Heartwarming scenes at a US Little League playoff have shown the world there is actually hope for the future.
In the first inning of the Southwest Region Playoff final between Pearland, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma and a spot in the Little League World Series on the line, the video of a batter hugging a pitcher has gone viral.
And remember, these kids are between 10 to 12-years-old.
Watch The 2022 MLB Season with ESPN on Kayo. Live coverage every week plus news, analysis & more. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
A pitch got away from Texas pitcher Kaiden Shelton, slamming into the side of Oklahoma batter Isaiah Jarvis’ head, knocking his helmet off and sending a scare around the stadium.
“That’s a tough kid right there,” the commentator said.
Jarvis needed a second after the painful blow but took his place on first base.
But after looking up and seeing Sheldon was getting teary eyed on the mound, Jarvis went to console him, hugging his opponent in lovely scenes.
“This is really cool because as a pitcher, (Shelton) looks shaken up right now because of what he did and look at Jarvis. This is such great sportsmanship,” a commentator for ESPN said. “He wants him to know that it’s OK, that he’ll be fine. Amazing.”
The moment drew a standing ovation and even tears from some in the crowd.
Pearland went on to defeat Tusla 9-4 and will go into the Little League World Series but the moment has had a life of its own, getting millions of views online.
Speaking to CNN, Jarvis said it was “crazy” the video had been taken off.
Jarvis said he did it because he wanted to spread the lesson that “you should care for other people.”
“As soon as I’ve seen him get emotional because he hit me, I wanted to go over there and spread God’s love and make sure he’s okay and make sure he knows that I’m okay and that I’ll be okay,” Jarvis said.
Shelton said he didn’t know Jarvis was coming to hug him and said: “It felt like he cared.
“I also cared about him and it just shows there’s a lot of sportsmanship in baseball.”
Jarvis’ head coach Sean Kouplen said he believed it was just what the world needed.
“I believe what we are seeing is that our world is tired of divisiveness,” he said. “We all saw is friendship and love and caring trump competition. I believe that just struck a chord with everybody.”
But the world was blown away by the moment when at the professional level, it likely would have ended in heated scenes and maybe even the dugouts emptying onto the field.
While the world can quite often be termed a dumpster fire, scenes like this show the kids will actually be alright.
.