In the past, I’ve tried – and failed – to make a publisher’s column part of my regular routine. I was inspired though by a reader who – like me – was watching our local Pacific Little League team, representing the Northwest Region, play its inaugural game in the Little League World Series Thursday.

When our boys from Edmonds and Lynnwood stepped onto the field for the first time in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, they faced – live on ESPN – a very talented team from Chicago, and the score quickly became lopsided. I was watching that game, and so was one of our readers, Trinity, who put into words exactly what I was feeling at the time. She said:

I saw a terrific young pitcher struggling (the pitches were great, the bats on the other team were just on fire) as he was getting hit off of left and right. Mr. Corsi Jr. approached the mound and gave the most beautiful support to that young man. As the kid tried his best to hang tough you could see his heart breaking, Mr. Corsi Jr. was so awesome in that moment with his young pitcher, I choked up. Very impressive (both the young pitcher and his coach).

More coaches should coach like him.
Hang in there Pacific LL, I’ll be rooting for you on Saturday.

I had an opportunity to meet the Pacific Little League coach, Robley Corsi Jr., before the team left for the regional tournament. A genuine, soft-spoken man, Coach Corsi was clearly emotional when he talked about his team coming from behind to advance to the state tournament. At the regional tournament, where Pacific Little League went 6-0, Coach Corsi was named the Coach of the Northwest Regional tournament.

On Thursday, despite the team’s valiant efforts, Pacific lost to the Great Lakes Region champs, the Jackie Robinson West Little League team, 12-2. Pacific plays again at 11 a.m. Saturday morning, taking on the Midwest Region team from Rapid City, South Dakota. Win or lose, keep in mind that there are only16 teams that make it to the LLWS and of those, only eight are from the U.S. As a point of local pride, this is the first time Pacific Little League has sent a team to the World Series.

So hang in there Pacific. We’ll all be rooting for you.

Teresa Wippel,
Publisher