For the first time in its 14-year history, the Mill Creek Little League will host the state Little League Majors Tournament.
The 12-year-old champions from 13 districts from around the state will descend on the Mill Creek Sports Park’s Freedom Field, July 18-27. The winner of the tournament advances to the regional tournament Aug. 1-10 in San Bernadino, Calif. The ultimate goal is the Little League World Series Aug. 15-26 in Williamsport, Penn.
Mill Creek Little League put in a request to host this year’s tournament last year and got its wish.
“We’re pretty honored with this opportunity to be the host league,” said Mill Creek Little League president Ed Lundberg. “Everybody in the community is pretty excited about hosting this. A lot of parents have put in a lot of time to make this a first class tournament.”
The first pitch will be at 4:30 p.m. July 18 as the District 2 champions meet up with the District 7 champions.
The opening ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. with a welcome from Mill Creek Mayor Terry Ryan, co-tournament director Tom Davis and Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick.
Mill Creek will be represented by its 12-year-old all-stars who won all five of their District 1 games, outscoring their opponents, 59-6.
Mill Creek swept Everett, 11-1 and 10-1 to take the title. Leadoff man Dan Kingma hit a three-run home run to lead the offense in the final game while Derrick Mahlum struck out 12 in 4 2/3 innings to get the win. Joakim Soderqvist pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and struck out three. Fifteen of the 18 outs recorded by Mill Creek were by strikeout.
Ten of the 13 players on the team played on Mill Creek’s 11-year-old all-star team that won the state 11-year-old state tournament last year.
The squad, managed by Scott Mahlum, includes four players who have played together the last four years: Kingma, Mahlum, Jason Todd and Alex Jondal.
“I think most teams have three or four good players that stand out,” Scott Mahlum said. “The difference with this team is all 13 kids can hit the ball. They all can hit and catch.”
Mill Creek also has a strong pitching staff led by Todd, Mahlum and Joakim Soderqvist.
Another key to the team’s success is winter training. “Most of the kids here train all year-round,” Mahlum said.
Derrick Mahlum described his team as “dominant” because of its top pitchers and hitters.
Kingma bats leadoff, followed by Mahlum, Todd, Soderqvist and Jondal.
The players said they look forward to playing at state in front of a hometown crowd.
“We get a bunch of people coming to our games and everything,” Jondal said.
The games will be broadcast live via podcast at www.eteamz.com/millcreek/. A stationary camera will provide the video and the audio will come from announcer Ken Circeo.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
