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	Todd Rosenberg/Allsport
	Matt Cassel was part of the Northridge, Calif. team, shown celebrating after scoring a run, that faced Venezuela in 1994.

We're not sure if she was Matt Cassel's first love. He was only 12 years old, so there couldn't have been many before her.

Susan was a beauty. Cassel used to make her ping.

"Susan" was the black-and-white Louisville Slugger bat Cassel used to help power "The Earthquake Kids" of Northridge, Calif., baseball team to the 1994 Little League World Series.

Cassel, now the New England Patriots starting quarterback, played first base on a team that won the U.S. tournament and lost to Venezuela in the championship.

ESPN.com AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky covered that Little League World Series for the New York Times. While watching Cassel's alma mater, Southern California, beat up on Ohio State, Kuharsky heard the name and finally made the connection: He'd covered that kid way back when.

Northridge still was trying to cope with a major earthquake that destroyed homes and businesses in January 1994. Eight months later, the Cassel family still hadn't moved back into their house.

"I doubt there are too many of these boys that sleep in their own rooms alone at this point," Cassel's father, Greg, said in August 1994. "Baseball's really been a kind of escape from all the things that everybody endured during the earthquake."

The city rallied around the 11- and 12-year-old boys. They were inspirational. They were invited to Disneyland. They rode limousines to a Los Angeles radio station for a three-hour appearance.

"We're very famous," Matt Cassel said before the championship game. "I love it. I hope to do the Letterman show, Leno, all that."