St. James-Smithtown Little League manager Scott Santelli emotional after coming one game short of going to Williamsport for LLWS

New York Post

Watch St. James-Smithtown Little League manager Scott Santelli emotional after coming one game short of going to Williamsport for LLWS - New York Post on Dailymotion

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00:00Coach, obviously not the way anyone wanted it to end today,

00:02but still historic season, best ever run for the Little League.

00:07You know, what was one of the first things you said to the team

00:09when you got to speak to them afterward?

00:11Yeah, I haven't talked to them yet.

00:13Oh.

00:13So I got pulled right off here.

00:15What do you think you would tell them?

00:17Listen, it was, you know, you don't want to lose like this.

00:23But just, you know, just such a great run.

00:26You know, you look up in the crowd, you see, you know,

00:29I think we had as many people as the other side,

00:32and they're the hometown here, right?

00:34So, you know, I thought our fans came out, supported us.

00:37I wish we gave them a better fight tonight.

00:39But, you know, this gets battled.

00:40And, you know, just like we have done to other teams and blow them out,

00:44we got a bus kick tonight.

00:47We got to take that.

00:48But, you know, you look back at the season,

00:51who the heck would have walked this?

00:52This was the greatest week of my life.

00:55It really was.

00:56Just be with these kids for a full week.

01:00And looking back, but we literally started early May with all this.

01:04And, you know, that's basically the entire summer.

01:07And I wouldn't rather be with anyone else than those 12 kids

01:10and the right two assistant coaches.

01:12How proud do you think Smithtown and St. James still are, even though?

01:16Yeah, of course.

01:17Again, you know, we have to pull Smith and Trove is packed.

01:21We had a great crowd tonight.

01:22I know the ferry was popping.

01:25You know, I think there were two ferries coming back and forth here.

01:27They grabbed.

01:28And, yeah, we had a lot of, like I said, we had a lot of people.

01:30They were ready to go.

01:31I'm disappointed we didn't give them anything in the beginning to kind of keep it going.

01:35We had a little rally there.

01:37If we got to hit with the bases loaded down 5-1, I thought,

01:39with our big guns coming up, then that was our chance.

01:43But, you know, we just were just one of those days.

01:46What are you most proud of with this team this whole season?

01:50Just our grit.

01:52You know, our grit, our grinds.

01:53You know, again, we could have been out in the districts.

01:56We were six outs away from not being here and not even being in the section.

02:01So that, you know, winning that game to get to where we are, like looking back at that,

02:06that, you know, I was at third base and I was like, oh, this is, you know, this is over.

02:10And then we clicked, we scored a bunch of runs,

02:13and then eight weeks later we're still playing bases.

02:16But, yeah, it just was a great run.

02:20And, you know, we're probably done in the next, you know, two weeks with these guys.

02:28You know, I'll be done coaching the boys.

02:36But it's been a blast.

02:37What are you going to miss most about them?

02:39Just each individual kid, their own personality, seeing them grow up from when they were seven,

02:46hearing some of their voices deepen over the last year of puberty,

02:51just seeing how much, you know, just stronger, faster, better they got.

02:55The one thing that never changes is they've always been the greatest kids that I've ever been.

03:01They're just good-hearted kids.

03:03They've always been there for each other.

03:04When I just stopped, I had an impact in their life.

03:08But they're, I'm going to miss it.

03:12I'm going to miss the whole.

03:14I, you know, at the point I was talking to Brian,

03:16he said they had a conversation with you at one point,

03:18and you said, like, you know, this is over, you don't know how you're going to fill the void.

03:22Can you, you know, call me on that a little bit, the void that this is going to leave?

03:26My golf game will get wet.

03:29This is going to be a huge void.

03:32I had a medical diagnosis a couple of years ago, and I don't say anything.

03:39I didn't think I was competing.

03:41But that was my goal, was to finish this.

03:45Commissioner Williamsport has 12U with these guys.

03:47And they, that was my, that was my sanctuary request, was the baseball field.

03:54You know, keep my mind out of the gutter.

03:57And, you know, just really helped me just block out all the other stuff.

04:02And they just made my life so much better.

04:04And for that, I'll always be there for them.

04:09I always love them.

04:10And just hope I got a positive impact in guys.

04:13I know earlier in the week when we were speaking, you called this team your other family.

04:19And no matter what, do you feel like they're always going to be families for the rest of your life?

04:22Absolutely.

04:23We're going to always hang.

04:24Always going to follow these kids in their high school careers.

04:28If they go on to other things, I'll always be watching them.

04:31I feel like we'll still always have our, once a year, maybe barbecue in my backyard.

04:37Just to be with each other.

04:38But this is, you know, this is not finished, right?

04:40You know, we'll be together and I'll always.

04:43These are all Smithtown kids.

04:45So I'm going to see them playing Smithtown baseball.

04:47You know, we have two high schools, Smithtown East, Smithtown West.

04:50I know Jeremy and they'll go to two different high schools.

04:52But, you know, I'm going to be following them throughout their careers.

04:55It meant so much to me.

04:56And, again, with the Smithtown kids, I'll be there throughout their baseball careers through high school.

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