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‘Dream Come True’ For Hamilton Little League Team

HAMILTON - Winning never gets old for Tim Nichting.

The long-time coach of the Hamilton Little League team will be back at the World Series in Williamsport, Pa., for the fifth time after the Ohio squad knocked off Kentucky 6-0 behind a one-hitter from Boone Treadway in the Regional championship game.

“I’ve been with the program 43 years and Ken (Coomer) 30-some years,” Nichting said about what helps make Hamilton so successful at this level. “We’ve worked hard at it. I learned a lot from my dad.”

Nichting began coaching Little League in 1983 with his father, Ray Nichting. The elder Nichting was manager when Hamilton went to the World Series in 1991 and 1993, with Tim as an assistant. Tim was manager when his son T.J. was on the squad that made it to Williamsport in 2007 and was an assistant when Coomer was the manager on the 2010 World Series team.

Hamilton also made it to the World Series in 2021 with Coomer the manager, though Nichting was not an assistant that year, instead “helping coach his 10-year-old grandson on an 11-year-old All-Star team.”

This sixth trip to the World Series for Hamilton is the most by anyone in the country, with the best results for the team from southwest Ohio a second-place finish in 2021 when no foreign teams participated in Williamsport due to Covid.

This year’s event begins for Hamilton on Thursday at 2 p.m. (ESPN) with the Ohio team taking on Mountain Region champion Nevada, last year’s U.S. champion which lost in the World Series finale to ChineseTaipei.

THE TEAM

The Hamilton squad, coached by Nichting along with assistants Coomer and Chris Hilton, is composed of a dozen players that were selected from the six teams playing in the West Side regular season.

Here is a look at each with thoughts from the manager:

Boone Treadway: “Boone comes from a baseball family. He became a dominant player at the regional, throwing nine one-hit shutout innings in the tournament and hitting a home run. He’s one of our top pitchers and a shortstop who can also catch a little.”

Leo Feltner: “The only 11-year-old on the team. He’s one of our better hitters. He’s a utility player playing third base, second base or shortstop, depending on the pitcher.”

Bryson Williams: “Our center fielder and three-hole hitter. He’s a great athlete. He can run anything down in the outfield.”

Josiah Infante: “He’s our big boy. He’s 6-1. He plays first base and pitches. In the state tourney he hit a home run in the first three games and hit a home run in the regional championship game.”

Xander Kinkaid: “A pure athlete. He’s a pitcher and one of our top five hitters. He’s a left fielder and right fielder and probably the fastest guy on the team. He hit two home runs at regionals.”

Bob Frazier: “A left-handed pitcher who also plays first base, center field and right. He has good speed and is a solid hitter.”

Jack McAdams: “A third baseman, depending on the pitcher. Jack’s a solid hitter.”

Walker Osborne: “Our second baseman and one of our top pitchers. Another solid hitter who led off our rally in the state championship game and scored the tying run.”

Finn Dykes: “A left fielder. Finn scored the winning run in the last inning of the state finals.”

Zach Hilton: “Another that plays left field. Zach is a solid hitter.”

Caiden Trent: “He had the game-winning hit in the state championship. He’s a catcher who has improved tremendously.”

Hudson Vonderheide: “A left fielder or right fielder depending on the pitcher. Another good player.”

THE JOURNEY

Earning a trip to the Little League World Series was far from easy, with a difficult road at the State Tournament.

It started with a pair of blowout victories, 13-1 over Ironton and 16-0 over Olentangy, but then things got dicey. In the winners’ bracket finals, Hamilton took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the sixth before Canfield rallied for two and had runners on base before Hamilton held on for a 6-5 victory.

A rematch came in the finals and it took a comeback to make it to regionals. Hamilton trailed 3-2 entering the sixth but singles by Osborne and Dykes ignited a rally that was capped off by a walk-off double from Trent. Osborne was the winning pitcher with two innings of no-hit relief.

“It was amazing to win that last game,” Nichting explained. “We’re down 3-2 and our eight, nine, 10 and 11 hitters are coming up. You always say you need the bottom of the order to do something and they did. Our eight singles and nine singles, then our 10 hitter gets a walk-off double.”

At the Great Lakes Regional, the Ohio state champions beat Michigan 10-4 in the opener, with Kinkaid hitting a home run and Infante earning the win on the mound. Treadway, Osborne and Feltner combined on a no-hitter to knock off Indiana 11-0 in the next round before an 11-4 victory over Kentucky moved Ohio into the championship game. Boone hit a double and triple while Infante and Feltner each had two-base hits for Hamilton, with Frazier the winning pitcher.

In the game to make it to Williamsport, Ohio jumped out to a quick lead with Infante putting Hamilton on top 2-0 with a two-run homer. The lead jumped to 6-0 thanks to a three-run triple from Dykes. Kinkaid had a triple and home run for Ohio, with Boone tossing a one-hit shutout in sending Hamilton back to Williamsport.

“It has been an honor to play with this group of kids,” Treadway said. “What makes this team so special is how they play and their attitudes.”

Nichting also has high praise about the squad.

“This team really hits it well and pitches well,” Nichting said. “I really like my hitting, pitching and defense. As the season has gone on we’ve really been improving a lot.” 

‘TREADWAY YEAR’

Nobody has made an impact on the squad more than Treadway, whose father Brion is the head coach of Badin High School.

A traditional state power, a high school championship had eluded the elder Treadway until this year when Badin rolled to the Division III title, winning the finals over Watterson 7-2 behind the pitching of his oldest son Brooks, who gave up one earned run in 4.1 innings.

“It was a dream come true,” Treadway reflected. “We’d only known losing the last game of the season, and to finally win the last one was great.”

Boone witnessed the excitement.

“When Badin won state I was like, ‘my West Side team is going all the way’ and we’re here now,” Boone said. “It was great to see a smile on all my siblings and my parents’ faces, especially my dad and my brother.”

The smiles have continued for the Treadway family with Hamilton winning the Little League Great Lakes Regional, with youngest son Boone on the mound in the finale.

“I’ve coached Brooks the last seven summers so I didn’t get to watch Boone play much,” Brion related. “This year (with Brooks now graduated and heading to play baseball in college at Marietta) I’ve been able to watch Boone practice and support him. It’s been a blessing.

“One of the things that’s always been on my ‘Bucket List’ is to go to Williamsport and to do it with my son playing is fantastic.”

Brion had found being a father in the stands is not that simple.

“The easiest place to be is a player,” explained Brion, who also has twin daughters that are juniors in high school, one that plays soccer and basketball and the other that plays volleyball. “Coaching is second, at least you have some control. Being a parent is the hardest job. You’re there as a spectator. I just try to do my best and sit back, relax and enjoy the game. These coaches are doing a phenomenal job.”

Boone gives credit to his father for helping become the player he is today.

“My dad has helped me by working on some of my pitches and what my attitude looks like on the field,” Boone said. 

Ironically, Brion missed out on a trip to the World Series in 1991 when he was a 12-year-old.

“When I was in Little League we had two West Side teams,” Treadway related. “I played against Chris Hilton, who was also the Little League coach for Brooks, and we lost to them 3-1. They went on to make it.”

Now the elder Treadway, just two months after coaching Badin to a state title, gets his chance to go to Williamsport for the first time.

“Every year I envision winning state, I know it’s a possibility,” Treadway said. “Actually doing it is literally a dream come true. I enjoyed every second of it.

“And now to see this. Boone is having the best time of his life. A 12-year-old kid’s dream. Seeing the joy on his face is such a great feeling.”

Being a coach, Brion is always giving advice.

“I tell my kids’ all the time, just be a dude,” Treadway noted. “Dudes don’t get emotional. Dudes don’t complain about the umpire. Dudes pick up their teammates and get the job done.”

A lesson that Boone takes to heart.

“The advice that my dad gave me is just to have fun, be a dude and play to the best of your ability,” Boone said. 

WEST SIDE SUCCESS

With 23 state titles, Hamilton now has the second most in the nation.

“As long as I’ve been alive baseball has meant a lot to Hamilton,” Brion Treadway related. “The West Side Little League has always been run by people that take a lot of pride in the team. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who works as hard as Tim and Ken. They have practices that last three hours, and sometimes go twice a day. But my son loves it.”

Nichting understands that love for baseball in Hamilton.

“My town is a baseball town,” Nichting said. “They’re crazy about the West Side Little League team. They have our games on TV watching all over town. They’re into it as much as I am.”

It brings pleasure to just be a part of it.

“It’s great to help kids get better at baseball,” Nichting explained. “I get great enjoyment watching kids put the time in. It’s nice to see this team grow and get better.”

Making it to the World Series caps it off.

“I feel like we’re making kids’ dreams come true when you make it here,” Nichting said.

WHAT LIES AHEAD

There are 20 teams in the field at the Little League World Series, a 10-team bracket for U.S. teams and a 10-team bracket for international teams.

Action begins on Wednesday with (Phenix City) Alabama vs (Tacoma) Washington and (Bayonne) New Jersey vs (Bridgewater) Massachusetts on the U.S. side and (Leon) Nicaragua vs (Santiago) Dominican Republic and (Vancouver BC) Canada vs (Seoul) South Korea on the international side. Ohio faces (Henderson) Nevada and (Bonita) California meets (Davenport) Iowa on Thursday in the U.S. bracket with (Sydney New South Wales) Australia taking on (Tijuana Baja Calif.) Mexico and (Willemstad) Curacao and (Tokyo) Japan colliding in the other bracket.

On Friday, (Boerne) Texas awaits the Alabama-Washington winner and (West Chester) Pennsylvania takes on the New Jersey-Massachusetts survivor in the U.S. bracket. On the other side, (Chiriqui) Panama faces either Nicaragua or Dominican Republic and (Brno) Czechia plays the Canada-South Korea winner.

The U.S. final and the International final of the double elimination tournament are set for Aug. 29 with a third-place game and championship game set for Sunday, Aug. 30.

All games will be telecast on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC and streaming on ESPN+

“There are a lot of distractions here, so it’s important the team stays focused,” explained Nichting, whose team went by bus straight from the regionals to Williamsport. “The next thing we need to do is throw strikes. We have as good a staff as anyone. We’ll throw five or six pitchers out there, they just need to pound the zone.” 

There is more that Nichting tells his players, who have spent time playing wiffle ball and pickle ball along with hitting indoors and practicing on field twice a day since arriving at the site of the World Series.

“Control your emotions,” Nichting said. “Take a deep breath. Calm your heart.”

The long-time coach is confident success will come for his team, which advances with a win in the opener to play on Sunday at 9 a.m. (ESPN) to face either Texas, Alabama or Washington. A loss on Thursday would pit Ohio against either New Jersey or Massachusetts on Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPN).

“I think we have a solid team and I believe we can get more than a couple of wins,” Nichting said. “We’ll compete against anybody.”

Badin was able to do that back in June in winning the Division III state crown and Nichting is hoping the Ohio Little League team can do the same.

“It’s been a ‘Treadway Year’ is what we’re saying around here,” Nichting concluded.

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