By SUSAN PARK

In August, a North Seattle All-Stars PONY baseball team accomplished the amazing feat of winning the local, state, and regional tournaments to compete in the U.S. Western Zone Tournament in California - one step away from the World Series.

The 10-year-old players are smaller and younger , pitchers throw only two or three innings before becoming exhausted, only eight teams compete in each series, and the games have only six innings - but it was by far no small feat.

The North Seattle All-Stars team was comprised of top players from 11 Mustang (10-year-olds) level teams. There are 57 Greater Seattle area PONY league teams in all, with a combined total of 800 players, ranging in age from five to 15-years-old. Players practice once a week in winter inside the Wilson Pacific gym. The official 16-game season began in April.

Several parents served as coaches, including Nick Gillen (father of second baseman Cooper), Dan Simpson (father of centerfielder Bennett), and Graham Albert (father of right-fielder Michael). Also coaching for the entire league are Marvin Faust and his father, former Minor League baseball player Harry Faust, the PONY League's pitching coach. Steve Williams, a Wedgwood resident and president of the North Seattle Baseball League, is also the father of a North Seattle All-Star player, Sam Williams, who plays left-field and catcher. Other players on this year's North Seattle All-Stars team were Shane Smith, Owen Jollie, Billy Rex, Coner Slattery, Ryan Garrett, Martin Lindberg, William Dijorio, Benjamin LeVeque, Frankie Pavia, and David Doerr.

The team's journey began on July 15 when the North Seattle All-Stars, a PONY league baseball team comprised of 14 boys from 11 different Mustang (10-year-old) level teams from North Seattle won the District Six Title. The North Seattle All-Stars won four straight games against seven other teams during the tournament, which took place in West Seattle.

The team progressed to the next level and went on to win the Washington State Tournament on July 20, which was held close to home at Ravenswood Park in Bellevue. In all, they won five straight games and beat out seven teams from throughout the state. Now, they would proceed to the Northwest PONY Regional Tournament in West Jordan, Utah.

"We had to scramble to get 28 round trip airfares," recalled Steve Williams. "The first game was 3 days later." He added that the players' families covered the entire bill for their airline tickets.

The team along with the accompanying gang of parents had to be on the airplane by 6 a.m. and had to transfer planes in Denver. "All the time, we were counting heads," said Williams. "We arrived in Utah to 104 degrees," he said. It was so hot, the team made the decision to stay inside all day in the air conditioning to keep from getting heat stroke. Despite much opposition, the coaches wouldn't even allow the players to play in the hotel pool.

That night, the team braved the heat at 7 p.m. and ventured out to get some practice time and acclimate to the heat. Practice was cut short when the weather turned bad with "some of the most incredible electric storms that we Seattleites have ever seen," said Williams.

The next day, it was 102 degrees at 1 p.m. game time. The team filled ice chests up with water, ice, and towels from the hotel to put over the kids' heads. "We should have bought stock in Gatorade before we went to Utah," joked Williams. The North Seattle All-Stars beat the host Utah team, 9 to 6.

By winning the first game, the team got a breather and did not have to play until 7 p.m. the next evening, but it was still hot. The team struggled and won the game, 10 runs to 5. "We were pretty beat and pretty exhausted by the heat," said Williams. "I kept waiting for the sun to set and go down behind those hills, but it never did. When I got back (to Seattle), I told everyone that the sun never sets in West Jordan, Utah."

The next day it was 99 degrees. Nevertheless, the North Seattle All-Stars won easily, 5 to 0, now feeling more accustomed to the heat.

The final championship game was held at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning, July 27, under much cooler conditions. After wiping out teams from several states all over the Northwest, their toughest opponent turned out to be a close neighbor - a team from Mountlake Terrace, who had progressed through the tournament as the winner of the loser's bracket. "Everybody was really excited ... to get this far and end up playing a local team," Williams recalled.

At first, the game looked lost as Mountlake took a 3-run lead early in the game. But the team from North Seattle rallied and won in the bottom of the sixth inning by a single run, 10 to 9, earning the team an invitation to compete in the U.S. Western Zone Tournament in California. "We've gone to Regionals only once before, two years ago," said Williams, recalling the North Seattle All-Stars' fourth place finish that year. He said the team is usually eliminated most years at the local district level.

But the North Seattle All-Stars had never before progressed this far.

As a reward, the coaches finally allowed the players to take a celebratory dip in the hotel pool before flying back to Seattle that night. The pilot of the US Airways plane was so impressed that a Seattle team had won the Northwest Regional Tournament, he put on a movie at no charge.

Back home, the team was warmly received and Williams says spectators came from all over the Seattle area to watch them practice at Lower Woodland Park. "I get all choked up just talking about it," he said. The team had only three days to practice before heading to their next tournament. Once again, they scrambled to buy last-minute airline tickets.

On July 31, the team flew to Chino Hills, California, a city near Los Angeles, to compete in the PONY Baseball US Western Zone tournament against seven other teams from as far away as Arizona and Hawaii.

The next day, the competing eight teams with their coaches were treated to an unexpected surprise - lunch hosted by the local Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball team. Representatives from the Angels talked to the kids about baseball, curve balls, and the importance of staying in school.

Later that day, the North Seattle All-Stars lost to Hart, the host team from Los Angeles. Since North Seattle was now in the losers' bracket, they would need to win both games of a double-header the next day to stay in the running. The team won their first game against Palm Desert, Calif., but were exhausted. They were eliminated in the second game by Hawaii.

It was time to go home. Some of the team members had non-refundable tickets and would have to stay two more days in California. Others would be able to change their flights and leave. As the team sat around the pool saying their goodbyes, Williams noted: "There wasn't a dry eye. It was really special. The chemistry was phenomenal."

During the season, "Our goal was just to keep things balanced," said Williams. "We had no superstars, just 14 really strong kids that believe in each other."

For information on participating, 366-3086. If you would like to sponsor a local non-profit PONY League baseball team, call Steve Williams at 522-9071.