Heartbreak for Alaska’s Little League team as Covid-positive test bumps them from California series

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The Knik Little League baseball team that won the Alaska state championship is at the Northwest Region tournament in San Bernardino, Calif. Now they cannot play.

The team, 10-12 year olds, has been eliminated due to one player testing positive for Covid. That player is asymptomatic, but the entire team, parents, and support staff, and volunteers are stuck in California for the duration.

The team arrived Thursday, a day ahead of other teams in the division. That day they all tested for Covid-19, as is the requirement for the tournament.

The other teams arrived Friday and were able to play through the weekend because their Covid-19 results did not come back. The Knik team’s tests, taken the day before, came back Friday, said the team’s coach Mike McNeil. Because of their lengthy travel time from Alaska, they got penalized, while other teams didn’t.

The Little League International sent out a statement Friday afternoon, telling the team they would have to forfeit. Their first game was to be Monday morning.

Such is the era of Covid-19 policies. The rules are the rules.

McNeil said the team’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play for a chance to go to the Little League World Series has been dashed. There are no do-overs, no second chance. The kids were taking it pretty hard, he said.

“It’s beyond heartbreaking to see these kids work so hard and come down here with a chance to play on ESPN, and then have it literally ripped away from them,” McNeil said. “No matter where you live in Alaska, this is the team that represents our state. Youth baseball on national TV is a big deal.”

McNeil said the group is trying to make the best of it and has as of yet been given no guidance for when they can travel.

43 COMMENTS

  1. Yeah this new variant doesn’t have an age limit. I just got back from my annual visit to my cardiologist and I was talking about the forum and masking and she said that mask absolutely do work. She’s someone that I trust with my life.

    • Another ridiculous comment from you, with zero context, as per usual.
      .
      So according to your cardiologist, that crocheted mask Alissa Milano was sporting on her IG account, it works fine against SARS-CoV-2.
      .
      You liberals are crazy with this reactive pseudo-science, its becoming a religion of sorts, Demigods and all.
      .
      #timeforsomecriticalthinkingclasses #allhailthefauci

      • Taking good advice from a medical professional is not ridiculous. Following science and medical advice is not a partisan trait. Or is Don Young now a liberal?

        • Do you think Joseph Mercola a scientist, with his medical degree? How about, Rand Paul, he has one too.
          .
          You see, when it comes right down to it, there’s science that suits our own belief system, and then there’s stuff we choose to ignore.
          .
          Go try find Dr Paul on Youtube right now, you won’t, he’s been censured by alternative science deniers.
          .
          The science of SARS-CoV-2 is different today, than it was yesterday, and will no doubt be different tomorrow.
          .
          What exactly is your point?

          #evolutionofscienceisarealthing

  2. Total and absolute bull—, I just cannot get past the BS of testing with a test the FDA says is crap and DESTROYING lives by subjecting people to such punitive restrictions with ZERO proof the kid really has COVID.

    The poor kid is probably just decimated and the families that have taken this trek have to be beside themselves.

    The different flu viruses have been going through the human population for eons and society went on. Colds spawned viral and bacterial pneumonia, and society carried on. This covid thing is invented and made to appear to be as deadly as Ebola, which it absolutely is not, and suddenly society is demanded to stand by until they are told they can go back to living. It is criminal.

    • Fauci is on record stating exactly that; “any test cycling beyond 37 is worthless, it will show a false positive”. His very words, yet the CDC recommend testing (and do) beyond 40 cycles.
      .
      I could post the link (but they’re not allowed by SD), but maybe she will.
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      It’s not beyond the realms of of possibility for the Sturges rally guys to get cycled beyond 40 when tested, and the sophisticated Obama ravers to be tested <37. Hey, if we can think it, it's even easier for them to implement it.

  3. Why didn’t they just isolate the 1 kid? The whole team, really? There is real evil behind all this COVID nonsense. No one is sick, no one is in the hospital. So sad for the kids, this would be an event they would remember for the rest of their lives. Shameful.

    • It is so contagious. it takes 2-14 days to show up. More will get sick. We have had unvaccinated kids in that age group die here. Scary. Too late for the shot now if they didn’t get it.

    • Your ignorance is showing again Jimbo.
      “It’s often better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.” Truer words were spoken specifically for you here.

  4. They should have just behaved liked liberals/leftists, lied and covered it up. Hunter, Bill and Hillary, the Cuomos, the FBI, the “Justice” Department and many in the “intelligence” community do it all the time.

  5. Total BS. The other teams didn’t get their results until today, but they let them play their Sunday games on schedule, positive or not.
    I did note that the folks running the tournament in Cal. were quick to point out that it was Little League International that made the forfeit decision. Guess they didn’t want to have it on their resume or conscience.

      • No, not according to FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.
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        Luckily for you, the MRAK editor is over 21 and has a little experience in the “real world” outside of the basements of Silicon & San Fernando Valleys.

  6. This is NOT science based! If the kid is asymptomatic he is NOT shedding Covid, unlike unfortunately, a significant number of the newly vaccinated. Total BS!

      • Greg Forkner – There YOU go again regurgitating CNN misinformation. The CDC has stated that there is no evidence of transmission of SARS-COV-2 infection from asymptomatic carriers! Since MRAK doesn’t allow me to post a link, look it up yourself. CDC, EID Journal, Volume 27, Number 4 – April 2021. Analysis of Asymptomatic & Pre Symptomatic Transmission in SARS-COV-2. Please stop spreading misinformation about things you know little about.

  7. Any news on how the team is doing? The team brought the virus down with them from Alaska. It looks like the same protocols are in place as what athletes went through during the Olympics and even before. Hindsight maybe they should have quarantined. Sad for the kids but that’s the day we live in.

  8. Was the Anchorage tournament where the Juneau kids got sick? Our reports say that they are isolating outside of Juneau.

    • No telling. If they weren’t protected, no way of knowing. Remember all the Olympians that showed up only to be sent back home? The world isn’t playing around. Parent carry some of if not all this burden.

  9. These kids played in AK and won on Sunday and had to fly down on Weds. There was no time to quarantine. If that’s what LL thought was best, they should not have had the tournament so close together. These kids followed the rules and got the raw end of the deal. The child who tested positive wasn’t even allowed to quarantine or get a negative test so it was a lose lose either way. You must not have played competitive sports as a kid because all you seem to care about is spreading your agenda all over this article. Please just take into consideration the point of this article which is the injustice of of how LL handled the situation and crushed dreams in doing so. The other teams should not have had the opportunity to play before thier test results were in, bottom line. Children are playing sports ALL OVER THE WORLD and I have not seen a correlation between increased cases because of it. This is getting ridiculous.

  10. The upshot is that it was devastating for the kids. To miss out like this is just so sad. I hope they use it as a motivator to return next year with a vengeance! Do not ever waste a bad moment, or a defeat. Use it to propel you to better things.

  11. I wonder would the response be any different if one of the players had a favorite Democrat elect leader for a parent, like President Obama, and his recent unmasked 60th birthday bash.
    You know the Democrat voters are excusing the hypocrisy of Obama as they are all vaccinated, so they can have fun. What Baloney!

  12. Worried about covid?
    Notice all the FEAR?
    Humans die in all age groups every day.
    Does anyone think if we all mask for two months covid, colds and flu will be gone forever?
    You’ll know covid is a pandemic when they close our boarder. I believe close to 1 million have crossed in the last eight months. Our government is moving these people all across our country.

    • Actually the Olympics scores of people back home and wouldn’t let them compete because they showed up infected. That kind of closes the world down doesn’t it? Some teams have to quarantine out of their own country for as long as a month before they can get back home.

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