WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.
They’re only 12 and 13 years old but in a few weeks, names like Jason Todd, Dan Kingma, Derrick Mahlum and Alex Jondal became known across the state, nation and even the world.
Those four who have played on all-star teams the last four years together, lived and breathed baseball since early July with their other nine teammates.
They won 16 of 18 games before their run ended Aug. 20 without a coveted Little League World Series title.
But when the Mill Creek All-Stars return to Seattle on Monday, they will have memories to savor for the rest of their lives.
“Just being around baseball,” said outfielder Casey Dawes when asked what he enjoyed about his stay in Williamsport, where Little League began. “Everything’s about baseball.”
The players and their manager Scott Mahlum believed they could get this far after winning the state title as 11-year-olds last year. The team was one of the last eight all-star teams left in the world, only three games from a championship out of 16,000 postseason games played.
“It was amazing being one of the top four teams in the U.S.,” shortstop/pitcher, Derrick Mahlum, the manager’s son, said.
After the team met on the field for one last time following a 9-4 loss to Hawaii that ended its season in the U.S. semifinal, the players ran over to touch the bronze statue of Howard J. Lamade, the stadium’s namesake, as is tradition, as their proud parents watched.
The rivalry with Hawaii was tough, but friendly, since both teams got to know each other in San Bernardino, Calif., the site of the Northwest and West regionals. Both teams clapped for each other when they arrived after the game at the Creighton J. Hale International Grove, the dorms where the teams stayed.
“We have great respect for each other,” Todd said. “They’re a great team.”
During the tournament, e-mails were sent to the team via the Little League Web site, which the players enjoyed reading every day.
A Little League player from Centralia that Todd didn’t know sent him a message saying he looked up to him because he was such a great player.
“It’s cool that guys across Washington are looking up to you and stuff,” he said.
The players mingled with other teams and some traded pins as is the custom.
“It was a really fun time because we got to meet other teams across the world and across the U.S.,” first baseman/pitcher Alec Kisena said.
Dawes said he got a Japan pin and a Guam pin with a fish on it as well as a bunch from teams that weren’t in the Series but that among the hundreds visiting.
Mahlum said he learned some Japanese phrases from a translator for ESPN such as “Hello, what’s your name?” and “Would you like to play ping-pong?” the favored game in the recreation hall.
Now that the ride is over they get to go home after three weeks on the road living like Major Leaguers.
“It’s cool, but living out of a suitcase isn’t always the greatest,” said Dawes, who will enter eighth grade the day after Labor Day at St. Thomas More Parish School in Lynnwood.
Added Todd: “Home sounds good. My own bed sounds great, right now.”
The other players, most of whom go to Heatherwood Middle School, along with several who go to Gateway Middle School in Mill Creek, start school Sept. 3.
“It will be a lot different than last year. Obviously people watched our games. I’m looking forward to it,” said Todd, Mill Creek’s leading hitter in the series. “It will be fun seeing friends.”
Mill Creek is tentatively scheduled to take a bus early Monday morning to Newark and depart on a 7 a.m. flight for Seattle, arriving at Sea-Tac Airport at 10:10 a.m. on Continental flight 281.
The players scattered to do some sightseeing with their families on Thursday, and they planned to play Willemstad, Curacao, the Caribbean champions in an exhibition game Friday morning at Volunteer Stadium in Williamsport.
During the Series, other kids sometimes came up to the Mill Creek players and asked for their autographs. When asked if he thought the All Stars would be treated like celebrities when they get back to Mill Creek, Jondal said, “We probably will. It will probably calm down after awhile.”
Before he left to do some sightseeing with his parents, Jondal heard Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” being played over the public address system in Volunteer Stadium.
Jondal got a wistful look in his eye recalling that the team sung along when it was played before they got the final three outs in the regional final against Murrayhill of Beaverton, Ore., to earn its trip to Williamsport.
This summer, the Mill Creek All Stars believed and had a season they will never forget.
“We gave it our best,” Dawes said.
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