UPDATE: Two of three Bellevue Little League All-Star teams remain in the District 9 12-year-old tournament. And they will become even better acquainted on Wednesday evening at Redmond’s Hartman Park.

Bellevue East, which has yet to allow a run in the tournament, will meet Bellevue West, which again defeated Falls Little League in the opening round before taking down Redmond West with a four home run performance in round two. That game will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

East had little trouble with Sno-Valley North in a 9-0 opener, while Bel-West defeated Falls for the fourth time in a district tournament after also doing so as 10 and 11-year-olds.

Steve Emanuels Jr. picked up the win in the second game of the tournament, stifling Issaquah in a 2-0 victory.

As their cross-town counterparts suffocated opponents with pitching and defense, the squad from Bel-West battered their way to a pair of wins. In their 5-1 win over Redmond West on Sunday, Bel-West pelted four home runs, including a pair of solo shots from Cole Soreano. Trevor Neely and Zach Roseman also went deep for coach Jeff Neely, who saw his team move one step closer to a second straight District 9 All-Star tournament title with the win.

Thunderbird Little League fell in both of their two games in the tournament, 7-5 to Eastlake on a heartbreaking walk-off home run and 12-7 to Mercer Island the following day.

All-Stars from all three Bellevue Little Leagues will have the opportunity to realize a lifelong dream on Saturday, as the District 9 12-year-old tournament begins at Hartman Park in Redmond, signaling the first mile-post on the nearly two-month long road to Williamsport, PA for the Little League World Series.

As 11-year-olds in 2010, the youngsters from Bel-West brought a District 9 title back to Bellevue with four straight wins. This year, with much of the 2010 title team still in tact, Bel-West is hoping to duplicate and even surpass last season’s effort.

“These guys have basically been playing together for parts of three seasons,” head coach Jeff Neely said, adding that his team has only two players who were not with the all-star team last year. “The focus has been to win districts last year and now, win districts as 12-year-olds.”

The first challenge for Bel-West will be a familiar one, as they open the tournament against the same Falls team they twice defeated last season (and once as 10-year-olds the year prior) to capture the title. In the winners bracket semi-finals, Bel-West pulled away for a 6-2 victory before surviving a 6-5 contest to punch their ticket to state.

This time around, Neely knows his team will be in for a tussle.

“They’re going to be coming after us like gangbusters,” Neely said. “We’re telling the kids ‘don’t look at the brackets, don’t look anywhere past game one.”

If Bel-West again manuevers past Falls in round one, they will have a rested Redmond West squad, which as a bye into the second round, waiting for them.

Bellevue East hoping to go DEEP

Keeping laser-precision focus on the game is second-nature for the pros, but it can be a difficult task for a team of 12-year-olds.

So in preparation for the district tournament, Bellevue East head coach Steve Emanuels and his staff have been placing extra emphasis on the mental side of things to help their team realize their potential.

“One of the things at this age is making sure the kids are mentally strong,” Emanuels said. “So often, if they can keep themselves in the game, then they perform at a high level.”

In order to make sure his players remain in the moment and do not let the enormity of the big-picture cloud their judgement on the field, Emanuels just tells his team to stay DEEP.

DEEP, stands for Determinition, Excellence, Enthusiamsm and Purpose, and Emanuels hopes it will serve the purpose of removing some of the pressure that comes along with being on the big stage of Little League baseball.

“I constatnly remind them that if they stay DEEP in the game, they will go DEEP in the tournament,” Emanuels said.

How DEEP Bellevue East goes will hinge largely on their opening round game against Sno-Valley North, a team they overwhelmed 19-0 in the 11-year-old tournament last year.

After falling to Issaquah 2-0 in the first round, Bellevue East rebounded to crush Sno-Valley North before outlasting cross-town rival Thunderbird, Redmond West, Issaquah and Eastlake before succumbing to Falls in the semi-finals.

This year, Emanuels hopes his team can use that experience to reach even greater heights.

“I think it’s important for them to have a vision for where they could go and to dream,” Emanuels said. “Winning districts is obviously the first step and I tell the kids ‘there is a door you want to go through and you can’t get there unless you take one step at a time.”

Thunderbird coach knows how to keep things light

Thunderbird all-star coach Jim Riley knows how to break-up an awkward silence.

Throughout his many years of coaching youth baseball, Riley has realized that more times than not, a struggling pitcher doesn’t need to be reminded of mechanics, or lectured on the importance of not turning over the lineup with men on base. He needs to be reminded that baseball is fun.

“I like to out to the pitcher’s mound when we’re having a little challenge and ask him what he had for breakfast, or something silly like that,” Riley said. “It’s the last thing they expect to hear from you and more times than not, it breaks their mindset and takes their focus from what they are struggling with.”

While the pitching staff will have no trouble keeping things light with Riley’s mound visits, the head coach believes it will be hits team’s offense that decides their tournament fate.

“We’re going to have to hit in order to perform well,” Riley said, adding that his team will face quality pitching the likes of which they have rarely seen up until now. “We’re really going to try and focus this week on the fundamentals of our hitting.”

But regardless of the situation at the plate, in the field or on the mound, Riley has faith that if his team remains relaxed, they will have success.

“The more pressure they put on themselves, the worse they are going to perform,” Riley said. “I want them feeling confident coming into the game, these kids all know how to play.”

Proud Papas

Every parent of an All-Star player is proud, but only a few will have the opportunity to experience the tournament from inside the dugout.

Bellevue East manager Steve Emanuels called the opportunity to coach his son at All-Stars “tremendous” and added, “There are moments when I see him on the mound or at the plate and I can see the struggle he is going through to compete at a high level. To see him persevere through that and experience the joy is why I’m involved.”

Emanuels said he has known many of the players on his All-Star team since they were five-year-olds and first picked up a bat and glove. “To see them grow and mature is really exciting,” Emanuels said.

Thunderbird manager Jim Riley had a similar take on the chance to continue to manage his son as an All-Star.

“My son has been playing baseball for 10 years and I’ve watched him come up,” Riley said. “He makes me and his family very proud every time he steps out on the mound or up to bat.”

While Riley no doubt enjoys continuing to teach his son the game, he admits there are times it can be a difficult task. “A lot of times it’s hard, because he is your son,” Riley said. “It is neat watching all the boys come together. We’ve been doing this for so long, I’ve coached 75% of them at one point during their careers.”