8 months ago
This year, the kids that play with Vine Ingle Little League had some international flair in the dugout.
A Macon family adopted three boys from Ethiopia.
Noah, Josiah, and Caleb have spent the last few months picking up skills to become the boys of summer.
Patrick McConnell says his boys didn't quite know how to handle American sports.
"Literally, when we started out with baseball, it was from me to you tossing the ball slowly, and they would drop it. They were scared of the ball," he remembered.
Caleb, Noah, and Josiah have come a long way in one year on the diamond. The McConnells adopted the boys from Ethiopia.
They flew over 36 hours to make the trip to Africa. When the boys hit American soil, mom and dad knew they had to get the guys involved in sports.
"They were fast. They loved to run. They were up at 5 a.m. every morning. My oldest son Josiah would run five miles everyday," he said.
Their mom, Jennifer, also remembers the boys' energy levels.
"They were always bugging my husband, 'Hey, when are we going to go play?,'" she said.
In Ethiopia, they played a lot of soccer.
"A lot of times, they would play with rocks, and they would have open-toed shoes. Their toes would become mangled," Jennifer explained.
In America, equipment isn't a problem, but the boys did run into some language barriers trying to pick up strategy on the diamond. Duncan Walker is Caleb's coach, and he's spent 12 seasons working with kids. He's got to chuckle when he recalls Caleb's first days in uniform.
"I was telling him, when the ball's hit in the infield, I want you to run over, put your foot out there, reach for the throw, catch it, you'll get him. He says, 'Yes Sir.' Hit the ground ball, he runs to first base, catch the ball, runner's not there, so he goes and tags him, too. I said, 'Caleb, forgot to tell you. That's my fault... After you catch the ball, baserunner hasn't gotten there yet. You don't have to tag him.' He goes, 'Much easier.' He's a beauty," Walker said with a big smile.
"The first time Noah was told to steal a base he said 'We don't steal,'" Patrick McConnell said.
Now, they've got the game and the slang down pat, and looking back, everyone figures it's a season they won't forget.
"Mainly teamwork. They're really learning to get along with other kids and help other kids and cheer other kids on. That's been a huge accomplishment," Patrick said with pride.
"It's definitely making them more social, which we didn't find in Ethiopia, especially men and boys, and so it's getting them into American culture," Jennifer said.
The McConnells say Caleb is the one who has really excelled and wants to continue playing baseball. As for the other two, Josiah's really excited to get involved in football this fall, and Noah wants to run track.
