Elijah Diggins summed it up best when he described his feeling after the North Bothell Little League 12U team beat Kent, 5-3, last Saturday to win the state championship.
“I felt like I was in a dream,” he recalled. “Everything was going right – it felt like a really good movie.”
Diggins, one of the smallest boys on the team, ended up being the big hero, launching a three-run home run to give Bothell the lead for good in the fifth inning of the title contest, with pitching ace Carson Ryder going 5 1/3 innings while striking out five to earn the win.
All of Bothell’s offense came in the bottom of the fourth, as the team came alive for five runs, after being down 3-0 early in the game. Jacob Yost, who hit a single in the fourth inning, got the final two outs after Ryder reached the Little League-mandated pitch limit.
The team will be heading to the Northwest Regional Tournament in San Bernardino, Calif. which will take place from August 5-13, with the winner advancing to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., the ultimate goal for any baseball-playing kid.
Head coach Mark Ryder noted that this is the third year the team has been together, with mostly the same group of boys. Before this year’s dream season, North Bothell went to state two years ago and had an off-year in 2010.
“This last year we really dedicated ourselves – the parents bought in, the kids bought in, and we worked hard,” he said. “We definitely deserved it, and put in the work for it. It’s a great group of kids and parents, and they all get along… and they all have fun.”
CALIFORNIA-BOUND
Travel expenses for 11 boys and their families isn’t cheap, so to help cover those costs the boys and their coaches were hard at work at both the Canyon Park QFC and the Thrasher’s Corner Fred Meyer in Bothell on Monday and Tuesday, collecting donations and encouraging local residents to sign the banners the team will take with them to Regionals.
The tournament will feature a six-team field, consisting of the state champions from Alaska, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming in addition to Bothell.
“Seeing all the harder teams,” said Sam Petritz on what he was most looking forward to about the trip. “It’ll be a challenge for us.”
Added Diggins, “I’m looking forward to spending time with all my friends, and going down to California just to play baseball.”
Not only for the 11 and 12-year-old boys that got it done on the field, but also for the coaches, a trip like this is uncharted territory.
“I don’t know really what to expect,” Ryder said. “It’s just enjoying everything, I think the kids, they don’t realize what they’ve done, and what they’ve accomplished. Especially if we go down there and win this thing, and go on to the Little League World Series, that’s something that very few people get to do.”
Additional donations can be forwarded to Craig Lohr, c/o NBLL at P.O. Box 1305, Bothell, WA 98041.
To view the schedule and brackets for the upcoming Regional tournament, click here.
NBLL Fundraiser photos by Tim Watanabe, Bothell Reporter
