Congrats To Davenport Southeast Little League On A Great Season

After an incredible run to the Little League World Series and in the tournament itself, the Little League World Series journey for the kids representing the Midwest, Iowa, Davenport, and the Quad Cities has come to an end. With a loss on Tuesday, the Davenport Southeast Little League team is done playing baseball for the summer. With the end of one heck of a season, we, along with many in the Quad Cities and in Iowa want to tell these kids two things: Congratulations and thank you.

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On Tuesday, the Southeast Little League team from Davenport, IA lost its game to the team from Pearland, Texas representing the Southwest region. Davenport was shut out in Tuesday's game losing 4-0.

Even though the Davenport team is out of the Little League World Series, we want to let them know just how proud we are of them. These 13 boys and their coaches were the first team from Davenport to make it to the Little League World Series for the first time since 2005 when the Davenport Northwest Little League team won the regional tournament.

Not only did these kids show their talents in the regional tournament and the Little League World Series tournament, but they did something they might not even realize yet. They brought the Quad Cities together and they brought the state of Iowa together all to cheer on these 13 young kids. For the duration of August, most people in the Quad Cities and Iowa have been glued to their televisions to cheer on their team, the team from Davenport. And with that, I think I can speak for everyone when I say, thank you.

Journey To The Little League World Series

The Davenport Southeast Little League team had a great run in the Midwest regional tournament. Ending the regional tournament with a record of 4-1, the Davenport team didn't give up after losing in the 3rd round and ended the tournament on a winning streak.

This is how their regional tournament run went:

• August 5th - Win: Davenport - 10 --- Kansas - 5
• August 7th - Win: Davenport - 3 --- Wisconsin - 2
• August 10th - Loss: Missouri - 3 --- Davenport - 1
• August 11th - Win: Davenport - 3 --- North Dakota - 2
• August 12th (Championship) - Win: Davenport - 4 --- Missouri - 3

Little League World Series Run

After winning the Midwest regional tournament, Davenport Southeast Little League was on its way to the 2022 Little League World Series. After starting the tournament with a loss, Davenport seemed to gain life in the elimination bracket winning back-to-back games. As we know by now, Davenport's Little League World Series run ended Tuesday night against Texas.

Here is a recap of Davenport's Little League World Series journey:

• August 18th - Loss: Indiana - 8 --- Davenport - 7
• August 20th - Win: Davenport - 6 --- Washinton - 3
• August 21st - Win: Davenport - 10 --- Utah - 2
• August 23rd - Loss: Texas - 4 --- Davenport - 0

After defeating Davenport on Tuesday, Texas will continue its Little League World Series run and play the team from Pennsylvania tonight (Wednesday, August 24th).

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The Elephant In The Room

After an incredible run to get to the Little League World Series, in the tournament itself, and before the kid's what-would-be final game, controversy surrounded the team from Davenport.

A clip from the ESPN broadcast showed the team putting cotton from stuffed animals given away at the MLB Little League Classic in the hair of second baseman Jeremiah Grise who is Black. Some saw this as racially insensitive and others saw it as kids having fun. Below is the official statement from Southeast Little League addressing the controversy.

"During the recent broadcast of the MLB Little League Classic, ESPN showed several kids from our team putting stuffing (from a stuffed animal given away at the game) on our second baseman Jeremiah Grise’s head. The kids were doing this in an attempt to emulate the white mohawk of the Hawaii team’s star player, who they think is a great baseball player with a very cool hairstyle. Unfortunately, the cameras did not show the boys putting stuffing on the heads of multiple players and of Jeremiah laughing and loving his new “look”. We have also posted a picture and video showing this.

There was absolutely no ill-intent or racial motivations, as everyone on the team, including Jeremiah, was simply trying to emulate a fellow player they look up to. We are in no way trying to minimize the racial insensitivity of the boys’ actions and apologize for any harm this video has caused. We have spoken to the boys to help educate them on why it was inappropriate – which none of them had realized or understood at the time. They understand it now, providing them a life lesson they will carry forward.

The Little League World Series has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our boys and we hope everyone’s focus can return to their great play, teamwork and sportsmanship on the field. We ask everyone, including the media and online provocateurs, to please let these 12-year-olds be 12-year-olds.

We hope this statement has provided the additional context necessary to understand the whole story. We at Davenport Southeast strive to welcome kids of all races and backgrounds and take pride in the diversity of our organization. Go Davenport Southeast Little League!"

Once again, congratulations to the kids, coaches, parents, and fans of Davenport Southeast Little League on a great run in the 2022 Little League World Series. The only thing we want to say, which these kids may not like, is...

Welcome back to school!