Thanks to resilience, and yes, a little luck, Bonney Lake-Sumner heads to World Series

The high pressure started for Jess Workman when Bonney Lake-Sumner Little League’s regular season ended. Before that, as a team manager of 10 to 12-year-olds that included his son Parker, Workman focused primarily on developing players’ friendships with each other and their love of baseball.

When the 15-game season ended, his responsibilities shifted. As he did the previous year, Workman managed a postseason all star team, comprised of the best 14 age-group players the league had to offer. Like the other 6,500 local groups across the country, the Bonney Lake-Sumner all stars would play until eliminated; if they ever lost twice in a tournament, they would be sent home.

“Once you go into all-stars, the whole point is to win,” Workman told the News Tribune. “We want to continue to give players their time. But ultimately, if we don’t win, we don’t continue.”

Luckily, and perhaps unpredictably, the team has yet to do much losing. Many of the players were on a team that finished fourth in the Washington State championships last year, a team that had multiple 10-0 losses. But this year’s squad has left every game and every tournament victorious.

After vanquishing state competition with a mix of blowouts and tight games, the players flew to San Bernardino, California, to play in the Northwest regional tournament. On Thursday evening, the team trailed 2-1 against Bend North Little League entering the 6th and final inning. Liam Ferguson, the squad’s 12-year-old right fielder, was the first batter up in the 6th. Down to his last strike, he launched the next pitch he saw over the fence to tie the game at 2.

“That was probably one of the best moments of my life right there,” Ferguson said in a phone interview. “I wanted to get back to my team and just celebrate.”

In extras, the Pierce County team won the game on a controversial call; Braydon Rudolph, the team’s shortstop and first baseman, smacked a hard ground ball down the left field line. His teammate Ezra Seitz scored from first, but the umpires disagreed with each other about whether the ball was foul of fair. They went to the video replay; after reviewing the tape, an umpire called the hit fair and the game for Bonney Lake-Sumner.

“When they reviewed it, I was a little nervous at first,” Rudolph said in a phone interview. “But when they called it fair I was really excited and really happy”

With that conquest, the players earned both another championship and a berth in the Williamsport, Pennsylvania-based Little League World Series.

“It’s honestly on the kids,” said Workman, who is also a special education teacher at Bonney Lake High School. “They’re the ones that have put in so many hours of practice and tears, highs and lows.”

Not that the team was unfamiliar with come-from-behind wins. In one of the state championship tournament games, Bonney Lake-Sumner was trailing the Woodinville all stars 8-0 as they entered the final two innings. Instead of losing composure, the Pierce County squad fought back, tallied runs, and won the game 9-8.

“The way we battled was a lot better than last year,” Rudolph said. “[We] just cheer each other on and pick each other up.”

“It takes a team that supports each other and encourages each other,” Workman said. “That’s kind of what we’ve been preaching: when someone’s going to bat, give them as much encouragement as you can. If they come back and they don’t get what they want, we support them.”

In addition to the kids’ work ethic, Workman credits the assistant coaches, Scott Santman and Tucker Baker, and behind-the-scenes coach Scott Seibert for the team’s success. He believes they have all been instrumental in incubating a team environment that is disciplined yet supportive.

With their Northwest regional win, Bonney Lake-Sumner becomes the first team fully comprised of Pierce County players to ever play in the renowned youth sporting event. This final tournament, which will be broadcast Wednesday, Aug. 17 on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, will pit the squad against the nine other regional champions from across the country. Bonney Lake-Sumner’s game begins at 7 p.m. EST. If, once again, the players finish on top, they will face the international bracket winner in the world series championships.

When the team members leave their California hotel at 5 a.m. Saturday, they’ll fly across the country to Williamsport. They’ll have a few days of downtime before their first game next Wednesday, when they face the West region representative Honolulu Little League. The Pierce County 10 to 12-year-olds spent Friday evening watching Honolulu crush the Sidewinder all stars from Arizona 9-2 in the San Bernardino stadium.

Workman does not expect the intense pressure to loosen in Williamsport. After all, the boys will be playing for a world championship. Despite that, he wants to prioritize a good experience for the kids over the most successful experience possible.

“We get to play baseball in Williamsport, which is a dream come true for everybody,” Workman said. “We want to go in and compete with everybody, do the best we can. But, in the end, we want our kids to have fun as well.”

“Watching them go through these things and watching them build the team atmosphere that we’ve built, as coaches we couldn’t ask for anything more from them.”

Just before going to bed Friday evening, Mason Edwards, the squad’s 12-year-old lead off hitter, had a message for all Bonney Lake-Sumner fans still in Washington.

“Thank you for all the support and all the love for our team.”

Little League World Series: Bonney Lake Sumner vs. Honolulu

▪ When: 4 p.m. PST on August 17, 2022

▪ Where: Lamade Stadium, Williamsport, PA

▪ Streaming: ESPN or ESPN+