After California School for the Deaf’s frenzied comeback from down 10 fell just short in the North Coast Section Division VI softball championship game, nobody would have blamed the players from the Fremont school for being somber in the handshake line.
But instead of sulking after the 14-13 loss at home to Laytonville, CSD posed for photos alongside the triumphant team, receiving a shout-out on social media from the NCS.
“It was an incredible display of sportsmanship in that moment, and you don’t see it very often,” NCS associate commissioner Bri Niemi told the Bay Area News Group on Thursday.
Congratulations to the NCS D6 Softball Champions, Laytonville with an exciting 14-13 win over California School for the Deaf! @csdeagles pic.twitter.com/gi5NfByFRi
— CIF-NCS (@CIFNCS) May 25, 2023
Niemi attended the game that ended with the tying run at third base.
Laytonville scored 10 runs in the first two innings and led 11-0 entering the bottom of the fourth when CSD began its comeback. The Eagles scored seven runs in the next two innings to cut the margin to 11-7.
It only got more tense and exciting from there. But after the last out, there was only respect between the teams.
The coaches led the way.
“The Laytonville head coach and I agreed to get together and show a positive display of sportsmanship,” CSD coach Kevin Bella told the Bay Area News Group on Thursday afternoon. “We want to show the importance of sportsmanship, respect and integrity.”
California School for the Deaf athletes, coaches, students gather postgame. Photo courtesy of Kevin Bella/California School for the Deaf Athletics
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CSD players stuck around to congratulate the winners and then took a group photo with Laytonville.
Though the schools are almost 200 miles apart and their athletes have many differences, Bella said the players found similarities with one another.
“You’ve got to look at the bigger picture,” he said. “The deaf community is pretty small, and Laytonville, their community is pretty small, too.”
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
