{"id":52214,"date":"2026-08-17T10:50:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=52214"},"modified":"2026-08-17T10:50:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:50:32","slug":"little-league-coachs-jesus-is-still-lord-mound-visit-goes-viral-and-divides-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/08\/little-league-coachs-jesus-is-still-lord-mound-visit-goes-viral-and-divides-fans.html","title":{"rendered":"Little League Coach&#8217;s &#8216;Jesus Is Still Lord&#8217; Mound Visit Goes Viral \u2014 and Divides Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_52217\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52217\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/08\/Mound-Speech_credit-RyanF786-X.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-52217\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/08\/Mound-Speech_credit-RyanF786-X.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-52217\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">@RyanF786 \/ X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A Little League baseball coach is going viral after turning a pressure-filled mound visit into a powerful reminder that winning or losing doesn&#8217;t change who is ultimately in control.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona coach Drew Breivogel was caught on an ESPN hot mic delivering the faith-filled message to his young pitcher during a Little League World Series regional game. With two runners on base in the fourth inning and the game hanging in the balance, Breivogel walked to the mound.<\/p>\n<p>But instead of talking about pitching mechanics or how to attack the next batter, he talked about Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m so proud of you,&#8221; Breivogel told the pitcher. &#8220;I&#8217;ve known you since you were eight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The coach then referenced the biblical story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus as He passed through Jericho.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Remember Zacchaeus in the Bible? Someone planted that tree, 30, 40 years prior, so he could climb up into it. Salvation. We&#8217;re talking salvation,&#8221; Breivogel said before putting the game into perspective.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a baseball game, right? If you walk the next five guys, Jesus is still Lord. If you strike out the next five guys, guess what? Jesus is still Lord. I love you. Have some fun.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">THE GREATEST LL MOUND VISIT OF ALL TIME!!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you walk the next 5 batters Jesus is still lord,if you strikeout the next 5 batters Jesus is still lord\u201d<\/p>\n<p>?? \u271d\ufe0f??\u271d\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/llws?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#llws<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/espn?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#espn<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/patmcafee?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#patmcafee<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T3ZiQhQI73\">pic.twitter.com\/T3ZiQhQI73<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan (@RyanF786) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RyanF786\/status\/2087724860264874309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The unusual mound visit quickly spread across social media, where the coach&#8217;s message drew both praise and criticism.<\/p>\n<p>Some viewers appreciated seeing a coach remind a 12-year-old player that his identity and worth were bigger than his performance on a national stage. Others questioned why Breivogel didn&#8217;t use the visit to offer pitching advice, a scouting report or help with mechanics.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If I&#8217;m struggling on the mound on national TV and my coach comes up to me \u2026 instead of advice or mechanical changes, I&#8217;m quitting,&#8221; one critic wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Another asked, &#8220;How about a scouting report? Some advice about mechanics? Something that may actually help the kid learn baseball?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The outcome didn&#8217;t help quiet the criticism. Hawaii scored four runs in the inning and eventually defeated Arizona 5-2, keeping its Little League World Series hopes alive.<\/p>\n<p>Still, supporters of Breivogel&#8217;s message saw something bigger than the final score.<\/p>\n<p>The players competing at this level may be playing on national television with thousands watching, but they are still children facing the kind of pressure few 12-year-olds experience. Breivogel&#8217;s message appeared aimed at calming that pressure by reminding his pitcher that the outcome of a baseball game would not define him.<\/p>\n<p>For Christian parents and coaches, the moment also touched on a familiar question: What should young athletes learn from sports?<\/p>\n<p>Winning, preparation and competition matter. But Breivogel&#8217;s viral mound visit offered a different measure of what ultimately matters most.<\/p>\n<p>Strike everyone out or walk everyone he faces, the coach told his young pitcher. One thing remains unchanged: &#8220;Jesus is still Lord.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Little League baseball coach is going viral after turning a pressure-filled mound visit into a powerful reminder that winning or losing doesn&#8217;t change who is ultimately in control. Arizona coach Drew Breivogel was caught on an ESPN hot mic delivering the faith-filled message to his young pitcher during a Little League World Series regional&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":52217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Little League Coach&#039;s &#039;Jesus Is Still Lord&#039; Mound Visit Goes Viral \u2014 and Divides Fans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Little League coach&#039;s &quot;Jesus is still Lord&quot; mound visit goes viral, drawing praise and criticism from fans online.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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