Mill Creek Little League team is calm, cool and collected

MILL CREEK — Things are so much simpler at the age of 12.

There’s no burden of expectations, no pressure to live up to a history of team and individual success.

For the Mill Creek Little League 12-year-old All Star team, the state tournament that begins today on its home field is just a chance to win more baseball games and take a step towards bigger goals.

And at 12, the pressure’s just not there. Even though 10 of the 13 players are back from last year’s 11-year-old state championship team, and even though Mill Creek has become a hotbed for baseball talent, producing the likes of Atlanta Braves infielder Brent Lillibridge, Toronto Blue Jays first-round draft pick Travis Snider and a number of other Division-I caliber players such as Cam Nobles at Washington and Danny Oh, a 2008 Jackson High School graduate who will play at Cal next year.

“I don’t think they feel that pressure, but I know us coaches do,” said Scott Mahlum, who is coaching the 12-year-old all-stars after leading the 11-year-olds to a title last year. “It’s been a running joke that if we don’t win we’re going to have to move out of here. There’s pressure on us, but you know what, they’ve been there, and even when they won state last year, they didn’t erupt into some big celebration. They just kind of expected it to happen. They’re that confident and they’re that good, and they were kind of just like, ‘OK, we did it.’”

There was a similar lack of emotion from this year’s team when it won a district title by outscoring opponents 59-6, and should Mill Creek win the state tournament, which begins today at the Mill Creek Sports Park’s Freedom Field, don’t expect a massive pile of players on the field.

They’ve got bigger things in mind.

“Our goal is to get to William-sport like every team,” said catcher Alex Jondal, one of four four-year all stars on the team along with second baseman Dan Kingma, shortstop/pitcher Jason Todd and shortstop/pitcher Derrick Mahlum (Scott Mahlum’s son).

Asked the same question, Kingma, Todd and Mahlum all agree that getting to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn., is their goal. “At least,” adds the younger Mahlum.

And the team’s coaches have no problem with their athletes setting high goals.

“We let them shoot big,” said Scott Mahlum. “Their goal, if you ask almost any of these kids, is to make it to Williamsport. Some may say that’s unrealistic and you’re setting yourself up for disappointment, but I think they honestly believe they’re going to be there.”

While Mill Creek has never made it to the Little League World Series, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the area has the talent to compete at the national level. When Jackson High went undefeated and won state in 2006, what is regarded as one of the best teams in state history was made up largely of Mill Creek Little League alum.

That team featured former Mill Creek Little Leaguers Snider, a top prospect in the Blue Jays organization, Nobles, a pitcher at Washington, and Oh, who will play outfield at Cal next year.

Lillibridge, a former Jackson and University of Washington star, is in the majors for the first time in his career with the Braves.

“I want to be as good as them when I grow up,” Jondal said. “So I like to have pros and really good players from Mill Creek to look up to.”

Most players on Mill Creek’s current team have a former player they look up to. Kingma likes the way Oh hits and gets on base, while Mahlum looks to Nobles for pitching inspiration.

“We look up to them and we’re like, ‘We want to be like them when we grow up,’” Todd said.

Todd, part of a pitching staff Mahlum calls the strength of his team, is one of the few players on the team to admit that any pressure may even exist, but he too is quick to dismiss any impact it could have.

“Kind of, but we don’t really care,” he said. “If we just go out and play our game, we’re good.”

Good enough, perhaps, to go all the way to Williamsport.

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com