'Everybody's talking about it'

The boys from Billings are the talk of the town.

The Montana team’s thrilling 1-0 win over Huntington Beach, Calif., at the Little League World Series on Wednesday has dominated discussions at local sports bars, restaurants and office lunchrooms in the Flathead Valley, and the anticipation for Saturday’s U.S. championship game is palpable.

“The excitement is great. People are still talking about it,” said Chris Gillette, owner of Fatt Boys Bar & Grill in Kalispell. “We had a full bar, about 150 people” to watch the game on Wednesday. “We had kids here. It was a real family atmosphere.”

At Moose’s Saloon on Thursday, several tables of lunch-hour customers were replaying the exciting final seconds of the game — Ben Askelson hitting the game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. At one table, parents with a son about the same age as the Billings players were going over details of the game.

On Thursday afternoon, a bartender at the Bulldog Saloon sports bar in Whitefish assured that the crowd there also was in a celebratory mood.

“Everybody’s talking about it,” she said.

Longtime youth baseball coach Dan Johns of Kalispell said he watched the entire game against Huntington Beach.

“It was a good thing I was paying attention in the bottom of the seventh, because it was over with in a hurry,” he said with a laugh.

Johns said he is impressed with the young Big Sky team’s ability to handle the pressure of playing in a national arena. The Billings team is the first ever from Montana to reach the Little League World Series.

In taking down the California team, the Montana boys had to overcome a powerhouse that had outscored its opponents 21-0 and had 23 hits in its first two games.

But Montana pitchers Cole McKenzie and Sean Jones held Huntington Beach to three hits in Wednesday’s semifinal game, setting up Askelson for his walk-off homer heroics.

“This has been good for the sport and good for Montana,” Johns said. “It’s great for all youth sports and activities” because it shows what can be accomplished with teamwork.

“I coached at that level for over 20 years and to go six innings with no score is very unusual,” Johns observed. “Both teams were playing to the best of their ability.”

These days Johns is focusing on the Miracle League and coached two teams of special-needs youths this summer.

“They’ve taught me more than I’ve taught them,” he said.

Roy Beekman, another local longtime baseball coach, said there’s no way he would have missed watching Wednesday’s game.

“Several have asked me and I’ve told them, ‘Yes, of course I was watching,’” Beekman said. “It’s exciting, and it’s about time Montana got someone in there.”

Beekman grew up playing sandlot baseball and went on to coach Pee Wee and Babe Ruth for 20 years. He worked alongside Johns to get the Kidsports athletic complex built and also helped develop Miracle Field.

Beekman plans to watch Saturday’s game at the Buffalo Hill clubhouse with a bunch of golfing buddies.

It’s a safe bet that weekend activities in the sun will take a backstage to baseball fever when Montana steps up to the plate on Saturday afternoon to play for the U.S. championship.

“We’ll have a good crowd,” Gillette promised, predicting a capacity crowd again at Fatt Boys.

For now, the boys of summer rule.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.