Larch Mountain Little League has already made history, but has more in its sights.
The organization, combining Rochester and Tenino, has the chance to make a clean sweep of District 3 this week, which would send all four of its summer teams to their respective Washington State tournaments for the first time in its history.
Larch Mountain already has three squads moving on to State. The 10-year-old softball team — just two years after returning following a decades-long break — has punched its ticket, along with the 10-year-old and 11-year-old baseball teams.
All that’s left are the 12-year-old boys — a group that’s won District titles in the past two years and has outscored opponents 19-0 in the district tournament thus far, allowing just one hit total.
“It’s a pretty cool story for these two little towns,” LMLL president AJ Easley said. “And there are some cool stories inside the four teams, with softball making their return and for the first time ever going to state. And for the older boys, this is kind of their last hurrah and their shot to go to the Little League World Series.”
The Larch Mountain 12-year-olds will face Capital Little League in a semifinal Wednesday at Aberdeen, with a win sending them to the championship game Friday. As 10-year-olds, they won districts before taking third in State, and as 11-year-olds, they won districts before placing fourth. LMLL has never won a state title.
Should they take that next step this year, they’d head to San Bernardino, Calif., to play in the West Region tournament with a spot in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on the line.
The other three teams will see their season end after the state tournaments.
First, though, the teams have to get to State, and that’s a task bigger than simply two more wins on the field. For the first time, Larch Mountain is going to have to seriously fundraise to pay its way.
When the current 12-year-old boys made State two years ago, it was held in Lewis County. Last year, they went to Federal Way. Both let the players drive back home after each day of action.
This time around, they’d be heading up to Poulsbo, which would be one of the closest of the four tournaments to home. The 10-year-old softball tournament will be in Woodinville, the 10-year-old baseball tournament is in Othello, and the 11-year-old baseball tournament is in Anacortes.
And thanks to a Little League rule that limits teams to one game per day, a full tournament run could last up to a week.
“It’s not just a couple hundred bucks for a hotel a couple nights; it’s going to be thousands of dollars per family for each team,” Easley said.
Easley said Larch Mountain is already selling ad space on banners and calendars as a way of fundraising, and has set up a donation link on its Facebook page.
