Love has grown something special in Needville
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Before parents made their Little League World Series plans, Needville Little League president Charlie Swanson let them know something important.
And this went way beyond wins and losses.
"This team is a family and I told them that at a dinner we had," Swanson said. "I told them the team doing this makes you a family and brings all the families together. These boys love each other."
From love has grown something special and something which Needville will never forget. This team, from a small town of 3,018, has made history by becoming the first in league history to both compete and win at the Little League World Series, capturing the Southwest title before opening the Series 2-0.
As they grow older, these players will go their separate ways. Their parents may eventually move as well, but wherever anyone associated with these 2023 all-stars goes, they will be linked.
This will long remain a family.
"At the end of the day, we have each other's backs and that's what families do and that's what this team has become," Needville manager Andy McRae said. "It's been really cool to watch."
Through its success, Needville really has made its community become a family. At a time when so many disagree so vociferously, this team has unified its surrounding areas and given them all something they can agree on:
These kids sure can play. And their fans sure love watching them play.
"We have a big following and the further we went, the bigger the support has grown," Swanson said. "I get a lot of correspondence from different leagues in the district and state wishing us luck. They said they are making sure their towns are watching the game and letting us know they are all behind us."
The core of this Needville team has played together the past five years. This Series run has only increased that bond. But the thing is, families do have disagreements and argue sometimes.
This Needville unit is not different. Put a group together for what is going on more than three weeks now and disagreements are bound to happen. Families also have the ability to pull back together, however, and that is what these players do, becoming one again, especially when they take the field.
"We're not used to staying with each other. We've stayed with each other for three weeks in a row besides two days, so it's really different," third baseman/pitcher Easton Benge said following a 6-2 win against North Dakota. "We're trying to get along as much as possible but there is a little bickering that goes on."
"There's a little bickering every now and then but most of the time we get along," outfielder Cade Hammonds said. "It's a fun ride."
McRae and his staff have become surrogate fathers for all 12 players throughout this run. They have seen the players get on each other at times. They also have witnessed the players smooth all the bumps and the roads and pull closer throughout the journey.
"It's been a really good experience. We all talk about a family and if everyone gets along with their family every minute of every day it's probably not a family," McRae said. "We have our ups and downs, but we get through them."
That closeness really shines through every time Needville plays. These players not only know each other well, but all their strengths and weaknesses. They know how to pick each other up and how to bring out everyone's best.
All of them hit, throw and field well. But that closeness provides a huge X-factor and has helped make Needville one of the best Little League teams in the world.
"That helps a lot. We've played together, most of us, since we were 7 years old," pitcher/catcher DJ Jablonski said. "You're way more comfortable."
"I think that played into them not being nervous. They were out there with their best friends at the end of the day. They are all really close," McRae said. "You look at each other and go, 'That's my buddy out there.' They're might be a lot of people in the stands but they've been together so many times that it becomes a comforting thing."
Needville has stayed cool when the pressure cooker has been turned up high. It suffered only one loss, at sections, on its way to the Series and romped through difficult state and regional fields before defeating strong Pennsylvania and North Dakota teams in two consecutive Series games.
Each victory pulled the team closer. Each victory pulled the community closer.
The thing about making a memorable run like this is that time, nor distance can ever break this family apart. They have done something historic and something which so few ever get to achieve. This family will be together forever.
"This is a memory nobody will ever forget. We will make sure the memories stay strong," Swanson said. "They're a family, and when you're a family, there's no limit to what you can do."