Green Valley all-stars finish one step shy of Williamsport

Adam Candee

Friday, Aug. 13, 2004 | 9:52 a.m.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Maybe such kaleidoscopic colors blend into the background after years of living in Las Vegas or, more likely, maybe the abrupt and numbing end of a whirlwind six-week ride left him in a momentary fog.

Whatever the reason, Don Harrison started to leave the field Thursday night without the conspicuous 4-foot-tall trophy of shiny colored metal and wood that his Green Valley Little League squad earned for its outstanding run in the Western Region tournament.

"In a couple of years, we'll have won," Harrison joked to a security guard about the unusually large second-place trophy.

The trophy, though, is a runner-up award for the 11- and 12-year-old boys from Henderson, as the Nevada state champions lost to Southern California, 8-5, in the title game of the Western Region event. A win would have sent Green Valley to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., but the hulking team from Thousand Oaks, Calif., will go instead.

"They're a really good team," Green Valley shortstop Cory Welch said. "They hit the ball and pitched well."

They did both well enough to put Green Valley into a hole which, despite a stirring comeback effort, it could not escape. Facing a physically imposing opponent with its home crowd behind it and knowing that Las Vegas was watching on TV on ESPN2, the middle school group showed heart to nearly erase a five-run deficit.

"It was really kind of amazing -- we were really rather focused today," said Harrison, the Green Valley manager. "I think our kids were more nervous for the Arizona game (in the semifinals), or maybe it was me. To be honest with you, I think we were really well prepared. I think our kids really felt we could win today."

The calm kids left the nerves to their anxious parents.

"Before the game, my hands were shaking so much that I couldn't get a drink," said Tom Brenner, father of Seth.

Southern California added to those shakes by grabbing a 6-1 lead after three innings, with Green Valley's lone run coming on Welch's towering homer to center field.

After shutting down the Nevada team early, Southern California starter Cody Thomson found trouble in the fourth inning by walking the first two hitters, Cooper Manwarren and David Day. Seeing Thomson's control problems, Chad Whiteaker worked a 3-1 count with one out and socked an opposite-field, three-run homer to right, delighting the 100 or so green-and-blue clad Green Valley fans who made the three-hour drive.

"I was just looking for a fastball and I got it," Whiteaker said.

Later in the inning, T.J. White bounced a single to left and came around on Welch's two-out double to right-center to cut Southern California's lead to 6-5 and prompt a pitching change. Welch had moved to third on the play by way of an error, but reliever Tyler Karp retired cleanup hitter Cameron Harper to end the rally.

Seth Brenner gave Green Valley a chance to make its comeback with a gutsy performance on the mound. Relieving Harper after a four-run first inning, Brenner, an 11-year-old left-hander, used myriad off-speed and breaking pitches to limit slugging Southern California to two homers over the next three innings.

Daniel Leon hit his second homer of the game in the fourth inning to restore a two-run lead for Southern California, but Green Valley looked poised to get the run back when D.R. Robinson led off the fifth with a slap double to left field. Robinson never moved from second, though, as Karp used a foul pop and two strikeouts to escape before retiring the side in order in the sixth inning to end Green Valley's hopes.

Tears flowed on the Green Valley side, where the runner-up trophy offered little solace in the wake of the loss to the players or their families. After playing together since June, the boys spent most of the past two weeks living together at the dormitories here.

Many of their families shuttled back and forth from Las Vegas to watch.

"The parents are probably more upset than the kids are," said Travis Harper, father of Cameron.

The parents will rely on the short memories of children to help soothe their kids' pain. Tom Brenner said that an average loss usually ticks with Seth only until the lights of Dairy Queen and the allure of ice cream come into view on the way home.

"Seth will probably worry about this one for about two hours," Tom Brenner said, hoping the same might go for him.

There will likely be more good memories than bad ones for the kids when they look back over the years at their run. Said Harrison of the crowds of thousands, national TV appearance and overall fantasy summer camp experience, "There is nothing like it."