CBS News: El Segundo Rejoices the Return of the Little League World Champions
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(Story Courtesy of CBS News, Los Angeles August 28, 2023)
The boys of the El Segundo all-star team returned home as champions after a dramatic walk-off home run in the Little League World Series cemented their legacy in the history books.
"Historic and monumental," said manager Danny Boehle. "The memories these kids will have, as well as with their coaches, will last a lifetime... They just think they won a baseball game and everyone is celebrating for them. But at the end of the day, they'll understand and we'll be in the books forever and no one could ever take that away from us."
The El Segundo ball players were in a back-and-forth game with their opponents, the all-stars of the Curacao-based Pabao Little League, with the latter hammering in a grand slam homer an inning before 12-year-old Louis Lappe stepped up to the plate.
"It's been a whirlwind, excitement, emotions and everything," said El Segundo Mayor Drew Boyles. "It was surreal being there — once in a lifetime."
With the two teams tied up at five runs a piece, the 6-foot-1-inch ball player stared down a pitch barrelling down the middle of the plate. He smashed it out of the park with his teammates emptying the dugout to celebrate their World Series win.