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The Arlington Times • The Marysville Globe
June 19, 2013
Local Little Leaguers impress lsalcedo@arlingtontimes.com
ARLINGTON — When Kyle Seager hit a grand slam into the stands of Safeco Field in a June 5 Mariners’ game, Stilly Valley Little Leaguer Zac Wilch retrieved the ball and handed it to a toddler who had been knocked over in the shuffle to grab it — an act of kindness that would soon be rewarded. “It just seemed like the right thing to do,” said Wilch, who was attending the game as part of a birthday party for friends on his Little League team, the Cardinals, coached by Mark King. The younger boy had been knocked over by his father, who was rushing to reach the ball, and when Wilch saw the boy crying, he handed it to him and said, “Here you go.” Wilch said he didn’t think much about what he was doing, it was just natural. “The ball got hit toward where we were sitting and the dad got the ball, but he dropped it and it went rolling away from him,” said Wilch. “He pushed the kid over to get to the ball, and I picked it up and handed it to the boy.” Wilch has been a Mariners fan for his whole life and said that he would have kept the ball if the trampling incident had never occurred. Zac’s mother, Missy Wilch, said she is proud of her son, and his teammates, for being so kindhearted. “It was the 14th inning and they were thinking about leaving but said, ‘No, I think we should stay just a little longer.’ Then Kyle Seager hit the grand slam and Zac had his sights on that ball,” she said. “The boys all noticed that the little boy was crying and Zac just gave it to him and he stopped crying. I said, ‘That was really nice, why did you do that?’ and he told me, ‘Oh, it just felt right.’” Austin and Brandon King, twin sons of Coach Mark King
who were celebrating their birthday at the game, conferred with Wilch and together they decided to give the toddler the ball. “We were there for the game, for our boys’ birthday, and a bunch of their friends came with them,” said Mark King. “We sat through the whole game to the 14th inning, and the White Sox had scored five runs, so we thought, ‘Oh well, I guess we can start make our way to the exit.’ One of the boys said he wanted to stay because the Mariners started to get some hits. So I said, ‘I guess we’ll stay.’ They had the bases loaded with one run in already and that’s when Kyle Seager stepped up to the plate. The ball landed right next to them, and it bounced and rolled over by Zac and he picked it up. The boys noticed that the little boy had been knocked down, and said they wanted to give the ball to the boy. And that’s what Zac did. He felt sorry for him because he was crying.” Wilch and the rest of the Cardinals and Stilly Valley Little League received quite a prize on Wednesday, June 13, when they shut out a team from Mill Creek Little League to win the North Everett Little League’s JKA Tournament. On the same day, the Stilly Valley Knights topped the North Everett Little League VFW team in the final game of the Marysville Strawberry Tournament — the same tournament in which pitcher Nick Mardesich pitched a perfect game. Mardesich and his North Everett Little League VFW team beat the Mill Creek Little League’s Cardinals by a score of 4-0, with Mardesich throwing 63 pitches and 11 strikeouts on June 5 — the same day the Stilly Valley Cardinals nabbed Kyle Seager’s grand slam ball. “The Cardinals won the JKA Tournament 6-0, and that’s pretty impressive because Mill Creek is a program that has ended up sending a team to the Little
League World Series. Mill Creek is pretty serious about their ball,” said Wilch. “The tournament was great. They were all pretty excited,” said King. “Bob Harns runs that tournament and did a great job, and he is just another example of how to do things right. The whole crew at NELL did a fantastic job and the Stilly people love going to that tournament.” Cardinals pitcher Andrew Smith led the team to victory. “All the kids played great, and Andrew Smith had an incredible night pitching with 14 strikeouts in the final,” said King. The first-place win for the Cardinals, only a week after the boys’ selfless act at the Mariners game, seemed a great way to wrap up their season, but there is still more celebrating to do. “We are going to be doing a team wrap-up celebration on June 27 at Rhodes River Ranch restaurant,” said Wilch. For more information on Stilly Valley Little League, visit www.stillyvalleyll.com. For more information on the Strawberry Tournament or Marysville Little League, visit www.marysvillelittleleague.net.
Courtesy Photo
Zac Wilch, center, hands a grand slam baseball to a toddler who was knocked down during the shuffle to reach the ball on June 5.
Lauren Salcedo/Staff Photo
Pat Taylor, center, won first place in her age group during the 2013 Strawberry Festival Berry Run, and also walked away with a raffle prize.
‘Berry Run’ draws hundreds BY LAUREN SALCEDO lsalcedo@arlingtontimes.com
LAKEWOOD — The Strawberry Festival’s annual Berry Run 5K kicked off the festivities on Saturday, June 15, as more than 170 runners and walkers convened at the Plant Farm at Smokey Point for a 9 a.m. start. “It was great. We had a great group of volunteers and a lot of help from the Marysville Police Department, and support from the Plant Farm,” said Jeff Sowards, event organizer and Lakewood High School cross country coach. “Everyone had a really good time, and the new course, with the overpass, didn’t seem to slow anyone down.” The Berry Run is a 5K and 1 mile run/walk hosted by the Lakewood High School cross country team, and funds raised at the event help send their top runners on a yearly trip to Stanford, where they can learn a lot from collegiate level runners. The race is also one of the first events at the Strawberry Festival, which held more activities throughout the day in Marysville, including a carnival, market and grand parade. “Last year, we only had around 115 participants, which was really disappointing,” said Sowards. “We
are finding ways to continue to make it a bigger event. Of course, our dream is to have it right before the parade, on the parade route, so people can cheer on the runners. We will continue to work on that and we are extremely thankful to the Plant Farm for being so accommodating.” Ariel Jensen, the 2012 Strawberry Festival President’s Marshal, and her family participated in the Berry Run for their fourth year. “They had a lot more people come out this year, so it was great for the community,” said Jensen. “It was great to run it again.” Jensen’s mother, Jodi Jensen, was happy to be running in support of local athletics, on what she said was “the perfect day for a run.” “It’s great that it’s supporting the cross country team and you can’t beat the weather. It’s perfect,” Jodi Jensen said. Runners of all ages and abilities trekked through the course, and the top finishers in each age group received awards. Others were drawn at random by their bib numbers to receive raffle prizes, all donated items, which included gym memberships, tanning, bouncy house rentals and more. The results of the run are posted on the Marysville Strawberry Festival’s website at http://maryfest.org.
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BY LAUREN SALCEDO