The spirit in Orléans

The utility player for the Orléans Senior Red Sox will be the first to tell you there is no "I" in team and it is this kind of attitude that recently helped the team gain recognition at the Canadian Little League Baseball Championships.

Crashing out of the tournament with a goose egg in the win column – going zero and six – the Orléans Red Sox ended their run at national glory, but still held the spirit of champions as they scooped up the John Shea Award for Outstanding Sportsmanship. For Heney it was the second time in a row he was recognized for demonstrating spirit and sportsmanship as just a week earlier at the provincial championships he received the Jason Campbell Spirit Award – an award given to a player that demonstrates team leadership by always being prepared, encouraging his teammates and expressing a positive attitude through good and bad times.

"He's always doing something to always help the team and guys like that are very important on the team," says coach Bernie Hughes. "They keep the spirit up for every one, but they also show the ones that do play a lot that you have to work and be part of the team. That's where Mike is fantastic."

Entering Grade 11 at St. Peter High School in the fall, Heney fell in love with baseball as a youngster playing tee ball and has stayed with the game ever since. He describes himself as a player who just "gets the job done." With the Sox that's meant a number of jobs.

"Whatever is asked of him Mike does," says Hughes. "He's played a number of positions – third, second, he's pitched. It's not just while he's playing, but while he's on the bench, rallying the kids, warming up the catcher and it's also the way he carries himself off the field."

Playing and pitching in the national championships was the highlight of the year for the 16-year-old on a team that had an impressive season with comeback victories in the district and provincial finals.

Pleased by the award, Heney gives credit to his fellow players and coaches.

"It’s really one big support system," he says. "Everyone supports everyone else. (The coaches) have always stuck with us and always seen us as a winning team and worked to get us to that point. If you told us at the beginning of the year we'd be representing Ontario at the Canadian Little League Championships we'd probably have laughed and said, 'Not a chance.'"

-- By David May