As the Maine-Endwell Little League team swarmed the field at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to celebrate its 2-1 victory over South Korea on Sunday, a smaller-scale celebration took place on the field at the home of the Binghamton Mets. When 12-year-old pitcher Ryan Harlost struck out Mincho Choi to secure the United States’ first championship since 2011, hundreds of fans watching the video scoreboard at NYSEG Stadium broke into applause, cheering on the boys who hail from the nearby towns of Maine and Endwell.
Part of this contingent was the Pelton family of Endwell, who sported matching navy Maine-Endwell Little League T-shirts. For them, the connection to the talented preteens was personal.
“My daughter goes to Maine-Endwell [Middle School] and we know these kids; Michael Mancini lives down the street from us,” Jennifer Pelton said. “Jayden [Fenara] and James Fellows have been to our house. We had to come out and watch them play at this level.”
According to Richard Tylicki, Binghamton Mets director of stadium operations, the Mets, who organized viewing parties for both Saturday and Sunday’s games, offered to host the events after the officials that had done so previously in Maine-Endwell traveled to the championship game.
“We did it yesterday and we did it today to support the community,” Tylicki said. “What’s good for the Southern Tier is good for Binghamton.”
This sentiment was echoed around the Binghamton area; the viewing party was just one of many ways the team’s achievements, which included becoming the first team from New York to take the world title since 1964, were celebrated.
On Monday morning, the Town of Union welcomed the players home with a parade. The route was lined with well-wishers chanting, “USA!” as the Coach bus carrying the players made its way to the Struble Sports Facility, where the boys practiced prior to the tournament.
Signs reading “Let’s go M-E!” hung in the windows of various stores and restaurants in Downtown Binghamton over the weekend, including The Place on Court and Sake-Tumi.
Binghamton University students Andrew Sweeney, a first-year graduate student studying education, and Tom Moshier, a junior majoring in computer science, made the trip to Williamsport for the championship game.
“It was definitely awesome watching a team from so close to here win it,” Sweeney wrote in an email. “Being from Rochester, I have a lot of pride for Upstate NY. Also, having been here for so long, I feel like a part of the community, and enjoy showing my support.”
The Maine-Endwell Little League team also received national attention. Following its victory over Tennessee in Saturday’s U.S. Championship, the team received a call from President Barack Obama congratulating them on the win. The rapper Drake posted a video to Twitter in which he addressed their success, including a pun on the team’s hometown.
“I just want to send a shoutout to the Maine-Endwell Little League team,” he said. “I know you’ve got the championship coming up, and I hope it ends well.”
Maine-Endwell’s path to the championship went as smoothly as it could have; the squad went undefeated in the postseason this year, finishing 24-0. In Saturday’s U.S. Championship match, Maine-Endwell took down the squad from Goodlettsville, Tennessee by a score of 4-2. Clutch hitting from Jack Hopko, Fellows and Brody Raleigh in the fourth inning gave the Southern Tier team a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
In Sunday’s finale, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Maine-Endwell’s Jude Abbadessa sparked a two-run rally with a single into centerfield. After Harlost advanced Abbadessa to third with a single of his own, he alertly moved to second on the throw down to third. Conner Rush then hit a bloop RBI single past the shortstop. Harlost scored one batter later on a dropped third strike to put M-E up 2-0. South Korea responded with a solo home run in the next frame, but Maine-Endwell held on through six to secure the win.
The significance of the victory was not lost on even the youngest members of the community.
“I knew they’d win. We knew them before they started winning,” said Paige Newman, age 8, of Endwell. “Our whole town is famous now.”