Sprague Little League is representing the Northwest at the Little League World Series. (courtesy/Traci McHenry)
Update: Sprague Little League lost 6-2 against New Jersey-based Elmora Youth Little League. The team is scheduled to play at 5 p.m. Saturday PT, taking on the West champion team from Hawaii.
SALEM — For as long as they can remember, players on Sprague’s Little League baseball team would tune into the Little League World Series on TV, pondering being one of the players that walks onto the baseball diamond in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The series is the pinnacle for a preteen baseball player.
“Once we won regionals, we realized that we were going to Williamsport to play in the Little League World Series, which has been a dream of all of ours since we were very, very young,” said 11-year-old Riley Wilson.
Sprague Little League has had multiple firsts this season: first time winning the state championship, first time winning the regional tournament and now, the first Salem team to go to series.
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Wilson, a catcher, credits the team’s success to hard work. The group of 10- to 12-year-olds started practicing in December, months before the season began.
He said he’s looking forward to all the fans watching them play on TV. Sprague’s first game is against the Elizabeth, New Jersey-based Elmora Youth Little League, which is representing the mid-Atlantic region, Friday at 4 p.m. PT and will be shown on ESPN.
Excitement about the team’s success has rippled throughout the Salem community, and beyond.
Since the team arrived on Monday, there’s been nonstop activity. They’ve been outfitted with new gear like mitts and bats. Their uniforms no longer read Sprague Little League; now the jerseys are emblazoned with “Northwest.”
“I think they have that sense that they’re not just boys from Sprague Little League in south Salem anymore. They’re representing an entire region in the United States,” Riley’s mom, Kelsey Wilson, said.
Gavin Price, a pitcher, said most kids don’t get to have this experience.
The 12-year-old said he’s proud because, “I feel like everyone’s going to do their best and represent Oregon really well.”
On Wednesday, the team rode on a parade float through town.
Henry Mhoon, 12, said everyone wanted them to sign balls and every kid wanted to give them a high-five.
Kelsey Wilson, her husband, and kids took a red eye to Newark, New Jersey, Tuesday night. From there, they rented a minivan and drove three hours to Williamsport to watch their son play in a tournament he had only dreamed of advancing to.
“It’s like a crazy experience for them. It’s beyond any of their wildest dreams,” she said.
Winning the state tournament was a huge deal itself.
“I think we were ecstatic that they won the state tournament and were feeling like getting any win in San Bernadino was icing on the cake,” Kelsey Wilson said.
In a previous interview with the Salem Reporter, Manager Travis Price said boys were crying out of joy when they beat rival Murray Hill at the state competition. Price said Murray Hill was always the favorite to go to regionals.
But Sprague didn’t stop its winning streak there.
The team marched through the regional tournament, beating Montana 8-7 on Monday, Aug. 5, and then an Idaho team from Couer d’Alene 8-5 on Thursday, Aug. 8. The team faced that Idaho team again in the title game, taking a 5-4 win.
Wilson said with every day at San Bernadino she started to think, “Maybe this isn’t just icing on the cake, maybe we have a real shot at going to Williamsport.”
Sprague Little League is representing the Northwest at the Little League World Series. (courtesy/Traci McHenry)
Oregon has a rough history in the series — the state’s teams are 0-6 in opening games.
Going into the 2019 tournament, Sprague is viewed as middle of the pack by sportsbooks. Travis Price said the lack of a spotlight takes the pressure off.
“They were like ‘sweet, we can just play free,’” Travis Price said of the team. “That actually turned out to be a positive.”
He said having the team play in 13U tournaments this past year was important to show them they could play against the older kids.
Travis Price said he wants the boys to be expectation — free about the game.
“We’re just trying to keep them hard, fast and loose,” he said.
The team motto is: all day.
“We’ll battle all day, we’ll out grind people all day” Travis Price said.
The coach said the boys may not grasp the magnitude of the accomplishment now “but they will when they’re 25 or they’re 30.”
Price said the World Series appearance is a huge deal, because out of 7,000 little league teams, Sprague rose to the top 16.
And it’s an area that doesn’t have a large population to pull from.
“What do you think Jersey pulls from compared to Sprague?” he said.
Gavin’s mom, Lorissa Addabbo, said she’s heard that the New Jersey team was tough, but “at the end of the day they’re all still 12-year-old kids.”
Addabbo said no one has had it sink in that its real.
The team’s Gofundme account has raised more than $28,000 from 181 donors for travel costs as of Thursday afternoon, garnering support from around the community and greater metro area. Four Portland bars donated a combined $1,000 to the team.
Most donations have been smaller, from people who are related to team members or have played little league in the past.
On one donation, Noelle Reed commented, “This has been #18-Sullivan’s DREAM since he was a little T-baller and I can’t think of a better way to support this DREAM COME TRUE!! Take it to ‘em Sprague!!! We’ll be watching!!!”
Players on the team include Jacob Hoda, Avery Lohrman, Carson McNally, Henry Mhoon, Andrew Mhoon, Sullivan Puckett, Gavin Price, Aeden Saele, Spencer Shortis, Brady Strenke, Tommy VanBishler, Cameron van Kempen and Riley Wilson.
Last year, the team gathered to watch the series on Travis Price’s couch.
If you asked him what the team’s shot was then, he would’ve replied, “not in a million years.”
Have a tip? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250 or [email protected].
