The Lynn 15-year-old All-Stars’ family and friends were with them every step of the way this season. Photo by John Geyerman
By Steve Krause
WILLISTON, N.D. — Despite the bitter ending of a 7-6, heartbreaking loss to Eau Claire, Wisc., in the Babe Ruth World Series, Terri Elwell has one lasting memory of the tournament.
“To me, it was seeing all the kids line up and be announced for the first time,” said Elwell, whose son, Zach, is the catcher on the Lynn Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Stars. “That’s when it finally hit me that we’d made it.”
The spotlight might be on the kids out here, but the parents play a huge role. They’re the ones who washed the uniforms after every game because Babe Ruth requires them to be clean and neat, and you try getting dirt and grass stains out of lily-white pants. If there’s been a constant this week among the parents, it’s been lugging bags of dirty uniforms to the hotel laundry room.
“Yup,” said Elaine Nikolakakis, whose son, Anthony plays first base. “Laundry.”
Nikolakakis said her memory of the week will be pretty easy to conjure up.
“My son’s grand slam,” she said without batting an eye.
It was in Game 2 Monday night against West Fargo, and Lynn had to win the game after losing the first one to Atlantic Shore, N.J. Lynn only held a 3-0 lead when Nikolakakis stepped to the plate in the third inning. The ball shot off his bat and sailed majestically over the left-field fence.
When it comes to memories of this week, Tish Lilja has a unique one.
“My son, Danny, was the first batter of the entire World Series,” she said. “I’d say that’s a pretty special memory.”
Aside from laundry, the parents of these players, some of whom have been watching their boys play together since they were in T-Ball, perform a myriad of other functions. They organize team breakfasts and lunches, watch each other’s children, and, most of all, sit in the stands on tenterhooks as their boys play in increasingly pressure-packed games.
Also, said Kim Wilkins, whose son, James, is on the team, they have to make sure the players get enough rest.
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “But you know, at the same time, you have to remember they’re 15-year-old kids. You want them to have fun, too. You want them to have a summer.
“Their whole summer has been baseball,” she said. “When this is all over, and they come home, it’s going to be right back to school.”
The idea of them being 15-year-old boys isn’t lost on Elwell and Lilja either, or Nikolakakis.
“Sometimes I think it’s easy to forget they’re just kids,” said Elwell. “Especially when you’re sitting up there and looking down at them playing. It’s such a big stage.”
Lilja said that parents have to be careful about how they react to mistakes, too.
“You don’t want to say anything about someone else’s son,”she said.
They all feel as if hosting the World Series is something that could be good for Lynn.
“Definitely,” said Nikolakakis. “Fraser Field is a great facility. Why not?”
Despite the loss, there’s one message the parents would like to deliver.
“We’re grateful for the support everyone has shown,” said Chad Wilkins. “We raised about $40,000 in a short amount of time, and we’d like to thank all the donors, and all the people who pitched in to help us.”
“It’s been the trip of a lifetime for them,” Elwell said.