Glory bound
Courtesy photo Coeur d’Alene Little League team members flash smiles after earning the Little League Northwest Championship title last weekend. Front, from left: Kyle Seman, Jake Dannenberg and Avrey Cherry. Back, from left: Cooper Smith, Braeden Newby, Nolan Christ, Caden Symons, AJ Currie, Chris Reynolds, Austin DeBoer, Chase Saunders, Cooper Erickson and Karl Schwarzer.
By DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer
For the second time in Gem State history, an Idaho team is heading to the Little League Baseball World Series.
For the first time, it’s Coeur d’Alene’s boys who are racking up the glory.
“The boys are feeling great,” Coeur d'Alene Little League president and dad Jeff Smith said Tuesday afternoon. “They’re on fire. They’re running around, doing interviews with ESPN. They’re shooting a Chick-fil-A commercial … They’re super, super excited.”
The team earned the trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., after defeating a team from Billings, Mont., last weekend in the Northwest Regional Championship in San Bernardino, Calif.
The team’s first World Series game will be Friday at 1 p.m. PDT against Michigan’s Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores Little League.
"As a parent, I'm very proud and extremely excited," said Smith, whose son, Cooper, plays first base. "The kids have given up their summers the last four or five years to be able to do this. The team has had a lot of success over the years. They've always had it in the back of their minds that they could do this."
As Coeur d'Alene Little League president for the third year, Smith is incredibly proud of all the players.
"The thought of going to Williamsport is just, it was beyond anybody's expectations and anybody's dreams," Smith said, getting a bit choked up. "When we won Sunday and won again Monday night, it set in that it had a chance to happen. People in the community who know these kids, they've started to believe."
While the Little League Baseball organization is covering travel, lodging and food expenses for the all-stars, their parents are on their own. Smith said this trip will cost some parents up to $4,000 for lodging, travel and transportation, not including food or if siblings come along.
"A lot have scrounged up and put it on their credit cards," Smith said. "They're not going to miss this experience."
Coeur d’Alene is one of eight teams that will represent the United States. The other U.S. teams are from Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.; Staten Island, N.Y.; Des Moines, Iowa; Coventry, R.I.; Peachtree City, Ga.; Houston, Texas; and Honolulu, Hawaii. This year’s international teams are from South Korea, Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain, Japan, Panama and Mexico.
Coeur d'Alene Little League is accepting donations to assist parents with expenses as they cheer on their boys during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"We're really focused on the families," Smith said. "It's been a huge expense. They had to travel to Boise, then San Bernardino for 10 days, come home 36 hours and then try to figure out how to get to Williamsport.
"It's stretched some budgets pretty thin."
Smith said those who would like to help can donate funds at any bankcda location, or they can mail a check to 2900 N. Government Way No. 13, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815.
The Coeur d’Alene branch of bankcda is located at 912 Northwest Blvd., and the Hayden branch is at 162 W. Hayden Ave.
GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/cd039a-all-stars-world-series