Bryce Harper lauds ‘playing Vegas style,’ as Phillies players take in LLWS experience

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Coping with a loss is never easy. But it is easier when a two-time MVP is available to talk you through it.

After the Media Little League team lost to Rhode Island in an elimination game on Sunday afternoon, Phillies star Bryce Harper met with the Delco players. He told them their loss was a stepping stone to being great.

“That’s what you guys are all going to be, is great,” he said.

It meant a lot to the players, particularly first baseman/pitcher Trevor Skowronek, who said Harper is one of his favorite players.

“He told us to keep our heads up,” Skowronek said. “He said it’s a part of baseball.”

It turned out to be a busy day for Harper, who talked to the Little League team from Henderson, Nevada, before their game against North Dakota. Harper spent about 15 minutes with them.

» READ MORE: Media’s second loss in Little League World Series eliminates team

“He said how proud he was of us all,” said coach Chris Petty. “Winning Vegas style. He said he got chills knowing that a team from Nevada was here.

“He talked to one of our teammates, Nolan [Gifford],” said catcher Jaxson McMullin. “He told him to keep throwing gas.

“It was really cool. It shows that he cares.”

Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott, also a Nevada native, talked to the Henderson players after Harper. The Henderson team gave replicas of their jerseys to Harper and Stott as a sign of gratitude.

“He’s a hero to a lot of them,” Petty said. “Being from Vegas, he’s a lot of their favorite players. It inspired them.”

Later that afternoon, a few players and coaches went over to Volunteer Stadium to watch Canada face Mexico. Phillies manager Rob Thomson, a native of Sarnia, in Ontario, sat on the Canada side and mingled with some of the players’ parents. Pitcher Taijuan Walker, who has Mexican heritage, rooted for Team Mexico on the other side of the ballpark with bullpen catcher Hector Rabago and pitcher Luis Ortiz.

“I played for team Mexico in the WBC, so I thought it would be cool to hop over there and catch their game,” Walker said. “Thomson was on the other side. It was 1-1 so I couldn’t really talk too much crap until we got here and we saw the score, and then I let him have it.”

Media tied their game against Rhode Island 2-2 in the fifth inning, but Rhode Island scored five runs in the sixth inning en route to an eventual 7-2 win to advance in the tournament. Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who was watching in the crowd, didn’t just feel bad for Media because they lost.

“I felt like they were not treated fairly with the umpiring,” he said. “Two-strike bunt foul ball with the bases loaded… one run scored. I guess it was a foul bunt? That’s what the guys were saying. So the hitter should have been out anyways. So they called it a foul ball bunt. And they allowed the run to score still. And then they let the hitter still hit. So the run scored, and the hitter hit. Because it was a foul ball, but it was a two-strike bunt. So you should be out. How does someone score on a foul ball?

“I feel bad for them. Because you make it that far. It was really weird. I felt bad for the kids. Because I was like, ‘Man, how do we not know the rules for the game?’ You play that hard and you make it that far, to not have the rules properly… it was weird.”

» READ MORE: Six-run fourth inning dooms Michael Lorenzen, Phillies in 8-7 loss to Nationals

He said he was impressed with a few of Media’s pitchers and the contingent of family and friends who showed up. But the umpiring stuck with him.

“I mean, it’s black and white to me,” Lorenzen said. “Come on, guys. I put myself in the kids’ position. If that happened to us in the World Series, that wouldn’t fly.”

Taijuan Walker threw a bullpen in Washington D.C. and Thomson said he noticed that Walker’s velocity ticked up. Walker had previously recorded three straight outings with lower velocity numbers…. Cristian Pache, who is on a rehab assignment with Lehigh Valley as he recovers from right elbow irritation, has been feeling some hip tightness. The Phillies aren’t sure what caused it, but they’d like to check it out. He has no firm timeline for a return to the club yet.