Little League team left scrambling after equipment theft

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Little League team from Chicago scrambled before its game Saturday after all of their baseball equipment had been stolen.

The Cincinnati Reds Little League team played Saturday afternoon at Tuley Park at 91st and King Drive.

A player's mother tells said thieves took helmets, bats, gloves and even the bases, from a garage near 78th and Indiana around 3 a.m. Saturday morning.

The Reds had to borrow from other teams for Saturday's game.

"We would have played with our bare hands if we needed to," said Victor Alexander, the team's coach. "Only thing we were really concerned about was the catcher's equipment. We knew we'd get what we needed to play."

The team was one game away from championship play when the equipment theft happened.