The Little League World Series, at its best, is one of the most wholesome events in sports as some of the top youth baseball players from across the world compete on the biggest stage.
As teams vie to make this year's Little League World Series, it's important to remember that these are just children. It seems the Kentucky team's manager had that in mind when he went for a mound visit during the team's regional tournament game on Tuesday night.
As Kentucky looked to cement its place in the Great Lakes region championship game, they were up against Illinois, who managed to load the bases during the first inning. In order to calm the nerves of his pitcher, Kentucky's manager Jake Riordan went and called for an early mound visit. Rather than offer any instruction to his team, however, he proceeded to tell a dad joke for about 25 seconds and then walk back to the dugout.
"I don't have that many funny ones... Oh, I got one. Do you know that a koala bear is not actually a bear? It's a marsupial. Do you know why a koala bear is a marsupial, not a bear? Does anyone know? It doesn't have the koala-fications," said Riordan, before walking away.
So the Kentucky Little League coach is the best pic.twitter.com/bIeK1GUsnX
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) August 6, 2025
The dad joke certainly seemed to be appreciated by the players, though the Kentucky team would ultimately be eliminated after losing 5–2.
Illinois takes on Ohio on Wednesday night to determine the Great Lakes region champion. First pitch is set for 7:00p.m. ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as LLWS Coach Spent Entire Mound Visit Telling His Team a Dad Joke.
