It was a moment that Kurt Suzuki will never forget.

Late in the deciding fifth game of the Washington Nationals’ National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was hit by a 94-mph pitch from Walker Buehler that deflected off his left wrist and hit his face in the seventh inning. On the verge of winning a playoff series for the first time in his 13-year Major League Baseball career, Suzuki suddenly saw it possibly ending in one fell swoop.

“At first, I just wanted to make sure my teeth were all OK,” Suzuki said via phone Thursday, two days after he and the Nationals earned a trip to the World Series. “I felt it kind of hit it, but I have that extra pad coming down around my jaw, my mouth, but I still felt it. Luckily it hit that (part of the helmet) and it grazed off the other side of my face.

“So, I just want to make sure that it really didn’t get me because sometimes it kind of takes awhile to kind of kick in and feel the pain, but once it was good, I was like, ‘Alright, this is crazy, it’s Game 5. What are you doing? What’s happening?’ ”

With the Nats trailing 3-1, Suzuki had to leave the game, but his teammates prevailed 7-3 in 10 innings.

“The boys came back, shoot, the last two innings they came back off (Clayton) Kershaw and Joe Kelly in the 10th (inning) and here we are getting ready to play for a World Series title,” he said.

Suzuki missed the first game of the NL Championship Series, but the Baldwin High School graduate was back in the starting lineup for Games 2 and 3 as the Nats swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the best-of-seven set.

Suzuki and the Nationals team are now both in the World Series for the first time ever.

“It’s pretty surreal, you know, I mean, shoot, you work your entire career, your whole life to get to this point, to be able to play for the World Series and win a world championship,” Suzuki said. “I don’t think it has really sunk in yet. It’s kind of surreal at this point, I’m just kind of soaking it all in.”

He added, “When I signed this offseason to go to the Nationals, my goal was to sign with a team that had the opportunity to win the World Series and, I mean, it couldn’t have happened more at the right moment. Obviously getting older, things like that. Years ticking away on your playing career, you never know what opportunities you’re going to get. And to be able to finally have the opportunity to play for World Series at 36 years old, it’s kind of crazy to think about it really.”

The Suzuki family — wife Renee, daughter Malia, 8, and sons Kai, 5, and Elijah, 3 — live in their Redondo Beach, Calif., home, but have been to as many games as possible this postseason.

Kai was seen in the aftermath of the Nationals’ wild-card win over the Milwaukee Brewers playing on the field, waving fellow Nationals’ children around the bases as he pretended to be a third-base coach.

“They’ve been flying back and forth, they’ve been getting their miles, that’s for sure,” Suzuki said. “They’re out of school and kind of getting to enjoy this moment and soak it all in as a family. They’re a big part of this whole adventure, the whole season, kind of putting up with daddy and all of his travel arrangements, me being gone all the time.

“So, to be able to experience this as a family, all the hard work and times apart and all that kinds of stuff, it all pays off because I think this is going to be a fun time for everybody.”

Suzuki said his phone has been blowing up since the Nationals’ NLCS clincher on Tuesday.

One of the well-wishers was Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino, the father of St. Anthony graduate Shane Victorino, who won World Series titles with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox.

“It’s a dream for baseball players from Little League through the Major Leagues to play in the World Series, and that dream will come true for Kurt Suzuki,” Mike Victorino said in a press release. “It takes an incredible amount of sacrifice and dedication to achieve the highest level of any sport. So, I appreciate what Kurt and his family have gone through to get to this high point in his career.”

Michael Victorino and his wife know that Suzuki has been grinding out his MLB career with stops in Oakland, Washington, Oakland again, Minnesota, Atlanta and now Washington again — he signed a two-year, $10 million deal in the offseason.

“Joycelyn and I, and our ohana, could not be happier for Kurt and his family,” Victorino said. “We wish them all the best. We’ll be cheering for the Nationals and for Kurt to bring home a championship ring.”

The Higa brothers, Tyson and Kimo, were hoping to attend a World Series game or two to watch their childhood friend behind the plate — the Fall Classic starts next Tuesday in either Houston or New York — but plans could not be finalized in time to make it work out.

“Definitely, just one of the boys,” said Kimo Higa, who with his brother is still a coach for the Baldwin High School baseball team — Tyson Higa and Suzuki were in the school’s 2001 graduating class. “You would never think he is a major leaguer, he is super down to earth. Very humble, very, very, very humble. Extremely humble.

“He’s worked so hard for this, that was his ultimate goal to get to the World Series and now he has a chance to win one — I know that was his dream. Never, ever, ever, ever going to forget where he came from.”

While Suzuki hasn’t hit well so far this postseason — he is just 1-for-20 at the plate — All-Star pitchers Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg are praising the work that he is doing behind the plate.

“It’s a special starting rotation, that’s for sure,” Suzuki said. “I have never been a part of a starting rotation like this. Obviously, you’ve got Scherz and Stras as the top two and then (Anibal) Sanche(z) and (Patrick) Corbin. Guys that have been through the grind, guys that have been through wars and been so successful in their careers, but obviously those two guys at the top, they’re special — Max and Stras, to me the top two pitchers in baseball.”

Suzuki almost has to pinch himself to realize he is the man behind the plate for these pitchers.

“To be on the same staff, anchoring that rotation, it’s pretty neat and to be able to catch them on a regular basis there’s always that special feeling that something crazy could happen this day,” Suzuki said. “It just doesn’t get old, man. It’s awesome.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.