Northridge Little League National Champions : Making a Run at Glory and Fun : Little League: Dream season was two years in the making for Northridge's U.S. champions.

By DAVID WHARTON

Aug. 29, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The dream began two years ago with a group of 10-year-old Northridge boys who traveled to Port Hueneme for a junior baseball tournament. Nathaniel Dunlap, Justin Gen tile, Matt Fisher and Matt Cunningham, this season’s leaders, first showed their prowess in that tournament.

In the hours after the final game, in the flush of victory, their parents conspired over pizza and beers. The boys were still too young for the Little League World Series, but that did not stop proud fathers from making a brash prediction.

“In two years, we’re going all the way,” Jack Fisher recalled saying.

“We figured it was time to set a goal,” Tim Cunningham said. “It was probably a pie-in-the-sky kind of thing, but the goal was to get to Williamsport.”

Saturday, Northridge’s dream ended with a 4-3 loss to the favored team from Maracaibo, Venezuela, in a rain-interrupted title game at the Little League World Series. Still, the Northridge players can call themselves national champions after a playoff stretch in which they won 20 games and lost two.

Their road to Williamsport, Pa., was marked by come-from-behind victories and controversy over an ineligible player that nearly disqualified the team in the early rounds. There was also the Jan. 17 earthquake that shook Northridge while, conversely, solidifying its Little League all-stars. With some players forced from their homes, with shopping malls and movie theaters closed, they focused on baseball.

“That was the only thing we could do,” said Matt Cassel, the first baseman. “We played sports.”

And they became “The Earthquake Kids,” certified media darlings. It was as if they had dusted the rubble from their narrow shoulders to race to the ballpark. They were round-faced and eager, playing the game at a time when big-leaguers had deserted the fans, when stadiums sat empty. The kids played for glory and for fun.

Two years ago, the Northridge team swept through a junior baseball all-star tournament without a loss, said Joan Halbach, a tournament official.

“They went up against 42 teams and won the whole thing,” said Tim Cunningham, whose son Matt played on the squad. “We thought, ‘Well, we have some very good players.’ ”

Those players quickly became friends. Like their fathers, they dreamed of bigger victories. If they could stay together, perhaps add a few talented players, they might never lose.

First, they had to split up. The year after the junior tournament, as they turned 11 years old and joined Little League, the players were drafted by various teams in Northridge’s two local leagues. They would not be reunited until after the season, when all-star teams formed to play postseason games.

In the meantime, Dunlap and Gentile and the others gathered on weeknights in the Fishers’ backyard, swinging away inside a lighted batting cage. They congregated at the Northridge Little League complex for informal workouts on Sunday mornings.

“It is a baseball culture,” Cunningham said. “A lot of guys spend a lot of time with their sons. You go over to our complex and you always see some dad hitting ground balls to his son.”

Diligent practice was not enough for the 1993 Northridge all-stars. When the playoffs arrived, they were split into two teams, one for each local league. Both teams lost early. “They were shocked,” Cunningham said.

In the following months, biology and a little paperwork conspired to mold this year’s squad. Peter Tuber grew taller and started hitting the ball. Michael Frost gained confidence as he matured. Perhaps more importantly, the two Northridge leagues merged, which would allow for a stronger team when the 1994 playoffs rolled around. Heavy-hitting Gordon Spencer, among others, would join the original core of players. Everything seemed set for a run at the World Series.

Then the earthquake struck.

A number of the players’ families, including the Cunninghams and the Cassels, were forced from their houses. Jack and Matt Fisher were in Riverside for an Amateur Athletic Union baseball tournament. When they rushed home, they found a scene that Jack described as looking “like the Poseidon Adventure.” Only the backyard batting cage remained intact.

“We made sure that was working,” Fisher said.

The Northridge Little League season started two weeks later, and troubles continued. Rain marred the opening day. The complex needed costly repairs and the annual fund-raiser had to be canceled.

“It costs a lot of money to run this league and send a team to Williamsport, but we couldn’t make the kids go out and sell candy after the earthquake,” said Cindy Begley, of the parents auxiliary. “We had planned a garage sale but everyone had thrown everything out because it was broken.”

So “The Earthquake Kids” were born. Parents vowed to cover costs themselves while players returned to the diamond with renewed determination.

“The kids were able to focus on something they love, and that was good,” said Pat Cunningham, Matt’s mother. “They don’t seem troubled in any way.”

As summer arrived, Northridge officials selected Larry Baca to manage the all-stars. Cunningham and the other fathers, who had coached their sons in the past, felt it was best for someone else to handle this team. Baca quickly assembled a squad and they practiced through 100-degree afternoons, skipping swim parties because, as Jack Fisher warned them, “swimming tires your arms and weak arms make weak bats.” By the time Little League playoffs began in late July, the players seemed ready. They had, in fact, been training two years for this moment.

Their first test came early and they passed with flying colors, beating arch-rival Woodland Hills in the District 40 tournament. In the next round, they routed Crescenta Valley, 9-1, to advance to the divisional tournament.

The team felt loose and was having fun. Outfielder Michael Nesbit took to wearing his socks inside out “for good luck.” Matt Cunningham stuffed his cheeks with fluorescent-green bubble gum. The players adopted a lucky bat, a Louisville Slugger they named “Susan.”

“We talk about how we’re going to play the game, what we’re going to do,” Matt Fisher said. “And we talk to our bats.”

At the divisional level, the lanky Tuber took command with home runs in four consecutive games, including a three-run shot that helped beat Whittier, 11-0, in the final.

“This was a special home run,” said Tuber, who turned 13 on that day. “We wanted to win so badly.”

With strong hitting and pitching, it seemed as if nothing could stop Northridge. But the team’s next challenge had nothing to do with hits or runs. It came by way of the U.S. Mail.

An anonymous letter sent to Little League headquarters in Williamsport revealed that catcher Jonathan Higashi lived outside the Northridge league’s boundaries. The infraction was serious enough to disqualify the team. But, according to Little League rules, only the team that Northridge had last defeated could lodge the necessary protest. Little League officials declined to notify Whittier.

“I asked myself, what is my moral duty?” administrator Merle Sanders said. “Based upon the way the rules are structured, my knowledge can’t be used (by Whittier).”

So Northridge continued into the Western Regional tournament, albeit without Higashi. Cunningham switched to the catcher’s spot and Frost moved from the bench to the outfield. He promptly went three for three with a home run, driving his team to a 14-2 victory over Anchorage, Alaska.

“I was shaking silly I was so nervous,” Frost said. “The home run was the first in my life.”

In the regional final, Dunlap provided the crucial hit, a sixth-inning home run that sparked a 10-run rally. The resulting 17-7 victory Waianae, Hawaii, made Northridge the only league from the Western Region to send three teams to the World Series.

The earlier squads had gone in 1967 and 1975, but this one was different. This one was famous the moment it arrived, by chartered jet, in Williamsport. “The Earthquake Kids” came complete with a dramatic past and reporters flocked around. Los Angeles television stations broadcast nightly interviews.

“Everyone is calling us,” Jack Fisher said from Williamsport. “They want us to go to Disneyland. They want us to go on Jay Leno.”

Back home, a supermarket displayed a “Good Luck” message along Devonshire Street, and a Mexican restaurant offered its banquet room so the parents and friends who could not travel to the World Series could gather to watch on television.

“Every family in Northridge was so down and out,” said Begley, of the parents’ auxiliary. “Now we’re so excited.”

The coming days would bring a sobering 4-2 loss to the team from Brooklyn Center, Minn., followed by a 6-4 victory over Middleboro, Mass. Justin Gentile used a pitch he called “The Agony”--a two-fingered changeup--to shut out Springfield, Va., 2-0, and push his team into the national championship.

The tournament’s format pitted Northridge against Springfield for a second time, with similar results. Gordon hit a three-run home run in the first inning to stake his team to a 3-0 lead. Dunlap threw a one-hit shutout, striking out the last batter.

“You end a game with a fastball and you end it with a strikeout,” the pitcher said. “You blow it past him. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

After two years in the waiting, and 21 games in little more than a month, the Northridge all-stars had reached the world championship game. Saturday’s rainy loss, despite a late-inning Gordon home run, spoiled a storybook ending. But perhaps their dream had already come true.

“I walked onto this field I had been dreaming about for so long,” Tuber said, “and it just smelled so good.”

Little League vs. The Big Game

The games may look the same, but there are some fundamental differences between Little League and major league baseball. They differ in the size of the diamond, equipment and rules, as well as in the number of games played. A regular Little League season consists of about 14-18 games, depending on the league. Northridge played 22 postseason games. The majors play 162 games in regular season before playoffs and the World Series.

THE EQUIPMENT

While Little Leaguers use some equipment used in the major leagues, there are significant differences:

Little League: Bat: Can be up to 31” long, weighing 23 oz.; aluminum is permitted. Ball: Weighs 5 oz., is 9.5” in circumference. Shoes: No metal spikes or cleats may be worn; molded cleats are permitted. Pitcher’s Rubber: 18” long by 4” wide.

Major League: Bat: May be no longer than 42”; wood only. Ball: Same dimensions as in Little League. Shoes: Metal or synthetic spikes allowed. Pitcher’s Rubber: 24” long by 6” wide.

THE STRIKE ZONE

A Little League home plate is sized exactly like a major league plate. This means that a 5-foot tall Little Leaguer must cover the same strike zone as a tall major league player, such as Ken Griffey Jr.

THE FIELD

A Little League playing field is about 2/3 the size of a major league field.

Little League: Pitcher’s rubber to home plate: 46 ft. Base to base: 60 ft.

Major League: Pitcher’s rubber to home plate: 60 ft. 6 in. Base to base: 90 ft.

THE PITCH

The Northridge team’s pitcher has been clocked at 70-74 m.p.h. Major leaguer Randy Johnson’s pitch has been measured at more than 90 m.p.h.

RULES OF THE GAME

Selected Little League rules that differ from major league play:

Runners: Runner’s can’t lead off bases until a pitch crosses home plate.

Batters: Batter can’t run to first base if the catcher misses strike three.

Sources: The Baseball Encyclopedia; World Book Encyclopedia; STEVE HENSON / Los Angeles Times