Manhattan Beach Little League All-Star Honored for Team Spirit
Aug 21, 2015 08:45AM ● By Mb News Staff
Cooper Sutherland
In a season in which the Manhattan Beach Little League Junior All-Stars came within one game of a trip to the World Series, a player on the team received a high honor, too--this one for displaying team spirit and concern for others.
Cooper Sutherland, who lives in Manhattan Beach and plays on the Southern California Sand Gnats baseball team, was awarded the Austin Wolford Memorial Award, given to honor Austin's spirit and passion for both his teammates and baseball in general and for embodying the values of Little League - Character, Courage and Loyalty.
"Cooper won the award because of his great work as a teammate," Manager Keith Ramsey told DigMB. "It was really an awesome moment when he won that award. Nobody deserves it more.
"As a coach, it brought me as much pride as anything he did on the field this summer," beamed Ramsey. Carlos Rojas, who coached the MBLL Senior All-Stars also called out Cooper's distinction on Facebook, calling him "one of our leading by example dudes."
Wolford, who accidentally drowned in July of 2014 at the age of 19, played Little League and high school baseball for 10 years and was a three-sport athlete at Heritage High School in Vancouver, WA, the city that hosted the West Regional Junior All-Stars Championship Tournament. His mother Cindy Wolford is a tournament director for District 4 Little League. The award was presented to one player at all tourneys hosted this summer by District 4 in Washington.
Earlier in July, John Miner, an East County Little League Junior League All-Star, became the first recipient of the Austin Wolford Memorial Award.
Cooper Sutherland, who lives in Manhattan Beach and plays on the Southern California Sand Gnats baseball team, was awarded the Austin Wolford Memorial Award, given to honor Austin's spirit and passion for both his teammates and baseball in general and for embodying the values of Little League - Character, Courage and Loyalty.
"Cooper won the award because of his great work as a teammate," Manager Keith Ramsey told DigMB. "It was really an awesome moment when he won that award. Nobody deserves it more.
"As a coach, it brought me as much pride as anything he did on the field this summer," beamed Ramsey. Carlos Rojas, who coached the MBLL Senior All-Stars also called out Cooper's distinction on Facebook, calling him "one of our leading by example dudes."
Wolford, who accidentally drowned in July of 2014 at the age of 19, played Little League and high school baseball for 10 years and was a three-sport athlete at Heritage High School in Vancouver, WA, the city that hosted the West Regional Junior All-Stars Championship Tournament. His mother Cindy Wolford is a tournament director for District 4 Little League. The award was presented to one player at all tourneys hosted this summer by District 4 in Washington.
Earlier in July, John Miner, an East County Little League Junior League All-Star, became the first recipient of the Austin Wolford Memorial Award.
Video slideshow in honor of Austin Wolford.
