POULSBO — It’s a feat that has happened only once in the last 26 years. Or, for North Kitsap Little League’s true historians — only twice in the last 52 years.
The North Kitsap Little League American Major All-Star team stormed the district tournament at Snider Park July 7-13, winning six games in a row in a 13-team draw that saw squads from Port Townsend to Gig Harbor.
“What a great team,” said American’s coach Ken LeMay. “It was the first time those kids worked that hard in baseball and our expectations were to have a good showing and win. And they did.”
The team represented North Kitsap in Sammamish, winning its first game but dropping the next two to be bounced from the tournament. But it was one heck of a ride, LeMay commented.
“You put them out there on the field and things aren’t going right, they get upset,” LeMay said. “They are competitors.”
The day that North Kitsap’s Little League season ended, the 11 and 12 year old team was out practicing for All-Stars and had a strict training schedule.
“We only had two weeks to pull the team together,” LeMay recalled. “The kids probably took 250 to 300 grounders every day — they worked their hearts out.”
Players met for three hours of batting practice in the morning and would also have two-and-a-half hours of field practice in the afternoons to prepare.
In the first game of the district tournament July 3, North Kitsap’s Major American League team found itself down by three runs twice to the team from East and South Jefferson County, before winning in extra innings. But LeMay said it was smooth sailing from there.
“In extra innings, (pitcher) Austin Overton shut them down and our boys went to work with their bats,” he explained.
North Kitsap American beat Port Townsend in the next game 3-1.
“We walked right through,” LeMay recalled, “I never had a doubt.”
After two games with Sequim — one following the first contest due to line-up controversy in the first game — North Kitsap found itself in the district finals versus Bainbridge Island’s gold team. After NK beat the team 3-1, the islanders — who hadn’t lost, and therefore qualified to feed into the finals — got one more chance versus North Kitsap.
“Even the championship game, I had no fears,” LeMay said.
And for good reason: Overton had 14 strikeouts in the final contest and Rico LeMay hit a first inning, three-run home run to lead North Kitsap to its first Major Little League District Championship.
The team traveled to Sammamish July 17 to represent District 2 in the state tournament. Though its first opponent, Richland, had qualified for the Little League World Series a year before, NK went on a tear to beat the team 6-0 behind a single, double and home run by Austin Abrahamson.
Unfortunately for NK, that was the end of the line, losing the next two games — 5-3 to Silver Lake and 5-3 to Richmond. But for LeMay, the experience and growth of the team will mean bigger and better things for years to come.
“That was their last Little League game ever, but they brought a pennant to the clubhouse,” LeMay said. “And this is a Little League team that will move on.”
