Bonney Lake-Sumner Little League’s ‘summer of magic’ comes to an end with loss to Iowa

No one likes to end a season with a loss.

But in sports tournaments, whether it be the NFL playoffs or a high school state championship, losing the last game is nearly guaranteed. When a bracket is designed for teams to keep playing until they lose, the sole team that finishes with a victory is often quite outnumbered by the others.

The 12-and-under Bonney Lake-Sumner all-stars, the first Pierce County team to ever make the the Little League World Series, finished its tournament run with a loss against Midwest-representative Davenport Southeast Saturday.

When Davenport Southeast scored in the 4th, so too did BLS. When the Iowans tallied two more in the 5th, BLS did as well. But the Pierce County squad could not make up the three runs it allowed in the first inning, and the Midwest won 6-3. With that loss and the earlier one last week to Honolulu, it was eliminated from the tournament.

It could be easy to look at BLS’s World Series run, in which the squad went 0-2, as disappointing. But that perspective might lose the forest for the trees.

“We had a little conversation this morning [with the boys],” manger Jess Workman said in a phone call with The News Tribune. “We told them ‘You guys don’t understand this, but you guys started something in Pierce County that you don’t know yet … teams [know] they can now start doing this.’ ”

Labeling the tournament as disappointing for BLS also ignores the progress it made from game one to game two. While the team only mustered up one hit against Honolulu in its past game, it gathered eight hits against Davenport Southeast for a collective batting average of .320. In addition, the Pierce County boys reached base 12 times against the Iowans whereas only twice against the Hawaiians.

The team’s defense also made difficult defensive plays, highlighted by outfielder Ezra Seitz leaping to prevent an extra-base hit.

“It was letting [Davenport Southeast] know that we could do it,” Workman said. “You know, continue to believe and continue to battle. We’re not over until the final out.”

He praised the players’, parents’ and other coaches’ commitment to an intense practice schedule for the BLS squad to get to this point. Since the team formed on the first day of June, the boys have practiced at least five and sometimes seven days a week. In addition, many have fulfilled baseball responsibilities for their respective travel teams as well.

While that dedication has been rewarding, it has also taken a toll.

“The grind of constantly practicing and trying to get better and trying to improve for the next game,” Workman said. “It was baseball, baseball, baseball, baseball, baseball. And it’s a good thing, but we’re also gonna take the next three weeks off, just maybe relaxing.”

Despite the hard work, Workman is confident that the experience was worth it. He praised the boys for qualifying to a tournament he had only ever watched on TV. To him, the World Series’ competitive structure makes it extra memorable to have made it to this point.

“We told the kids that this was a summer of magic,” he said. “To be able to get there, this is probably a summer they’re never going to forget.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2022 at 5:28 PM.