DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

First, a thank you to all of Pahrump-area individuals and businesses who have contributed money to the Pahrump Valley Senior Little League All-Stars, who will seek the West Regional Championship at Salem, Ore., starting Sunday.

Those people include Charlotte Floyd, Lou Banuelos, Floyd's Ace Hardware, Joe and Marla Quercia, Palm Harbor Homes, All-Star Real Estate, Pahrump Florist, Custom Backhoe, Pahrump Hearing Center, and All-State Insurance.

The 10-day trip will cost more than $12,000, including air fare (the team leaves McCarron International Airport Saturday morning on a flight to Portland); ground transportation, once in Salem; hotel accommodations for the official party of 15 (11 players and four coaches), and other expenditures, not the least of which is feeding them.

If any individual or group wishes to help financially, call 1-775-209-0413 or send contributions to the Little League at P.O. Box 1138, Pahrump, NV, 89048. The Pahrump Little League has non-profit status, so contributions are tax-deductible.

Now, to Pahrump's version of 'Field of Dreams."

Winning Pahrump's first-ever Little League state championship seems a logical extension of what happened in May, when the high school Trojans advanced to the Nevada Class 3-A state championship game before being eliminated by Las Vegas Faith Lutheran.

The schedule at the Oregon regionals will be equally intense for this group of 15- and 16-year-old boys.

There is the Pool A opener at 7 p.m. Sunday at Parrish Little League Field against Southern California, with subsequent games against Montana (1 p.m. Monday), Washington (1 p.m. Wednesday) and Oregon (1 p.m. Friday. Pool play precedes the single-elimination tournament that decides which team goes to the Senior LL World Series at Bangor, Me., later in August.

In Pool B are Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Northern California and Arizona.

Three teams have already qualified for the World Series, incidentally. They are from Saipan, CNMI (Asia-Pacific region); Lithuania (Europe), and Venezuela (South America-Caribbean).

So, imagine the possibilities for these Pahrump youngsters, who have nothing to lose, but everything to gain by going to Oregon and doing the best job they can.

Pahrump's team has already fought through two levels of playoffs that in previous years produced relatively little success for the Maroon-and-Gold.

The team is 13-3, including an incredible 5-1 run in the post-season. In those six games, the Trojans outscored opponents 92-25, including a 30-8 rout of the Nevada Central Division in the state championship game in Las Vegas last weekend.

On the team are Jarret Holley, Cody Nielsen, Ron Torres, Danny Cazier, Kent Jasperson, Tyler Lepley, Michael Gonzalez, Corey Veloz, Dominic Swiden, Ethan Wald and Garrett Darr. The coaches include Rob McBride and Fred Pang.

Pang, who once helped Lou Banuelos in the Pahrump Roosters' adult program, said "This is a lot more fun, working with these kids."

"There is one thing you can say about every kid on this team; they all worked hard," said Tim Cazier, one of the coaches, during a team workout at Honeysuckle Park Wednesday. Manager Brandon Bietar had to travel to Indiana for personal reasons, but will rejoin the team in Salem Saturday.

"Everything we've asked them to do -- bunt, swing away, play defense, pitch, catch, run the bases -- they've done it," said Cazier. "Every one has taken turns being leaders. They have come up with the big hit and the clutch defensive play and they have done it with class."