Baseball history in the making: Snohomish Little League 10U boys team is state bound

Major League Baseball has All-Star players but so does Snohomish County.

The Snohomish Little League 10U boys team, consisting of 12 all-star players in the area between the ages of 8-10, is playing at the 2024 Washington State 8-10 Baseball tournament from July 20-27 at the North Kitsap Little League Complex in Poulsbo (22898 Viking Ave NW). Game scores and updates can be found here (https://www.wad2llb.org/).

This is the first Snohomish Little League boys team to not only win the District 1 championship but also advance to state.

Snohomish is one of 12 teams in Washington District 1 Little League. All the players compete on various little league teams in the area, but come summer, only a select few are chosen to play on one team and represent their district.

“They’re obviously good players, … but (this is) a group that’s practiced every single day (and) worked extremely hard,” coach Aaron Barstad said. “And I told the boys this, ‘I didn’t pick the best 12 (players in the area). I picked the best 12 that were best suited for my philosophy of how we’re going to go play the game,’ which is team speed, make the routine plays, throw strikes, and then through that, all their hard work has got them to where they are right now.”

When Barstad was 12 years old, he played with the South Everett Little League team, which won the district and state tournaments and advanced to West Regional, coming up a few games shy of making the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

His baseball resume also includes coaching at the Little League, high school and college levels while also playing in college and professionally with the Chicago Cubs.

Now an adult, he wants to spread his knowledge of the game to the next class.

“I’ve got a baseball philosophy that, at this level, I feel like if … you’re aggressive … and create pressure on things that other teams don’t work out, … it kind of causes fits,” Barstad said. “My background is around understanding the fundamentals of baseball and how to win. I think the biggest thing at this age is most of the kids haven’t really been taught how to play the game. Kids are good athletes, they’re better than everyone else, but they don’t understand the nuance of the game and understanding that and creating a culture and accountabilities.

“Generally my model or what I kind of focus on,” he added, “is No. 1 trying to make the kids feel uncomfortable early on in practices and holding them accountable for just a lot of the little things. Running on and off the field is a big one. Energy in the dugout is another one. Like things that aren’t even associated with ability, it’s just the things that you can control.

“What was very important for me was going out and picking athletes, kids that could run, create pressure,” Barstad said. “And a big part of our model, or our foundation, is built around team speed and creating pressure. And if you have athletes that can go out and run and get a baseball, awesome, that was more my focus is, ‘How can I create pressure and make other teams feel uncomfortable?’ … I don’t care if you make the great play. I just want you to … make the routine play.”

Snohomish went 1-2 in the district tournament last year but swept the field this year, never losing any of its five games. Snohomish beat Stilly Valley 15-0, Granite Falls 21-0, Pacific 5-2, Mill Creek 9-1 and Lake Stevens 13-1.

All teams at state are guaranteed two games. Snohomish’s first game is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against Pullman Little League, the District 5 champions. With a win, Snohomish would face the District 6 (Hazel Dell Little League)-District 7 (PacWest Little League) winner at 12 p.m. on Sunday. A loss would put Snohomish in the loser’s bracket against the loser of the District 6-7 game at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

But winning and losing aren’t the be-all and end-all in the upcoming days. For a team that started playing together in early-June, spending time outside at the ball fields with teammates and enjoying the tournament experience is paramount.

“(We need to do) the little things like prep steps so that you can easily get to a ball, and then just being confident at the plate,” said 10-year-old catcher Barrett Stedford. “Last year I don’t think we were as confident, and we weren’t as aggressive as this year.”

Stedford’s dad played baseball at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, so Stedford took up the sport as early as 4 years of age. His favorite player and team? Andrew McCutchen and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“My goal is just to get better to work up to try to be a pro,” Stedford said. “That’s what I want to be when I grow up.

“I’m kind of nervous (about this weekend),” he added. “I have a little bit of butterflies, but then I’m also excited to play.”

Outfielder and 10-year-old Carter Hembree began T-ball when he was around 5 years old. His family got him into the sport, since his mom played softball and dad and brother baseball.

“I was really happy (to win districts) because we changed some history because Snohomish never does well,” Hembree said. “We normally have a lot more practices, more than other teams. … We (also) have Will Garrett. He’s a really good pitcher. (And) our defense is just really solid (in addition to our) hitting.

“This year was my first year playing select, and I had all this winter off-season work,” he added. “It really, really improved my game, and then (the) all-stars (team) just help a lot more now.”

Getting the call to join the local squad was a goal that Hembree could now check off.

“(Barstad) called (me) to say I made the team and a few things, and I was just crazy happy because last year I didn’t make the team,” he said. “(Barstad) is really rough on you, but that roughness really helps you though. He pushes you hard and loves on you, like trying to get you to do better.”

His favorite teams? The Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners. Players? Cincinnati Reds’ Elly De La Cruz and Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani a close second.

His biggest inspirations? Mom and dad.

“They both played, and they put many hours to help me because they both have jobs and work, but they still help,” Hembree said. “They’ve helped with a lot of fundamentals like teamwork and hitting.”

Knox Barstad, the coach’s son, is 9 years old and turning 10 in a week. He is the team’s shortstop and says the position suits his athleticism and dedication to “leave my feet for any ball.”

Knox played on the all-star team last season under a different coach, but having dad in his corner this year is a different feeling.

“(The team) practice(s) every day, and he pushes us every day so we do the right thing, and it’s automatic in the game,” Knox said. “We have a pop-up game, and it’s a whole six innings, so we try to get however many outs there is in six innings. Then if we win, we go to do our favorite thing. That’s hitting. So he makes it like a tough thing that helps us work, and then he goes to the fun thing that we like to do.”

Snohomish trailed 2-1 against Pacific in the fifth inning but rallied back for the win, scoring four runs before the end of six innings. First baseman and 9-year-old Carter Bales said Snohomish saw Pacific’s speed and level of pitching, and on defense “we played as hard as we could” and got the win.

“(Barstad is) really hard on us, but he’s passionate, and he just really wants us to perform well,” said 10-year-old outfielder Jake Riehl. “He wants it for us, not for him. … (He grills) the little things of baseball that maybe people don’t always notice, but they are there, and they make a big difference.

“It really creates repetition and consistency,” he added. “It makes us so that when we get in the game, the games feel easy. So that’s why (Barstad) is hitting (balls) really high (and) really hard. So in the game, the kids won’t hit them as high and as hard, and we’ll feel, ‘Wow, this is really easy.’

“We got to play our brand of baseball, which is doing the little things, controlling what you can control: attitude and effort,” Riehl said. “We want to make sure that we’re focused, we’re locked in and we got to go ball out.”

Pacific, according to Knox, was “supposed to win districts” on paper, but that’s why the game was played. He said the team needs to play at state like they did against Pacific, and the trophy can travel with them back to Snohomish.

“We work together, and we get outs together, everything’s as a whole team,” Knox said. “We can’t do anything individual(ly). We need each other.”