A motivating factor … Nearly every great athlete has one. An internal force that drives them to reach great heights.
It’s the voice in their ear that tells them they need to keep going, keep pushing so they’ll never have to hear those gut-wrenching words again.
“You’re not good enough.”
“You’re not ready yet.”
“You’re cut.”
It’s that spark, that fire inside that sets elite athletes apart from the rest.
Though he’s only 12-years-old, local Aberdeen baseball player Kailand Halstead has that spark, and it propelled him to the pinnacle of youth baseball as he was selected to represent the United States as part of Team USA’s 12U team at the recent Pan-American Tournament in Aguascalientes, Mexico in August.
It was a goal the Miller Junior High School seventh grader had given the figurative blood, sweat and tears for after having been cut and failing to make the team a year prior.
“Last year I tried out for the team and didn’t make it,” Halstead said. “Since last year I’ve tried getting better every day. Working hard in practice, watching catching and infield videos, trying to mimic MLB players. … I really had to work on hitting because my mechanics weren’t great, so I started watching good hitters like Mike Trout. I went to a lot of baseball camps.”
“He said to us, ‘I’m making the team next year,’” said Kai’s father, David Halstead. “And he worked hard.”
To make the Team USA roster, in any sport and at any level, is a tremendous accomplishment, one that requires a ton of extra effort and dedication. So Kai, who is a self-described baseball fanatic who eats, sleeps and breathes the game, hit the road with his family to play as many games as he could. This meant travelling to locations in-state and out, playing against top-tier talent in his age group at baseball camps and tournaments across the western United States, from as close to home as Puyallup to as far away as Las Vegas.
“It’s been a long, long year.” David said. “I think he’s played in probably over 70 games this year.”
The work paid off, as Kai advanced to the Team USA tryouts in Los Angeles and, after a series of cuts from 100 to 80 to 36 and so on, the right-handed slugger who failed to make the team the year before, achieved his dream of playing for the United States.
“I was happy, obviously, and a little nervous,” Kai said of his reaction upon hearing the news he’s made the team.”
“When he made the final 36, we thought, ‘He might have a chance at this.’ But the big heartbreak is the top 18, because if you don’t make that, you don’t make the team,” David said. “It was pretty surreal and there was a lot of excitement. Knowing that my kid was one of the top 18 was a pretty great feeling.”
“More than anything, I just wanted to be able to get to him,” Kailand’s mom, Andrea Halstead, said of her reaction to the announcement while describing that for the better part of the tryout process, the players do not get to spend much time with friends and family. “I just couldn’t wait to congratulate him. … More than anything, I just wanted to go in there and tell him how proud of him we were.”
After the emotional (and tearful) reunion, it was back to business for Kai, who only saw his family for what David estimated was “about five hours” over the following month, as Kai practiced with the team in preparation for the Pan Am Tournament in Mexico.
Though Kai had achieved the goal of making the team, by no means was his job done. He wanted to compete. And compete he did.
After making the starting lineup as a catcher and infielder, Kai went 0-for-2 in Team USA’s 16-1 rout over Cuba in their first game of the tournament.
“After we got back to the hotel that night (after the Cuba game), it kind of clicked in me that I needed to pick it up. I needed to play better,” Kai admitted.
So Kai spoke with his coaches and they gave him some tips as to how to relax at the plate.
“I spoke to one of his head coaches on his travel team, Phil Ringrose, who said “All Kailand needs to do is get back to that ‘Kailand Swag,’ because once he has that swag, he’s confident.’” David said.
And boy did Kailand get his swag back. Halstead led a United States team that went undefeated, going 9-0 over the tournament and outscoring its opponents, 140-7, with four of those runs coming in a 15-4 demolishing of Venezuela on Aug. 29.
In front of an estimated crowd of 4,000-plus Mexico fans, Team USA won the COPABE Pan Am Championship with a 10-2 win over Mexico on Sept. 2.
“As soon as we made the final out, … I jumped up, threw my glove in the air, and started the dogpile.” said Kai, who started a tournament-ending double play from third base before hugging USA relief pitcher Christian Hamilton. “It was an amazing feeling. We were the best country there and knowing that we were the best players in the world.”
“It was a lot of hugs, a lot of hugs,” David said, watching from the stands with a handful of other Team USA parents and fans that were heavily outnumbered by thousands of Mexico fans in attendance. “We were high-fiveing, hugs, tears, all of that. … To see our 29 fans chant USA and be able to be heard on the local channels … that was pretty cool for our (extended) family.”
After the game, Kai was one of only two players to receive multiple tournament awards as he was named best catcher and the silver slugger. Kai’s number were sparkling: A .667 batting average, a tournament-best six home runs, 16 RBI and a team-high 21 runs. He had a team-best .793 on-base-percentage and 1.778 slugging percentage, which turned many heads at the tournament.
“I really didn’t think I was. I thought there were plenty of better players than me, from my team and other countries. When they called my name, it was an honor,” Kai said.
With a major goal accomplished so early in his playing career, Kai hasn’t decided that his run at playing for Team USA is over as he plans on competing for a spot on the 15U team in a short few years.
Now that he has done it, wearing a jersey with USA across the chest has great importance for Kai.
“It gave me chills down my spine, putting that jersey on. It was an honor,” Kai said. “Realizing I’m not just representing my city, county or state, but my whole country.”
It was the words of his Team USA manager, Todd Fine, before the tournament began that stuck with Kai and the rest of his United States teammates.
“He said, ‘It’s an honor to put on this jersey. This may be the only time you ever put on this jersey in your life, so wear it like it’s the last time you’re ever going to put it on,’” Kai said, before offering Fine’s words that were taken from another all-time great Team USA head coach, Herb Rooks. “They told us to play for the name on the front of the jersey and not the one on the back.”
Kai said the players looked at one another and their mission became clear.
“We kind of understood each other. Let’s go play baseball and have fun,” he said.
Team USA’s Kai Halstead rounds third during a game at the COPABE Pan Am Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico in August. (Photo courtesy of USA Baseball)
In addition to the offensive accolades he received, Kai Halstead was named the top catcher at the 2018 COPABE Pan Am Championship tournament in early September. (Photo courtesy of USA Baseball)
Kai Halstead poses with his gold medal, the top catcher and top batter honors he was awarded at the 2018 COPABE Pan Am Championships in early September. (Ryan Sparks | The Daily World)
