The Taney team is a bit of a storybook squad. This article, written well before yesterday's regional final, tells it pretty well.
And what these kids face is not what every (suburban) Little League team faces:Taney mirrors much of the city. African American, white, four of mixed race, including a son of a Vietnamese immigrant, tall (6-foot-1), not so tall (a breath over five feet), from all over, top students at eight different schools, public, charter, parochial, and private, most on generous scholarships. Plus the singular Mo'ne.
Inner-city kids are very focused on basketball, so there are plenty of leagues for that, but little for baseball. Maybe the Dragon's success will change that ... at least in this town.posts on the players' Instagram accounts, several apparently from members and friends of the losing team, were brutal. Comments about players being from New Jersey or the Dominican Republic - nonsense, Taney is entirely Philadelphian - and the bitter hashtag #taneycheats.
And this: "They're just putting them to Bristol cuz 3/4 there team is black and a girl is on their team so no one cared about a regular team." ... Taney players tried to put it behind them, but the parents were irate. "We're providing these kids with the same opportunities as their suburban counterparts," said Steve Bandura, Scott's father and founder of the multisport Anderson Monarchs, where many Dragons first played. His mission is to get more African American players involved in the game. "We have the greatest pool of untapped talent in our inner cities."
Finally a bit about Mo'ne:
Her fastball registers about 70 miles per hour on the radar gun; her curveball buckles the knees of opposing batters; her line-drives clear fences for home-runs.