Canaan will not inhabit Little League promise land.

I very rarely watch the Little League World Series, which takes place every August. But I felt compelled to tune in occasionally this year as my hometown Coon Rapids club made it into the field.

Unfortunately Coon Rapids was knocked out of the tourney Wednesday evening by the team from Chandler, AZ. But the one game my hometown team won was mighty sweet in my eyes. They defeated a team from Salisbury, MD 4-3, thanks to a walk-off homer by my neighbor Tanner Lowe. And if that wasn’t compelling enough, the game-winning shot was hit off an impudent little pipsqueak pitcher of the Maryland club.

Earlier in the game, Canaan Cropper displayed the brashness and borderline arrogance usually reserved for the big leaguers.


In the bottom of the fourth with Coon Rapids' Noah Fedje on first, Cropper grabbed a hard line drive up the middle off the bat of Tyler Kelm. Cropper stumbled slightly before recovering and throwing to first to catch Fedje off the bag for a double play.

Cropper lifted his arms toward the stands as he ran toward the dugout, encouraging Maryland's delirious fans.


What really irked me was Cropper’s behavior after arriving in the dugout. He shouted vociferously toward the Coon Rapids players, something along the lines of “SIT DOWN!! SIT DOWN!!”

So after Tanner Lowe’s shot heard ‘round the world northern suburbs, I was bitten by a case of schadenfreude upon witnessing the following scene:


Cropper (center) being consoled by his Dad and coach after allowing walk-off homer.

Relax, kid. You seem to have a bright future. But I hope you’ve learned the finer points of what happens when you talk too much smack. Most importantly, it has a tendency to come back and bite you in the derriere.

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