" . . . The bases are loaded with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and the score tied 2-2," the television announcer says over the roar of the crowd of 40,000 at Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pa.

" . . . Hess swings and misses at a fastball, strike one. . . . Here's the next pitch, it's hammered to right field, off the wall and here comes Hays with the winning run . . . "

Driving in the winning run. It is the dream of every kid who has played Little League baseball, of the more than 200 players on the 14 teams competing for a spot in the Little League World Series this week at the Western Regional in San Bernardino.

It really happened to Jeremy Hess on Aug. 28, 1993.

Hess drove in Charlie Hays with the winning run as Long Beach defeated Panama, 3-2, to win the Little League World Series. Hess, a recent graduate of Long Beach Wilson High, has played in hundreds of games in the six years that have passed, including the Division 1 title game in June at Edison Field, but remembers the championship game as if it were yesterday.

"The first pitch I swung and missed," said Hess, recalling the story he has told numerous times. "The next pitch was pretty much right down the middle, another fastball.

"I took it to right field, and it hit off the wall. It was an amazing feeling. I knew it was going to score (the winning run)."

Long Beach, which also won the World Series in 1992 when the Philippines had to forfeit for using over-age players, was the last team from the West to win the title and the only American team to win consecutive championships.

The 14 players on the 1993 team became heroes and had parades in their honor through the streets of downtown Long Beach and down Main Street USA at Disneyland. The team was also saluted at Universal Studios and was on the Family Feud television show.

"I told the kids they'll remember this for the rest of their lives," said Manager Jeff Burroughs, a 16-year major leaguer who was the American League MVP in 1974 while playing for Texas.

"I said, `You guys don't understand it now. You've got an opportunity to do something to talk to people about for the rest of your life.' "

As the years pass and the memories of the games fade, the players have become more aware of the importance of their accomplishment.

"I think as I got older I realized how big of a feat that was," said Billy Gwinn, who had struck out before Hess' winning hit. "Back then it was kind of like going out and playing baseball. You don't realize that the whole city was behind you, (that you're) playing in front of the whole country."

The players have tangible reminders of the World Series in the form of newspaper clippings and videotapes of the game, but they are asked about the game less and less.

"You kind of heard about it every once in a while," said USC-bound Kevin Miller, who tries to watch the Little League World Series each year. "You don't even realize when you're young that was such a good moment. You kind of miss it."

Sean Burroughs, the coach's son, was the star player. He led the team in hitting and was the winning pitcher in the championship game. Burroughs, a left-handed hitting third baseman, was drafted ninth overall by San Diego in 1998 after graduating from Wilson. He currently plays for Fort Wayne (Ind.) of the Class A Midwest League.

Of the 14 players, three, including Burroughs, graduated in 1998. Nine more graduated this spring, and two will be entering their senior year of high school. Burroughs has had the most success, but six players who were on the Wilson team that lost to Riverside Arlington in the Division 1 championship game will play in college next season.

Hess, twins Chris and Kevin Miller, Gwinn and Brady Werner were in the starting lineup against Arlington, and Travis Perkins was a reserve.

At one time, nine of the 14 players were teammates at Wilson, forming the core of a successful team and continuing friendships that started long before their Little League success.

One player moved shortly after the World Series, and the other four stayed in the area but went to different high schools. The entire team has not been reunited since the magical few weeks after returning from Williamsport, Pa.

"We stopped going places together, we started other leagues," said Hess, a pitcher who will continue his career at Long Beach City College.

"We brought it up every once in a while. A lot of our guys always talked about going to Wilson when we were younger, and it was going to be the same thing. I do wish everybody would have gone to the same place."

Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino -- the site of the Western Regional -- is where the excitement began. The stadium, a miniature Dodger Stadium or Edison Field, was like nothing the players had ever seen, and the crowds were larger than they imagined.

"It was a great experience," Kevin Miller said. "It was pretty nerve-racking also because you play in front of a lot of people. There was about 10,000 people in the crowd when we played there. That was the first time we played in front of a big crowd."

Playing in San Bernardino was only a taste of what was to come in Williamsport.

"You just feel you're in the major leagues, you're on cloud nine," Hess said. "Williamsport is triple that. It felt like it was 10 times bigger."

Published 8/15/1999