Indy Stars from Last Weekend: Sam Hornish, Jr., Sean Parsons, Sr.

There was a monumental sporting event that took place in Indianapolis last weekend. No, it was not the Indianapolis 500, which featured 90 degree heat, Sam Hornish, Jr. scoring a miraculous win over the Andretti father and son team, and David Rumcorf coming through with much needed Dove Bars around lap 175. Instead, it was the Oaklandon, Indiana Little League Tournament, featuring some of the best 11-year old baseball players throughout the country, including Sean Parsons, my nephew, #5 on your scorecards but #1 in your hearts.

After qualifying for the tournament with a gutty win on Saturday (they came back from 6-1 down to win 11-6) featuring two line smashes by Sean, some tremendous pitching (3 scoreless innings) and a diving stop at second base on a line drive to end the ball game, Sean and his Indy Sox headed to the quarterfinals Sunday as a team just happy to be there.

Now I cannot talk much about Sunday’s game as a) I was drinking heavily, and b) was watching Sam Hornish and eating Dove Bars in the heat as described above. But I can tell you that the Indy Sox emerged victorious and advanced to the semifinals Monday where they would play mighty Edgewood, a team that had beat them by the “10 run” or “mercy” rule during qualifying.
Monday was witness to both the Semi-finals and finals. As the first game got underway, a throng of tens of thousands (okay, tens) fought for valuable spots where they could observe the ballgame. Edgewood was the heavy favorite, as indicated by their earlier slaughter of the Sox, their unblemished 4-0 record in this tournament (including qualifying) and the fact that their coach had all their players wear Cobra Kai uniforms and call him Sensai. But these Indy Sox were not intimidated. They chipped away with a run in the first and another in the second, and got great pitching from Patrick to give them a 2-0 lead after 2. Then in the third inning, the Edgewood coach did his best Billy Martin impression, all but kicking dirt on the umpire (who somehow did not throw him out of the game), and the Sox blew the game open, the rout was on. After 5.5 innings (the games go 6 innings), the Indy Sox had done what nobody thought possible, leading Edgewood 10-3. The coach then brought in the closer, you guessed it, #5 Sean Parsons. When Sean came in, single, steal, single, steal, single, run, steal, single, run, steal, three-run homer. Five batters into his stint, the score had gone from 10-3 to 10-8. But Sean Parsons rallied himself, and then retired the next three batters in order to secure the win and an appearance in the finals.

Onto the championship game, against the mighty 5-0 (in this tourney and qualifying) hometown Oaklandon Bombers, featuring a kid with an actual mohawk (weren’t those in vogue in about 1983?). Anyway, this game was a pleasure to watch. Old Patrick came in and matched zeros with #22, Oaklandon’s crafty lefthander, and the score was 0-0 after two innings. You know who scored the first run of the game, and ultimately the Sox stretched it to 4-1 after four innings. In the fifth, the coach brought in the closer, #5, and he gave up two tough runs, and then held them scoreless in the 6th for an unlikely Championship. That’s right, this group of unheralded, un-recruited kids went on and beat the two giants back to back, bringing home the hardware.



So when someone asks you who the little league stars of yesterday were in the year 2026, you can say Sean Burroughs, Chris Drury, Danny Altamonte, and yes, Sean Parsons! I can’t wait until Zack hits little league, that will be fun….