The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Longview Youth Baseball earned a berth to the Cal Ripken World Series in Aberdeen, Maryland, next week by winning the Pacific Northwest Regional.

Longview defeated Black Hills of Olympia 5-3 in the final.

In the tournament, Zachary Brown of Cathlamet pitched 12 innings, giving up only to earned runs and striking out 12. Zach plays shortstop, third base, and pitches. His manager, Jack Childers said, "Zach is our horse. I can put him anywhere in the field and know he is going to get the job done."

Longview Youth Baseball consists of the merger of three youth leagues, Western, Central, and Wahkiakum. Zach is the only member of the team from Wahkiakum.

According to Childers "Without Zach, we wouldn't be going to the World Series. His pitching and clutch hitting has carried us through the Regionals. The merging of the leagues has allowed us to be a true all star team from Longview and Cathlamet."

Without the community support that led to the construction of the indoor batting cages and the youth baseball fields, Zach wouldn't be chasing his dream of playing in a World Series.

"Wahkiakum's set up and facilities are second to none in this area. We are seeing the Cathlamet kids being fundamentally sound and I am sure they will provide the backbone to future teams like Zach is our backbone," said Childers.

Because the Cal Ripken organization only pays for the airfare to Maryland, the team is asking for donations. Donations can be made at the Bank of Pacific in Cathlamet or Red Canoe in Longview.

According to Kelly Weiler, his mother, if not for a combination of community foresight, money, volunteers and neighborly cooperation, even with Zach’s will to win, a trip to the World Series may not have been possible.

Decisions by a variety of community members over the last decade and noteworthy actions in the last seven years dramatically altered the landscape for competitive youth baseball in Wahkiakum. Money from foundations, local governments and direct donations, in-kind and volunteer services coupled with cooperation from the Wahkiakum School District and political leaders resulted in the creation of an indoor batting facility and several youth baseball fields behind the Wahkiakum High School.

However prior to 2005 even with new facilities, Wahkiakum Youth Baseball consisted of two or three teams that were generally limited to playing each other. With no formal Little League or Cal Ripken affiliation, Wahkiakum youth baseball had a limited game schedule and no eligibility to participate on all star tournament teams.

In 2005, Longview leagues changed their charters to include Wahkiakum County so that Wahkiakum players could have more baseball. Also, Western Cal Ripken Board of Directors showed Wahkiakum support by donating much needed new and used equipment even though, at the time, Wahkiakum had no affiliation with Western.

The World Series opening day is August 10, and games run through August 19. The games will be broadcast via the internet and television on cbssports.net. The official Cal Ripken website is http://worldseries.ripkenbaseball.com.