An early morning wake-up call pumped up some local Little League all-stars to prepare for their District 8 tournaments.
On July 3, Kenmore’s Northlake Little League coaches kept a tradition going with a 5:30 a.m. raid to rouse all the 10-, 11- and 12-year-old teams — picking up each player, one at a time — and have breakfast together at the Kenmore Community Center.
“This is no gentle ‘wakie-wakie’-type moment — we have whistles blowing and kids jumping on beds waking up their teammates,” said 11s manager John Legault, who added that the parents are all made aware a few nights before and roughly know when the coaches will be arriving at each home.
“The best house was the Damitios’ home, where they had two kids on different teams. Both 10s and 11s teams met out front and went into the house together. I watched about 20 kids creep up stairs and crashed the room, waking up the whole house,” Legault added.
After a broken light and a bloody nose, according to Legault, all the players were picked up and everyone met at the community center, where parents and volunteers greeted the kids with a decorated hall. As each team arrived, everyone was cheering and the kids lit up as they walked into the room.
After the breakfast — which Nancy and Mike Mulcare organized and featured pancake mix donated by Krusteaz — it was right back out to the fields for another two-hour practice. The coaches, all knowing that this wouldn’t be the most productive practice of the week, planned a little surprise for the 11s.
“At the very end of practice, I brought the team into a tight circle for a meeting while the other six coaches quietly grabbed pre-made water balloons,” Legault said. “At the end of the meeting, the coaches started firing balloons at the kids, who I think were a little shocked at first but quickly caught on and pretty much won this contest.
“Little League all-stars is a huge commitment for both players and parents. The bond between players, coaches and parents grow very strong after each 2-3-hour daily practices,” Legault added.
The Northlake 11s went the farthest in their double-elimination tournament, knocking off North King County, 11-1, in the opener, and then defeating Northshore, 2-0, and North Central, 16-6.
The team suffered its first loss in the winners-bracket finals to North East, 6-0, but rebounded to defeat Northshore, 11-6, behind three home runs and two double plays July 14. However, the locals’ season ended July 15 when North East notched a come-from-behind, 7-6 victory with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the title and hand Northlake second place.
“This is a great group of kids who play with a lot of heart and intensity,” Legault said. “We really have no weaknesses on this team. All of our kids have important roles and perform at their highest levels.”
PHOTOS BY GELENE LEGAULT AND ANDY NYSTROM
