Todd C's Blog: Baseball 2019--A Championship Season

Another Little League Baseball season has come to an end, and it was one of the most enjoyable seasons I've had. I assisted my friend Jim Walker in coaching the Cardinals in the Burlington-Edison Little League Majors division, along with Brad Stallings and Sean Lockwood.

We had a small but strong team of nine players--three 12-year-olds, five 11's and one 10-year-old. We went 13-1 in the regular season, our only loss coming on a forfeit when one of our players was ejected for accidentally throwing his bat. We were up 10-2 at the time.

In our post-season tournament--the Andrade Tournament in Oak Harbor, we won 9-1, 13-0 and 20-5 before winning a thriller in the championship game 5-4. Cash knocked in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

When the season was done, we moved on to All-Stars. Five of our players made the team--Cash, Tyler, Hamza, Chloe and Landon. We breezed through the district tournament, 20-1, 14-0, 4-0 and 10-0. Two of the games were combined no-hitters. Cash was dialed in, going 10-for-15 in the tournament, including a 3-run double for the game winning RBI in the semi-final. He also pitched in both the no-hitters.

The final leg of the season involved traveling to Richland, WA, for the Washington State Little League Tournament. Last year we were blown out in two games, both of them 10-run shutouts.

We were hoping for more this year, and our first game was a battle. We took a long time to get our bats going, and were down 4-1 going into the sixth inning. We came alive and tied the game, taking it to extra innings. We scored once in the top of the eighth, but gave up two in the bottom to fall 6-5.

Our second game was against a really good North Bothell team, and we knew it would be a battle. We fought hard and refused to let them blow us out, eventually losing 11-5. North Bothell eventually won the tournament and became Washington state champions.

It would have been great to win a game or two, but we fought hard to the finish in both games, and scored ten runs in two games--a good showing.

Years from now, I know I'll remember the people and the conversations as much as the games. While the kids enjoyed some independence playing wiffle ball in the hotel parking lot and hanging out at the pool and hot tub, the parents all gathered on the hotel patio to eat and drink and tell stories and laugh. We laughed a lot.

Sometimes you end up on teams where there are clicks, with both players and parents. But this team was special. The kids all got along, on and off the field. They were a true team. And the parents were a wonderful group of people. Everyone hung out together and had fun and cheered our kids on.

The conclusion of the season also means changes for me moving forward. I've coached with either Brad or Jim or both for the last six years.

Both their boys are twelve and will move up to the next level next year. Cash has one more year in Majors, so I'll coach him along with Sean. I'll miss coaching with Brad and Jim, but look forward to becoming manager again after two years of assisting. I'm also looking forward to working with Sean again--he is a great coach and a great friend.

That will be it for Cash and me, our last season of Little League. I'm excited, but right now it's time to turn our attention to soccer!

Here are some pics from the season.