Summerlin South’s magical ride leads to Williamsport, LLWS
It all started June 28 at a place called Rainbow Family Park.
Twelve Summerlin boys wearing clean uniforms converged on a hot summer day and unpacked their bats and gloves to play some baseball. They faced a team called Mountain Ridge in the District 4 Tournament, whom they promptly defeated 8-2. It was the first postseason win of many.
And it was the start of something magical.
Summerlin South’s All-Star team continued to roll through a summer that would culminate with a 6-3 victory over a team from Utah in the Little League Mountain Region tournament, punching its ticket to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Of the 2.5 million players across the United States and the rest of the world, these 12 are now among the last 240 standing.
The Nevada squad will be one of 20 teams remaining when it takes the field at noon Wednesday against Clarendon Hills, Illinois, the Great Lakes Region champion. With skills, focus and a little luck, Summerlin South hopes to be on the diamond when the national anthem kicks off the international championship game Aug. 24.
“We’re still looking at how we’re going to attack this thing,” said coach TJ Fechser, who knows almost nothing about his team’s opponent. “We haven’t even decided on a pitcher yet. We’re looking at it and talking it through.”
Fechser said last week’s regional helped the coaching staff understand how to approach games against unknown opponents.
“We’ve basically lived in Reno and San Bernardino,” said Fechser, referring to the state and regional tournaments. “We’ve conditioned ourselves for this, and we’re not worried.”
The ESPN audience will not see the summer workouts, in which defense was primarily emphasized. They will not hear Fechser’s motivational speeches about staying in the moment and avoiding premature celebrations. But those things will be apparent as the players perform their art.
They are 10-0 in the postseason and stormed through the regional by outscoring opponents 45-15.
Can they be stopped? The level of competition at the LLWS is elite, so maybe.
Summerlin South is the fourth Nevada team to make the tournament and would be the first to win the championship. Paseo Verde appeared unstoppable last year and won its first two games before running into teams from Boerne, Texas (Southwest Region) and Lake Mary, Florida (Southeast).
Mountain Ridge reached the U.S. championship in 2014 before being eliminated by Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West Little League, which was later disqualified for using ineligible players. Nonetheless, the Nevada team did not appear in the international championship game, cheated out of a chance to play for state history.
But there’s a chance. There’s always a chance in baseball, especially in Little League. Summerlin South proved that by turning an 8-0 deficit into a 22-12 win over Utah last week in the first of two meetings between the teams.
Maybe Garrett Gallegos’ powerful pitching arm will make the difference, or Cache Malan will hit another key home run. Perhaps leadoff hitter Ethan Robertson will lead the way with another three-hit game. Or the hard-working and underappreciated Dustin Greusel could make a game-saving tag at the plate.
Or maybe the key moments will come from the bottom of the lineup, or from the bullpen.
There’s only one certainty about the 79th LLWS, and that is the fact that 12 boys from Summerlin will not go down without a fight. Win or lose, they plan to make their state proud.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.