Yorba Hills Hits the Heights : Sports: Last-inning heroics send Little Leaguers to the pinnacle of youth baseball, the World Series.

Perhaps it was the last-minute City Council resolution applauding their stellar play. Maybe it was the flashing freeway sign offering them good luck in their pursuit of glory.

Or it could have been simply that they’ve been out-fielding, out-slugging, and out-scoring their opponents all season long. Whatever, the Yorba Hills All-Stars are going to the Little League World Series on Monday in Williamsport, Pa.

Nash Robertson’s dramatic home run in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Yorba Hills to a 4-2 victory over Petaluma Valley in the final of the Western Regional Little League Baseball tournament Friday. The sudden victory left 14 jubilant 12-year-olds dousing each other in sparkling cider moments later.

“It’s just a good feeling,” said winning pitcher A.J. Shappi, an ice bag strapped to his shoulder.

It was a moment Yorba Linda residents have been hoping for since the playoffs began two weeks ago. From shopping centers to realty offices to pizza parlors, locals buzzed about the youngsters’ chances for capturing the national spotlight.

“I’m not surprised by their success,” said realtor Mary Hobson, who has lived in Yorba Linda for 17 years. “We’ve always had very good youth sports. . . . We are really pleased about anything that brings attention to Yorba Linda.”

Yorba fans like Ed Robertson began arriving at Albert E. Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino two hours before Friday’s game, braving 95-degree temperatures to witness the finals of the 25th annual event. One of an estimated 10,000 fans, Robertson drove his motor home from Sun City, Ariz., to cheer on his grandson Nash, the Yorba Hills third baseman and last-inning home run hero.

Nash and his family had planned to join the senior Robertson for a vacation in Arizona, but they never made it because of the Yorba team’s schedule. “They kept winning,” said Nash’s grandfather. “So we came on down here.”

Family ties also drew Esperanza High School shortstop Tommy Nicholson to Friday night’s game. His brother, David, is a first baseman and pitcher for Yorba Hills.

“I’m really proud of my brother,” he said. “This is going to let everyone know where Yorba Linda is.”

The excitement also drew some unlikely fans as well.

Bill Mallett, 62, a retired chemist, headed out to the game Friday even though he hadn’t been to a Little League game in 15 years.

“It’s like watching professional baseball,” said the Placentia resident. “The kids are huge. The pitcher for Yorba Linda is bigger than I am. They can do things I swear only major leaguers can do.”

But during their team’s two-week tear through the playoffs, the town seemed oddly afraid to overindulge in demonstrating their team pride.

“We just don’t want to jinx them,” said Dave Gruchow, assistant city manager. “It’s just like those teams that get on the cover of Sports Illustrated and then they lose the next week.”

The city sent Mayor Pro Tem John Gullixson to the San Bernardino diamond Friday afternoon to hand deliver a commendation to the team, which is the first in the city’s history to make it to the World Series.

Still, city officials could not resist one gesture of public fanfare, even at the risk of jinxing the team. A Caltrans sign on the Riverside Freeway at Weir Canyon Road normally reserved for traffic updates was programmed to flash: “Good luck Yorba Hills” on Friday.

Most of the team’s players have been in the same league since T-ball, when they were 5 years old. Manager Roy Watson said the coaches realized about two years ago they had a special group of ballplayers.

“Our strength is our home-run power,” he said. “We don’t have overpowering pitchers, but they are wily and they can hit the spots, move the ball around. We play great defense too.”

But the long march to the World Series did not come easily for the local youngsters. Not only did they have to overcome ball field opponents, the boys also had to endure close supervision in an air-conditioned barracks at the Western Region headquarters for nine days.

Even though the Yorba team was allowed to return home Wednesday and Thursday after winning their first four games, the separation still proved difficult for the players and their parents.

“These kids have had one 6th-grade camp away from home,” said Debi Rooney, whose son, Patrick, drove in the winning run in Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over Hawaii. “It starts to become overwhelming when your kids are being kept somewhere else. You have no time at home as a family, no re-grounding, to get readjusted.”

Little League officials instituted the practice of quasi-sequestering the players years ago to protect them from the media spotlight in hope of minimizing pressure at such a young age. The policy recognizes parents and players sometimes have difficulty adjusting to defeat.

But moments before Friday night’s game, Creighton J. Hale, chief executive officer of Little League Baseball, Inc., reminded the overflow crowd no matter what the scoreboard read at the end, there were no losers.

“All the teams have championship players on them and should be recognized for reaching this level of the tournament,” Hale said.

Now that the team has advanced to the World Series, what’s in store for the city? Maybe they will remain relatively quiet so they won’t jinx the players.

Maybe not.

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