WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Andy Audette was in pure disbelief.
Earlier this summer, Audette could tell that his son Colton’s Little League team was a pretty talented bunch. But even as the wins kept piling up, qualifying for the Little League World Series felt like a far-off fantasy.
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Fast forward to mid-August, and that fantasy has become reality. The Audettes are here in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the epicenter of the youth baseball universe. It is the final stop on what has been a magical monthlong journey for a tight-knit group of a dozen 12-year-olds from Bonney Lake, Washington. And the reward for being one of 20 lucky teams from around the globe to qualify for this renowned tournament was not just the opportunity to live out every young ballplayer’s dream, but something more. As fate would have it, the Little League team from about 40 miles south of Seattle made it to Williamsport in the same year the Mariners were making their debut at the Little League Classic, MLB’s annual showcase event held in cooperation with the opening weekend of the Little League World Series.
“The kids are what this game is all about,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who was back in Williamsport for the first time since his Illinois team reached the Little League World Series in 1981.
Wilson was one of several team personnel and Mariners staff members wearing official Little League apparel representing the Bonney Lake team.
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“When we arrived, seeing the team from the Northwest there and their reaction when we got off the bus, and the swarm of all of our guys,” Wilson said. “When you see it through that 12-year-old’s eyes, it’s pretty special.”
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Colton is one of those 12-year-olds. Nicknamed Little Dumper, a nod to the Mariners’ MVP candidate catcher Cal Raleigh’s magnificent Big Dumper moniker, Colton had become a tournament favorite during Bonney Lake’s run. Once the Audettes realized that an encounter with the star catcher could be in the cards Sunday, preparations were made: Custom T-shirts with “Lil Dumper” emblazoned on a drawing of a dump truck and Audette’s No. 22 — one for Colton to wear to greet Cal, and one to give to Cal as a gift.
It wasn’t that long ago that Andy and fellow coaches Scott Seibert and Chris Heacox were just hoping they could lead their boys to a state championship. Now here they were, seated behind home plate during…