Boerne’s Little League Team won the regional championship in Waco on Tuesday, Aug. 7, and this week traveled to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the World Series contest.
That contest pits region winners against region winners, and it eventually will crown the nationwide winner, and that winner will compete in the Little League World Series for Champion.
First off, Boerne had to win a game against the mid-Atlantic region winner, and on Thursday night they did.
Chris Carey runs Boerne’s Little League. He said Williamsport is steeped in tradition. “It's between the Appalachian Mountains, and it's just kind of built in a valley, and it's kind of picturesque,” Carey said. “The stadium’s the size of, or bigger than, a college stadium.”
Like most sports, it’s every bit as psychological as it is physical. "They just have this demeanor about them, where nothing rattles them, and they just play the game, and they know what to do. A lot of that's due to the coaches getting them prepared for this moment,” he said.
They were playing against what’s called the Mid-Atlantic division winners, but they were from a town just three hours away. Essentially, they were playing against a hometown crowd. Carey said that didn’t seem to matter to the kids.
“My goodness, that was fun! Fifteen thousand people in attendance,” he said. “Like half of Boerne, if you think about it, in attendance, in the game. Texas fans are loud, so it seemed like we were filling the stadium.”
As the game progressed, Boerne was up 4-zip over Mid Atlantic, and in the top of the 5th came the play that secured the win.
“Kole Newsome was, was up at the plate. We had bases loaded a couple times and oddly enough, my phone actually died at the moment I was going to record him batting, so I didn't get the grand slam on my phone,” Carey said. “It's his first grand slam, I think that he's ever hit. So to hit in the Little League World Series is just huge. I mean, what better place, Right?”
As Newsome rounded the bases, the orange pin-striped shirted teammates streamed out of the dugout and met him and the other base-runners at home plate.
Yet another homer later in that same inning gave Boerne the 9-to-nothing score that they needed to win.
On Monday they will play the winner of the Northwest versus the Southeast division.
Correction: A previous version of this story included the incorrect name of the Bourne Little League president. It is Chris Carey.