Northeast Seattle is leaving its mark this summer
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Northeast Seattle right fielder Nolan Chang entered the press conference wearing a large chain around his neck. Stops along a summer-long journey hung from that chain.
The decorations have grown numerous as the wins have piled up. But there was a moment when it looked like none would have been added. Then Washington's state champion cranked up the velocity, turned up the offense and quickly started rolling.
Northeast Seattle survived a District 8 scare against Roosevelt University Greenlake, bouncing back from a 1-0 loss and edging it, 5-4. From there, Northeast Seattle went on a rampage, steamrolling its way through states and regionals before opening the Little League World Series with a 10-0 win against Maine.
Talk about leaving a mark while being the first team from Seattle to ever play at the Series. And now Northeast Seattle is trying to add one more chain decal.
"We're the first team with Seattle in its name to be here. We don't take that lightly," Northeast Seattle manager Christian Shewey said following the Maine victory. "We're getting a ton of support."
That support, which included a talk with Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais and catcher Cal Raleigh last Wednesday, has grown exponentially since Northeast Seattle won that hard-fought district championship. That one-run loss followed by the close win the next day provided the turning point. The victory, coupled with how Northeast Seattle achieved it, helped that chain keep growing heavier.
Disappointed with the team's performance against hard-throwing pitchers, Northeast Seattle's pitchers started turning up the pitching machines at practice.
The goal was to get the batters used to seeing consistent heaters coming at them. The machines often were set anywhere from 72 to 75 miles per hour. Hitters started teeing off in the cages and soon to their swings to the field, routing five state tournament opponents by a 48-4 margin.
"In districts it felt like we got a little bit stumped near the end because it felt like they were bringing the velocity and hitting their spots with it and we couldn't hit it," pitcher Trey Kirchoff said after throwing a one-hit complete game against Maine. "Once we started doing the velocity training, we could hit practically anything and we would mash off the machine when we sent it to 72 or higher. Some were even jacking it out at our home field which is still 225 feet."
Northeast Seattle continued jacking the ball at regionals, pummeling three opponents, 33-1. Sandwiched around a 9-0 victory were two mercy-rule triumphs and opening the Series with the victory against Maine made it three out of four against some of the country's best teams.
As the velocity and the pressure were turned up, Northeast Seattle switched its offense on and went into overdrive, entering Monday's winner's bracket semifinal riding a 10-game winning streak.
"We struggled more with our at-bats at districts than we did at states regionals, and the first game of the World Series. We took offense to that," Shewey said. "We took it upon ourselves to do what we call velocity training. Of course, it's just a pitching machine and it's not the same, but they got used to seeing it (pitches in the 70s). Once that happened and we hit states, all the sudden velocity stopped being something that shut us down."
Northeast Seattle continued showing that in its Series debut. Maine ace Kayden Oliver is a terrific pitcher who dominated at districts, states and regionals, throwing two no-hitters to help his team become Maine's second Series participant. Northeast Seattle, however, was able to break through and took control of that game by scoring eight runs in its final three at-bats.
Highlighting the team's balance and depth, all but one player reached base. Six different players produced hits from throughout the order and players went to all fields, hanging with pitches and utilizing strong approaches.
In the first two U.S games at the Series, four teams had combined for seven runs and 10 hits. In four innings, Northeast Seattle topped that run total and reached what was at that point, the most hits by any team at the Series. All that against a strong Maine team which entered undefeated and which had never trailed in a game all summer.
"They were hitting the baseball. Their lineup was tough," Maine manager Brad Shelley said. "They found holes that we didn't."
And a team which started surging when the velocity was increased continued adding more fans. These players often are the ones looking up at the Mariners but now it is the city's professional baseball players looking up at them.
Local restaurants have been filled with enthusiastic fans attending watch parties and hanging on every pitch. The team has felt the buzz despite not being home in more than two weeks. Soon, they will see all the joy they have brought up close.
The team that began excelling by turning up the speed will soon know that it truly has turned up the community's pride.
"It's been fantastic the support we're getting from home. It's amazing," Shewey said. "We keep hearing form all my buddies back home about how everyone is watching the game. It's exciting to have that support on our shoulders."