Page 37 - Sports Illustrated for Kids Magazine (December 2019)

BASEBALL
DESTREHAN, LOUISIANA

efore his fourth trip to the plate against Hawaii in the
B Little League World Series U.S. championship game—and
fourth attempt at breaking the tournament record for hits—
Eastbank’s Reece spoke to assistant coach Kevin Johnson.
“I normally tell the kids to focus, one-pitch-at-a-time type of thing,”
says Johnson. “I don’t have to have that conversation with Reece.
I was just keeping him loose. I didn’t bring up the record. He knew it
was there.” Reece drove the ball to center for a two-run single, the
record-setting 15th hit of the tournament. “Inside, I was going crazy.
It created a bond between everyone on the team, and I couldn’t
have beaten the record without the rest of my team,” says Reece,
now 13, who also plays football, basketball, and swims the butterfly
and freestyle. (He won the 50-meter free for St. Charles Borromeo
at the 2019 Catholic Schools Metro League Championships.)
Eastbank, the team representing the Southwest, beat Hawaii
9–5 and defeated Curaçao the next day to win the LLWS. Says
Reece, who finished with 17 hits, “Once we got that last out,
I mean, shoot. It was the best feeling ever.”

TRACK & FIELD

SUWANEE, GEORGIA

hen Aiden broke the national eight-and-
W under 200-meter record at the 2018
USATF National Junior Olympics, his coach at
the Jackrabbit Track Club, Andre Al-Ghani, saw
the race unfold from the stands across the field.
“Aiden was happy and excited, but he’s not one
who jumps up and down,” says Al-Ghani. “He
doesn’t pump his chest out; he’s a very humble kid.
I know he’s saying to himself, Job well done; I still
want more.” And Aiden did do more at the 2019
AAU Junior Olympics, winning the nine-year-old
200 meters and the long jump and taking second
in the 100. (He had won the 100 at the USATF
meet in ’18.) His goal is to make the Olympics
and break Usain Bolt’s record in the 200, and to
“become the fastest running back in the world.”
DAYMON GARDNER (REECE); KEVIN D. LILES (AIDEN) before track season begins, though, is improving
This fall, he scored 12 touchdowns in eight games
for the Peachtree Ridge 9-U Lions. His main focus

his speed out of the blocks, which he practices
in a hallway at home. Says Al-Ghani, who thinks
Aiden could also excel in the 400, “He’s one of the
special ones.”

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