Northeast Seattle Little League makes history reaching Little League World Series

According to a spokesman at Washington State Little League, the Northeast Seattle All-Stars are the first team from Seattle proper to reach the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.

The team, which won the Northwest Regionals in San Bernarndino, Calif., will face the New England Regional winners in their first game at the LLWS on Thursday at Noon PT.

Ask Matthew Fischer about the moment he hit a walk-off home run to clinch the Northwest Regional championship, and it gets a bit blurry.

"I don’t even remember it – I had to pinch myself to see if it was real," Fischer said.

Real it was, as the group from the Laurelhurst/Maple Leaf Neighborhoods of Seattle won Northwest Regionals, punching its ticket to Williamsport.

"I can't believe we’re here," manager Christian Shewey said. "It’s a dream for the kids obviously, and certainly one of mine as well. So, it’s just unbelievable."

 Added Trey Kirchoff: "We’ve all wanted to play with the fans and the cameras and just be famous – so yeah, we’re just living the dream right now."

It's a dream that began by winning districts, then state, and now, after a regional win, continues on the biggest stage of all - as few as four wins away from winning a national championship and five wins away from winning it all. 

"When our team starts to hit, I would call that our superpower," Shewey said. "We hit up and down the lineup. And as I keep telling everybody, the bottom of our lineup has started just as many rallies as the top of our lineup. We don’t have a lot of weaknesses, top to bottom."

It's an enormous feat that's not lost on Shewey, who grew up in Redmond, and understands the significance of a team from Seattle (from the "west side of the bridge," as he called it) advancing this far.          

"Northeast Seattle has put themselves on the map and I’m super proud to be leading the charge of this team," Shewey said.

Added Kirchoff: "After our first game in regionals, a lot of my friends texted me, asking me is this you? It’s nice to know that all my friends are watching me and supporting me while playing." 

"Everybody’s been like supporting US, as a team. And it’s crazy to see how much support has come from Seattle," Fischer said.

Shewey's message to his team is the same as it was on Day One: "Be You. Be yourselves. Be the best player you can be. Control what you can control, and everything will work out."