Written by Monday, August 17 | 10:40 p.m.
BY PAUL DANZER
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER
The blunt truth: The all-stars from Evergreen Little League didn’t have enough pitching to compete with the best teams at the Little League Senior Baseball Western Regionals.
But it would be an ugly lie to say the team lacked pitchers.
For starters, you don’t win a state championship, as these 15- and 16-year-olds did, without a few guys who can toss a baseball pretty well.
But winning that state tournament, as it turned out, wasn’t the most daunting pitch job for this team. That came in the days following their triumph.
Over a four-day span, the fate of this club went from destined to stay home to Dodger Stadium.
Over a four-day span, Evergreen Little League went from pretty much broke to having enough money to fly 11 players and three coaches to Southern California for a week-long regional tournament.
That it happened is a tribute to the generosity of Clark County folks. Never mind that the team went 1-3 in playing four games in four days against champions from California and Canada.
When word got out that Evergreen Little League didn’t have funds to send its state championship Senior Baseball team to the regionals, it was fair to ask: How come? Other area leagues and teams had planned ahead and had the resources to complete their journey to regional tournaments without begging for help at the last minute.
But Evergreen Little League’s situation was different. Prior to this season, when the league moved to a new home at the Hockinson Community Park, much of its money went to make lease payments at Wineberg Park just to keep the league in business. This season, the league enjoyed its new home park. But there is no concession stand or clubhouse for the league there — the permitting process continues. The sale of snacks and soda is a main revenue source for many leagues, and Evergreen had none of that in 2009.
Sure, Evergreen had the usual in-season fundraising projects. But most of those wrapped up before the Senior Baseball season started. Its schedule runs later because many of its players are involved with high school ball through May.
In this difficult economy, raising funds is more challenging than in better times. Little League is a non-profit organization. Every Little League coach, umpire, board member is a volunteer. But it still needs money for equipment, uniforms, insurance. And, if its teams are successful, travel.
The Evergreen Senior Baseball all-star team — the best players from the league’s two regular-season teams in the 15-16 age group — spent more than a week at the state tournament in Bothell. Some of them camped. Others commuted. A few rented hotels and ate in restaurants.
And, according to the team’s manager, Greg Stegmaier, about half of the players were from families impacted by job layoffs.
Having invested so much time, money and emotion into the state tournament, the players and families were hurt to learn there were no funds to send them to the regionals.
They got the news six days before the team’s first scheduled game in Ontario, Calif. Knowing the odds were long, the players and some parents fanned out across the county and made their pitch for help. They also told their story to The Columbian and to area television stations.
A fairy tale ending might have seen the team wing its way to California and keep winning all the way to Bangor, Maine for the Senior League World Series. But playing four days in a row limited how much Stegmaier could use his best pitchers, and the manager said his team seemed both tired and timid at times during the regionals. So it ended.
Which hardly means it was a wasted trip. Their fundraising brought in more than the $15,700 needed to make the trip. The final tally isn’t in yet, according to Evergreen Little League president Kyle Smith, who said any money left over would go into a fund to support travel for teams in future tournaments.
Smith said the experience re-connected some former players and volunteers with Evergreen Little League. It also gave Smith a chance to make a pitch for Little League programs by explaining that Little League now accepts players who also play ball elsewhere, be it with their high school teams or independent clubs.
Those involved believe this team’s story will have a lasting impact.
“I don’t think they’ll realized what they accomplished until some time in the future,” Stegmaier, the manager, said.
He wasn’t talking only baseball. He also was reflecting on how everyone pitched in to make the regionals experience an unforgettable reality.
Paul Danzer covers Community Sports for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4521 or by e-mail at paul.danzer@columbian.com.
