a game to benefit themselves.
It's just not what athletic competition is about.
“The attention we received is OK for us because it was all positive. I would hate to be on the other end of it,” said Central Iowa coach Charlie Husak, whose daughter Abby was on the team and will play for Collins-Maxwell/Baxter next season. “I think as it happened, their own little league recanted their statement and said they don’t support him and what he did and that showed everything.”
The drama certainly affected the team. But for the most part, it didn’t take away from what a group of 13 Central Iowa softball players accomplished. After all, they were just the third team since 1978 to ever play in the Little League Softball World Series.
“I just don’t know how someone could do that, but I just thought positive things through it and tried to play my hardest no matter what happened,” said Ella Kahler, who is current CMB pitcher Abbey Kahler’s younger sister and a future Raider herself. “You just need to have faith in the process.”
Ella Kahler’s twin, Emma, also was on the team. She was happy to see all the support the team had from its fans.
“It’s nice to know we have all that support. When the media hit about what the West did, we had lots of support,” Emma Kahler said. “No one was blaming us and they were behind us.
“It brought me down a little bit, but I knew the coaches would fight for us. The team met in a room and prayed together. Later in the night, when we found out we were going to get to play them in the morning, it was time to get back into game mode. It was crazy.”
The Kahler twins, star pitcher Mikayla Houge and Abby Husak all admitted to having to fight back tears when they realized what the West team was doing.
That’s a natural emotion for a young teenager to have when someone else is getting in the way of all their hard work.
The all-star team was put together on June 15 and the squad had been practicing for the Little League Softball World Series since June 18.
“I was really sad and disappointed. There were tears in my eyes because I thought we were done,” said Houge, who is the daughter of CMB coach Troy Houge. “I imagined not playing with this team anymore and that made me sad. But I was really happy once we got the news that we had a second chance and were able to get revenge on the West team.”
It wasn’t about revenge for a team made up of future CMB Raiders, Ballard Bombers and North Polk Comets. It was about integrity, character and respect to a game they all love playing.
“It’s satisfying and gratifying to know that we were so well supported,” Coach Husak said. “And I am thankful that we were on the side of integrity, character and respect for the game. The support meant a lot to me and a lot to the girls.”
And it almost didn’t happen for a few of the girls. Abby Husak admitted that she almost didn’t even play little league this year after her team fell a shy of regionals last year.
“It was very exciting. I am glad I did little league again,” said Husak about her overall experience. “The stuff with the West team was tough for sure. It was good to get revenge on them, and it was a bummer that we had to play two games, but it is what it is.”
Central Iowa was forced to play a play-off game against West and the winner advanced to the semifinals later in the day.
It was the only time in a Little League Softball World Series that one team had to play twice in a day and it kept Houge from pitching in the semifinals because she was needed to take down West in the play-in game.
No one on Central Iowa’s squad made excuses but having Mikayla Houge pitch in the semifinals may have made a difference in the final outcome. They may have come home with the championship trophy and not the third-place trophy.
Houge, who is perfectly fine pitching in the spotlight but prefers the talk to be about the whole team, went 5-1 in Portland. And many of her games included double-digit strikeout performances.
“As we look back, we beat the team that won it all and we beat the team that was favored to win it all,” Coach Husak said. “In my heart, I think we were the best team out there. And I think everyone else out there thought we were the best team out there. But I was very happy to get a second chance. I am not going to change that.”
The Central Iowa Little League team is made up of players from Collins, Maxwell, Polk City, Elkhart, Alleman, Slater, Sheldahl, Huxley and Cambridge.
Seven will play for Class 4A Ballard, two will don Class 3A North Polk Comet uniforms and four are set to become CMB Raiders, who play in Class 2A.
“I think we had the best pitcher in the world at this age group and the best catcher in the world at this age group. I truly believe that,” Coach Husak said. “We had a great defense behind them, and we knew if those two were on, we would have a shot at any game and we did. We knew that we had an opportunity to make a really good run.
“I think every single one of these girls can play college softball. The talent level is that good.”
And if CMB fans are wondering what kind of team the Raiders could have in the coming years, Coach Husak has an answer.
“I think they’ll have a lot to smile about in the coming years,” he said. “Softball is strong and they have a great coach over there. And he deserves to have what’s coming his way. He’s going to have a lot of success.”
No one can predict how the careers of any of these players will end up. But they won’t face more adversity in high school than they faced at the Little League Softball World Series.
There’s no doubt about that.