SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — When third baseman Cole Tomei saw an opposing batter square up to bunt in the second inning of Petaluma National's 5-0 victory over Fairfield, Conn., on Tuesday, his reaction was more instinctual than analytical. He charged hard, fielded the bunted ball, wheeled and threw quickly back to third base.
Asked later if he knew shortstop Hance Smith would be covering the bag, Tomei answered: "No, but I hoped he would be."
Smith was there all right. He caught the throw to force an advancing runner, then fired across the diamond to complete an important double play.
"That wheel play, we've been working on for two years," said Eric Smith, Hance's father and the Petaluma manager. "It just flowed because it wasn't something we'd just put in a couple weeks ago."
The city of Petaluma, Sonoma County, the rest of Northern California and indeed much of the country has become captivated by the plucky kids wearing yellow at the 66th Little League World Series. But as Petaluma National stands on the verge of a national championship — it plays Goodlettsville, Tenn., for the title at 12:30 p.m. (PDT) Saturday — it's helpful to remember that the team wasn't born here in central Pennsylvania, or at the regional tournament in San Bernardino. It's the product of four years of dogged effort by players, coaches and parents.
Eric Smith and coaches Trevor Tomei (Cole's dad) and Mike Slate (father of Porter) handled these kids, for the most part, as 10- and 11-year-old all-stars prior to this year. Smith said 11 of the 13 players were part of their traveling fall team, AE Baseball, at various times. The boys are switching to the Petaluma Leghorns this year.
"Starting at 9, you figure two to three practices a week, for six or seven months out of the year — and that's just the scheduled practices," Smith said. "What's made this group great is that the parents are fully on board to support their kids' endeavors."
Jeff O'Hanlon and Jessie Moore (fathers of James and Dylan, respectively) also were highly involved in the fall teams, but Little League insists on a limit of two official assistants for playoffs. O'Hanlon and Moore did what they could before the World Series, helping at practice or throwing Wiffle balls to kids before games at tournaments.
It's not always just the parents, either. Jon Banister, the boyfriend of Porter Slate's mom, Heather (and father of famed Empire softball player Sam Banister), built a batting cage at Heather's home. He has spent hours throwing batting practice in the cage to a variety of players, and when he's unavailable, the kids take turns pitching to one another.
And then you add up the games: 20-30 a year in the fall, plus about 20 during the Little League regular season, plus another 15 or more in all-star play.
"That's 60 to 70 games a year," Smith said.
All that time on the field has allowed the boys to form a deep rapport as well as develop their individual skills. When the kids were 9, they played against 10-year-olds and generally got their brains beat in. Their goal always was to stay on the field for as long as possible. If they were down eight runs, the coaches would plead with them to score a couple more and avoid the 10-run mercy rule.
At the same time, the coaches were teaching concepts they didn't expect their players to fully grasp.
"When we were learning defensive plays — like rundowns or pickoff moves — we knew they couldn't do it," Smith said. "But we tried to teach them a year or two ahead of where they should be. That way they'd be ahead of everyone else coming in who was just starting to learn those things."
The Petaluma players always have had their goofy side, as all preteen boys have. Smith and his assistants tolerate it — to a point.
"We've always taught focus on the field," Smith said. "During practice we don't let them get away with diving for balls when they don't have to, or throwing random pop-ups. Warm-ups are for learning good technique. Don't throw it behind your back to second base. Do it right."
In South Williamsport, the boys have seemed relaxed and happy, despite the crush of attention. They had a low-stress day Friday that included a trip to Dairy Queen, a visit to a local attraction called Clyde Peeling's Reptiland and some family time in the evening.
Now they must prepare for the biggest game they've ever played — a showdown with the only team that has beaten them here, and the only U.S team that remains undefeated. The winner will be crowned as the best team in the United States, and will play for the world championship Sunday.
It's all happening very quickly now. But the buildup has been four years in the making.
(You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.)
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