BUTLER TWP — Baseball may be America's pastime, but it is not solely America's game.

Butler Township's Colt and Pony All-Star teams learned that over the weekend as Highfield Park played host to the Friendship Games.

A Japanese contingent of 20 players played a pair of games against the Butler Township teams Saturday and the local players' families hosted some of the visitors.

“It's a great experience for our kids,” Butler Township coach Mike Denny said. “This shows them that baseball really is an international game.

“They're learning a different culture and making friends at the same time.”

Besides playing in Butler, Japan's team is playing in Washington (Pa.) and North Allegheny before heading to Texas for some more baseball.

The Friendship Games between Japan and the United States have existed since 1975 at the Colt and Pony League level.

The two countries host the Games every other year. Texas, Chicago, North Carolina, California and Washington D.C. have also participated in this event through the years.

Lyndora Lancers manager Ron Zawrotuk has been involved with the Friendship Games for the past four years and has been to Japan twice.

“The interaction between the kids and host families, the kids getting to hang out together is the biggest part of this whole thing,” Zawrotuk said. “The (Japanese) parents were in tears when our kids left there last year. They really grew attached to them.

“I think the Japanese kids respect and appreciate the game more. We kind of take it for granted over here.”

Zawrotuk said that fields like Highfield, North Allegheny and Pullman Park are “luxuries that some people don't have.”

He said the Japanese kids play on all-dirt infields and often times all-dirt fields in their home country.

“The kids take turns manicuring and prepping those fields,” Zawrotuk said. “They keep them in such good shape that our kids had no problem playing on them.

“Baseball is almost like a job to those (Japanese) kids. They love the game so much.”

The Japanese youth baseball season runs from March through November.

“It is our most popular sport,” Friendship Games director Yoshi Oda said. “Soccer is also popular, we have basketball, American football, volleyball and tennis, but nothing compares to baseball.

“Coming to the United States and playing in the major leagues. ... That is what our young players dream about.”

Former Japan pitching standout Hideo Nomo came to the major leagues at age 27 in 1995 and pitched in the big leagues for 13 years. A number of Japanese players have since followed that path.

“He has had a major impact on how baseball is viewed in Japan now,” Oda said of Nomo.

“We don't have the power hitters that America does — that's more of a physical thing — so we rely on singles and doubles, stealing bases and moving runners.

“Our pitchers use their entire body through the deliberate wind-ups to get more power behind the pitches. Other than that, we play the game the same.”

Wooden bats were used in the Friendship Games. The Japanese players chattered constantly on the field and the bench players stood along the third-base line before each inning while their teammates warmed up on the diamond.

“They are very attentive and very disciplined,” Denny said. “You can see how much they love the game.”