Balloons clouded the skies, a flock of doves flew across the stadium and a helicopter landed near second base to deliver game balls. The Gresham National all-stars had yet to take the field for warm-ups, but already they knew this was not any ordinary Little League experience.

That was the scene in San Bernardino, Calif., last Friday as Gresham prepared for its opening game under the lights at Regionals. An elaborate ceremony to introduce the six Northwestern states that would be battling to advance to this year’s Little League World Series.

“It’s great to see our little guys getting the professional treatment,” team mom Penny Hemenway said. “It feels like a Major League game, but the kids don’t seem to be too nervous out there.”

Al Houghton Stadium, host to Regionals since 1971, draws in 6,000-7,000 fans each day, undeterred by weather that has spiked into the 100s all week.

“You drink a lot of water and find some shade, but really there’s not much else you can do when it’s 105 outside,” Gresham dad Rick Falkner said.

For Falkner, this week has been a bit of a homecoming as he watches his son Brett play on the same field where he once set foot as a member of Gresham’s 1978 state championship team — the first East County squad to reach this level of the playoffs.

“It’s like walking around where I was 34 years ago. The fences are a little further back and a few things are updated, but it sure brings back the memories,” Falkner said.

He has spent most of his time at the ballpark taking in a steady diet of baseball, not to mention hot pastrami sandwiches and ice-cold lemonade from the concession stand.

The lights will only get brighter as the tournament winds down with ESPN setting up towers around the field to televise Thursday’s semifinals and Saturday’s championship game.

“This is something we’ve watched on TV as a family every year, and now to be in one of those games is unbelievable,” Hemenway said.

But the most memorable moments have come behind the scenes where Gresham is sharing a dorm with the Petaluma all-stars of Northern California.

After Gresham’s first win of the tournament, the Petaluma players formed a high-five line as the Nationals came off the field. And when Gresham returned to its room for a post-game talk, it was greeted with chants of “Oregon, Oregon, Oregon” from their newfound baseball buddies.

“It started with trading pins and snacks, then the Petaluma team showed up at our game against Wyoming and cheered wildly,” Gresham mom Debbie Mehlhaff said. “That did it — a bond was formed.”

The next day, the Gresham all-stars showed up at the stadium in handmade Petaluma T-shirts and roared their support from the bleachers.

“I think our kids were yelling louder than anyone else in the stadium,” Mehlhaff said.

Both teams advanced through pool play with Gresham earning the No. 4 seed into the Northwest semifinals (see story on Page B1), while Petaluma won the West Region round-robin with a 4-0 record.

The Nationals finished pool-play Tuesday morning with a tough 6-5 loss to Montana on a last-inning rally. But the on-field disappointment was erased when the players boarded the Los Angeles Angels team bus and were whisked away to Disneyland for the day.

“It was time to get them away from baseball and have some fun,” Gresham manager Jason Trickel said. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I just want the kids to come out, play their game and enjoy their moment while it’s here.”