The West Side All-Stars gave everything they had in their “Field of Dreams” run for a title
Each summer banners adorn the facades of several businesses throughout our town. Signs that read “Good Luck West Side” litter Hamilton, as our pride shines through once again. This year though, that pride was turned up a notch as the West Side All Stars made the deepest run in the Little League World Series in program history.
On August 29th the whole city was fixated on televisions screens. Whether it was at their homes or one of the local restaurants that showed the game, Hamiltonians didn’t miss a single out the LLWS Championship game between their own 12 year olds and the all stars from the state up north. While West Side came up just short losing to Michigan, 5-2, but Hamilton was proud of their boys all the same.
“It’s funny, I had a conversation with a couple of people that aren’t from Hamilton but have moved into the area. They mentioned a couple times now, how they didn’t realize how special Hamilton was with their baseball,” said Ken Coomer, the head coach of the All Stars. “They didn’t realize all the support that Hamilton has, and the tradition that is here. People outside of Hamilton don’t know what it’s like.”
The day the little leaguers came back they paraded through the West Side. Later that same week, Hamilton honored them as they once again paraded to Marcum Park in downtown. The crowd at Riversedge was thousands of people deep, a truly special celebration for an exceptional summer for these 12 year olds.
Hamilton West Side is not new to success. After all, their 12 year old all-stars have never lost the district tournament. The blue monster on the campus of West Side is draped with the state championships as well as their four regional championships (‘91,’93,’07,’10). But none of those previous all star teams accomplished what the 12 year olds this year did.
“I knew we could compete with every team we played against,” said Coomer. “But it wasn’t until we beat Louisiana that I thought we could do something special.”
For years the Southeast Region has been a powerhouse at the Little League World Series, so once West Side topped them the sky was the limit.
“Once we won that game, the kids’ confidence just seemed to go up,” said Coomer. “From that game forward pitching, defense and hitting everything started to gel.”
West Side had some things go their way, just to make it to Williamsport. Because of the ongoing struggles with COVID-19, the format of the tournament changed to include two teams from each United States region because of the lack of international teams. Also, one of their opponents in the Great Lakes region forfeited due to exposure to the virus. There is no doubt that West Side made the most of their chances, as they turned from regional runners-up to World Series runners-up. Their confidence and being a driving force behind them.
While most young athletes would cower at the prospect of playing baseball on ESPN, it hardly fazed the Hamilton All Stars– especially after the talk Coach Coomer had following their first loss at Williamsport.
“We had a nice heart-to-heart with the kids,” said Coomer. “We told them ‘Hey you guys made it this far, there is no need to put all this pressure on you guys– everyone is proud of you no matter what you do.”
From that point on their confidence and their ability shined as they caught the hearts of Hamilton. The plucky 12 year olds went on to beat Louisiana, New Hampshire, California and finally South Dakota before reaching the championship. Unfortunately, the run ran dry at the championship at the hands of Michigan– the same team who beat them at the Great Lakes Region Championship.
Though the time in Williamsport is over, the memories will last forever. Not just for the kids, but for Coomer and the coaches too.
“It still seems a little surreal,” said Coomer. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. We have some talented teams that have come through and haven’t made it that far. So to see these kids and how well they played together and how well they gelled. That’s what I’m going to remember.”
Soon, when the Blue Monster on field three is updated it will forever enshrine the 2021 All Star team as the Little League World Series runners-up. Not that Hamilton will forget anytime soon.