Little league World Series: ‘Something they’ll never forget’

Greg Hunter was channel surfing last weekend when something not only caught his eye, it rekindled one of his greatest baseball memories.

He stopped at ESPN’s telecast of the Little League regional tournament from San Bernardino, Calif., and thought about his own glory days as a 12-year-old.

Hunter played shortstop on the 1980 Kirkland National team that won the regional championship in San Bernardino and advanced to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

When he saw the regional on TV last weekend, Hunter sent a text message to his longtime buddy, Rich Miailovich, the second baseman on the Kirkland team, just to see if he was watching.

“Every year, I think back on that time,” Hunter said.

The memory hits closer to home this year because another Washington team, from Mill Creek, has made it to Williamsport after winnings its regional championship in San Bernardino.

Hunter, now the Seattle Mariners’ director of player development, knows what the Mill Creek kids must be feeling on the eve of their tournament opener.

They might feel intimidated, but they shouldn’t.

The week might seem like a whirlwind of ballgames and activities, but they should soak it all in.

It’s a time to be serious about baseball, but also to be a kid.

“It’s something they will never forget,” Hunter said.

He certainly hasn’t, even though baseball has become his livelihood.

Hunter went on to star at Washington State before being drafted by the Mariners in 1990. He played at four levels of the Mariners’ minor league system, then began working in their player development department. Now, he’s in charge of the minor league system.

Twenty-eight years ago, manager Don Cochran and coach Pat Downs assembled the Kirkland National All-Stars and worked them out twice a day. Hunter described Downs as a rough-around-the-edges coach who reminded him of Walter Matthau in “The Bad News Bears.”

“He didn’t have any kids, but he loved Little League baseball,” Hunter said. “He was pretty hard-nosed, but we got a kick out of him. Summertime in Kirkland was great.”

So was that team.

“For a Little League team, we were pretty darned sound,” Hunter said. “We had good pitching, guys who could hit the ball out of the park, we were good bunters and good baserunners.”

Todd Coleman was their ace pitcher and Nick Wharf also won several games. Three of Hunter’s best friends, who he remains in touch with today, were Miailovich, catcher Pat Coyle and right fielder Darin Mercado.

Kirkland Nationals won the state tournament to earn a berth in the West Regional at San Bernardino. It was a single-elimination tournament then, and the California teams comprised a huge challenge.

This was two years before the famed Cody Webster-led Kirkland Nationals team won the World Series championship in 1982. Until 1980, no Little League team from Washington had won a regional tournament.

“Southern California and Arizona, those teams had pretty high expectations,” Hunter said. “We were looking at the Southern California teams thinking, ‘These guys go every year. It’s going to be a long shot.’

“But I don’t think some of the other teams took us real seriously, We won the regional in San Bernardino and beat a Southern California team to do it. That was a real big deal.”

Even bigger was the next step — Williamsport.

“I’d never been to the East Coast before that,” Hunter said. “As a 12-year-old kid, you get a little homesick.”

It didn’t show in Kirkland’s World Series opener, a 15-0 victory over Des Moines, Iowa.

That put Kirkland into the semifinals against Tampa, a team that featured such future major leaguer stars as Gary Sheffield and Derek Bell, plus Cubs first-round draft pick Ty Griffin. They overwhelmed Kirkland 16-0.

Taiwan went on to beat Tampa for the World Series title, but Kirkland beat Trail, B.C., 2-1 for third place.

Hunter remembers life after Williamsport being grand. A large crowd greeted the team when it arrived at Sea-Tac Airport from the Series, and they were honored with a parade in downtown Kirkland.

“It’s after your sixth-grade year and you’re going into junior high, but everybody knew who you were around school,” Hunter said.

And while there could have been unreasonable expectations of a group that placed third in the world at such a young age, Hunter said that was never a detriment as they advanced through high school. They were talented multi-sport athletes who expected a lot of themselves, but most of all they were just having a good time.

“That was a good group of athletes and we didn’t just play baseball together,” he said. “We played soccer, football, basketball. We were still playing for fun.”

It’s not always like that anymore.

“I see a lot of kids these days try to specialize really early,” he said. “They should be playing for fun.”

Basically, that’s his advice for the Mill Creek team as it prepares to play in Williamsport.

“Enjoy the experience,” Hunter said. “Don’t be intimidated by any teams. They are there obviously because they earned it, and they’ve got a chance to win it.

“Most of all, go out there, compete and have fun.”