As many as 100 family and friends will be in San Bernardino, Calif., today to watch the Mill Creek All-Stars Little League baseball team in the semifinals. In Mill Creek, hundreds more will listen to the game on the Internet.
With Wednesday night’s 18-1 victory over an Oregon team, the Mill Creek All-Stars, representing Washington state, will play in the Northwest Regional Tournament against Montana at 7:30 tonight. If the team wins tonight and again Saturday, it will head to Williamsport, Pa., to compete in the Little League World Series against other U.S. regions and countries including Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
“They’ve got a great shot to make it,” said Brent Holcomb, an employee at the Mill Creek Sports store, one of the team’s sponsors.
Holcomb said the tournament created a bond among people in town — especially at his shop, where sports fans come in and out all the time.
Friends and neighbors call and text each other to keep track of the games and share impressions as they tune in to live audio broadcasts, he said.
Holcomb said that kind of excitement has put the spotlight on the team.
“Last year, this team won state. That’s as far as you can go at 11 (years old). This year, they were expected to move on, so there was a lot of pressure,” he said.
Pressure is something team manager Scott Mahlum can deal with, said Holcomb, who has been friends with Mahlum for 16 years.
Mahlum “is a great guy. He can be a little tough as a coach, but I think you have to be when you are coaching 12- and 13-year-old boys,” Holcomb said.
Ken Circeo of Mill Creek said the team’s success has been very important, not just for players and their families but for the entire community.
Circeo is known as the voice of the Mill Creek Little League, announcing most of the games for the past few years.
“I know it’s a big deal for the community, and it’s a dream for these kids. They are in it every single day. They know they’ve got this one shot when they are 12 to go to the World Series,” Circeo said.
A dream like that knows no boundaries, and Mill Creek’s excitement has spread to other areas as well.
Sheri Robbins of Everett, who was at a sports park in Mill Creek watching her son’s soccer practice earlier this week, said she got up early Tuesday to listen to the game. Robbins said her son used to play on the same team with some of the boys.
“It’s fun to watch those boys. They are really good kids. I hope they go far, they’ve worked really hard,” she said.
Sports fans Pete Gipson and Travis Baker of Lynnwood, who visited the Mill Creek Sports store earlier this week, said they were excited and surprised to see the local team win.
“It’s the biggest thing that happened to this area since Apolo Ohno,” said Gipson, referring to the Olympic speed skater from Seattle.
Gipson said the team’s success must be a life-changing experience for the boys. “If they play baseball on ESPN, that would be a dream come true for every kid. It would change their lives if they won the World Series.”
Speaking by phone from San Bernadino, Mahlum said the World Series can do something rare for a team from Snohomish County.
“What’s at stake is hundreds, even thousands of hours these kids have put in and a chance for a Mill Creek team to go to the World Series,” he said.
Baseball aside, boys will be boys and Mahlum said having them around all day has definitely been a struggle. He said he had to be the bad guy sometimes.
“Not only are you a coach, but you also have to make sure they eat and brush their teeth at night,” he said.
The Mill Creek All-Stars have had a good experience playing in California, Mahlum said. “The field is great. The people are fantastic. People know a little bit more about us than we thought they would.”
Mahlum said the team received a warm welcome and is happy except for the accommodations, which “leave a lot to be desired.”
He said the players all share the same room with seven bunk beds. The showers and bathrooms are shared with the team from Oregon.
“So far we’ve caught two cockroaches and a lizard in our rooms,” he said.
Accommodations notwithstanding, the team is confident and looking forward to today’s game — with only a healthy dose of nervousness. Mahlum said, unlike some other teams, the Mill Creek team has not been intimidated by the crowds. He said the boys practiced so much and played so many games, they are used to seeing people in the stands.
Still, today’s game will be different, he said.
“(It’s) the first game where we’ll be in a lose-or-go-home situation. If we do lose down here, it’s going to be tough on them, but tomorrow they are just going to be kids again. There are more important things in life than baseball,” Mahlum said.
Mahlum said he tries to keep a good balance between working hard and having fun.
“If we make it to the World Series, that’s the experience of a lifetime for these kids,” Mahlum said. “If we don’t make it there: what a fun ride, what a magical way to end your season.”
Reporter Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452 or kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
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