Santa Rosa All-Stars cope with fire trauma through baseball

Mark West Little League isn’t just about baseball. It’s about family.

That tenet was put to the test this past year when a quarter of the league’s families lost their homes in the October wildfires.

But they persevered, as they had to, going to school, going to work, through an abbreviated Fall Ball season.

Then baseball season started anew in early spring, bringing it with it new hope and fresh green fields. Still, the pain and devastation from the fires hung in the air.

But as the season progressed, the intermediate Little League 13-year-olds have rallied together to form an All-Star team that has served as a welcome distraction from the heartache felt by so many of the 404 families in the northern Santa Rosa league.

Family doesn’t just mean relatives for Mark West Little League members, said league president Kevin Wood.

“People laugh together, cry together - and we did a lot of that together - we spend life together,” he said. “These kids go to school together and play together. You create bonds and friendships that last a lifetime.”

Today, they travel to Woodside to begin their sectional championship tournament, with hopes of advancing to the regional round and potentially the Intermediate 50/70 World Series in Livermore in August.

The story of this season actually starts before the season began.

Just three days before tryouts, the board sent out an email blast alerting league members that there may not be a 50/70 league this year because there were no coaches.

Eric Cannedy and a buddy of his stepped up to volunteer to manage the two teams. Both had coached before and both had kids in the program they didn’t want to see miss out.

“We manned up and took a team each so our boys can enjoy their last year of Little League before moving up,” he said.

He has watched as the community came together after the fires to support the league.

The league hosted a BBQ with all the teams they play against and about 300 people showed up, Wood said.

“We had free gear to pass out because we started receiving donations immediately,” he said. Wood, who had just gotten a large container to store gear, filled and emptied it three times with all the donations from community members.

“It was bigger than just Mark West, it was baseball. It was the community,” he said. “Everyone rallied together in October and we really had a great bond between different leagues.”

After the regular season, an All-Star team is formed, a combination of the two Mark West squads.

Cannedy, who fled his Larkfield home with only time to grab his keys, said it’s been an emotional season for so many kids, their parents and coaches.

Twelve coaches and 110 players’ families lost their homes in the fires. And if you didn’t lose your home, you surely knew someone who did.

Baseball became a focal point, a safe place away from the scary uncertainty.

“The scars are still there. People are emotionally still healing,” Cannedy said. “It will take a long time. But baseball has given the families something to rally together.”

“Whether you were affected or had family or friends who were affected, everyone was effected,” Wood said.

The parents of one player whose home was lost suggested the boy get counseling.

“He goes, ‘Mom, I’ve got basketball, I’ve got baseball. This is my counseling,’” Cannedy said. “The friendships he has, that’s the counseling he needed, the support group they needed.”

Winning the district tournament might have been reward enough for such a challenging season, but the ride isn’t over. Today’s tournament runs through Thursday, and if they win there, it’s onto regional play.

“The people at Mark West really needed a distraction, really wanted a distraction,” Wood said. “But more than a distraction, they wanted their family. Our biggest thing at Mark West is, it’s baseball families. It’s more than just coming to a sporting event, more than participating in a sport. It’s being part of a family.

“I spend more time with people at Mark West than I do with my actual relatives. To take that to 50/70 to win district and move on to sectionals is a huge representation of that family time.”

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.