Bartlett Little League team sweeps season, playoffs
Players on the Bartlett Royals Little League Baseball team lined up behind their three coaches Friday night, armed with electric hair clippers and ready to collect their reward for an undefeated season.
Along with the title of champions, one of the payoffs for the Royals' 16-0 regular season and undefeated playoff run was a chance to shave their coaches' heads. It was a sacrifice the coaching staff was happy to make for the dozen 9- and 10-year-olds who not only won, but did so in a dominating fashion rarely seen from players their age.
"I've coached for about 10 years, and I've never seen a team the way this team is," Royals Manager Frank Schneider said.
Competing against teams from surrounding communities, the Royals managed to win nearly all of their games in just four innings, rather than the typical six, because of a mercy rule that ends games early when a team is up by 10 runs. Of the team's 16 regular season games, 13 went only four innings, and three went to five.
The Royals continued to roll last week in the playoffs. In the last game of the District 13 Tournament of Champions Friday night, they beat the Streamwood Yankees 10-0 in four innings.
In celebration of the victory, a dad dumped a large "David sunflower seed"-labeled pail of ice water over Schneider's head.
Twin brothers Joshua and Jacob Christman served as an ace pitching and catching duo throughout the season, with Joshua tallying 147 strikeouts in 20 contests.
"It feels really good to have gotten 20 wins this year," Joshua said.
The team didn't lead the league's regular season in runs scored - that honor went to the Streamwood Yankees. But the Royals pitching staff, consisting of the Christman brothers, Josh Tippet, Nicolas Schneider and Sam Cutinello, allowed only 14 runs in the regular season.
And winning was always a team effort, according to the coaches.
"I think there were two games where every kid scored a run," Schneider said. "One kid in particular, I have yet to see an MLB player lay down a bunt like he can."
The Royals' winning season didn't happen by chance; it was a product of the coaches and players using the resources available to them and putting in a lot of hard work.
"They practiced probably more than anyone else," league President Ken Ratajczyk said.
Daniel Ryniec, who played second and third base for the Royals, said he liked being on the team and can't wait for next season.
"Coach Frank is hilariously loud. Coach Jerry and Dan are very mellow," Daniel said. "It's a great combo."
Bartlett Little League has invested a lot of money in its fields and brought more training opportunities to players, Ratajczyk said. And it has the largest Challenger Division program in Illinois, to accommodate players who have special needs.
"They did a good job taking advantage of the resources we had to offer," he added.
Sarah Christman, the mother of Joshua and Jacob, said baseball is her sons' passion. When they aren't playing on the field, they're pretending to play while around the house and when getting ready for bed.
"I've worked really hard since I was 4 years old," Jacob says.
Next up on the schedule for the players?
The District 13 All-Star tournament starts Wednesday. Eight boys from the Royals are on the Bartlett team, which will face Elgin Classic at 7 p.m.