Friday, April 24 – Palouse Umpires Association: Tekoa-Rosalia @ Colton
The Palouse. For those familiar the term conjures up images of rolling hills packed with all varieties of grains and legumes. The agriculture is king and rivers cut deep valleys through the high terrain. Spanning southeastern Washington, the lower part of the Idaho panhandle, and bits of northeast Oregon, the Palouse embodies a hardy (and hearty) lot of individuals.
As with Kettle Falls, my Palouse assignment was one I was looking forward to. Back when I worked in the PAC-10 (as it was known then) I had several assignments at Washington State University, the de facto center of all human existence in the Palouse. My time there, however, consisted mostly of getting into town, working the games, hanging out with partners, and then getting out. There was never really much time to explore. I was intrigued with this corner of the state, and was eager to see what small town baseball was like here.
Much to my delight I was assigned with Rick, with whom I previously worked in the Seattle association before he moved to Pullman after retirement to be closer to his grandkids. I selected Rick to represent Eastern Washington on the state baseball committee I chaired. We kept touch quite a bit through committee work but this was the first time we had seen each other since he moved back.
The trip from Walla Walla was relatively short, only taking a couple of hours. I was assigned to work at Colton, a small town on the highway between Pullman and the city of Lewiston, Idaho. My route took me briefly into Idaho, where I climbed the steep hill from the Snake River Valley into the Palouse hills. The view was spectacular.
Colton embodied many (if not most) small towns that dot the landscape across America. Neat houses lined the streets, many proudly sporting American flags. It was so small that there was no store in town – I had to get my water (Gatorade was sold out, darn it) from the vending machine at the post office. The school was both the geographic and cultural center of the town. Any bustling to be done was happening at the Colton school.
The first thing I noticed was that the ball field was directly adjacent to the highway that passed through town. Given that this was the main road between two of the Palouse’s major cities (Pullman and Lewiston) it carried a lot of traffic. The fact that this was parallel to and about 15 yards from the first base line raised my eyebrows.
What fascinated me even more, however, was how the school had managed to pack a football field, baseball field, and softball diamond all into one generally large “meadow” area. The football upright was permanently set, so we had ground rules around it. The infield dirt no doubt infringed on what was the football field. But this was a community dedicated to assuring that the young folks from here and the nearby town of Uniontown that fed the high school would have a place to be able to play the game. I felt a swell of pride and gratitude at both the ingenuity and determination of the early denizens of the community to assuring that the game would continue to thrive here.
Colton and Tekoa-Rosalia are both members of the 1B classification, which is the class class of smallest schools (by enrollment) in the state. Having the smallest enrollment, they are dependent upon what few athletes they can field. It stands to reason, therefore, that both depth and talent are limited compared to the larger schools. That being said, “It isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Both teams played with heart that far outsized their classification. In the end, however, Colton had better talent. Both games were ended by the mercy rule.
As with the game in Kettle Falls, the result of the games were insignificant. The views were (once again) magnificent, the parents were supportive, and the atmosphere was festive. More than anything else, I saw a tiny community that figured out a way to assure that the game would stay alive and well for years to come.
Multiply this by 33 other schools, and you have 1B baseball across the state of Washington.
I’ve now worked games in all four corners of the state of Washington. From Ridgefield to Forks to Kettle Falls, and now Colton. I’m beginning to feel the tour winding down a bit. I don’t want to think about it took much yet, as I am still having a great time.
handmade from four separate saw blades and sported the Colton logo.
