RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Southeast's Joe Giulietti crosses home after hitting a base-clearing home run during a Little League World Series game against New England at Lamade Stadium on Thursday. Southeast won 13-0 in four innings.

Make no mistake, Irmo Little League is ecstatic that its 12-year-old all-stars are competing at the Little League World Series. It has been a historic summer and Irmo reached South Williamsport for the first time, also becoming just the second South Carolina team since 1950 to do so.

But for Irmo, reaching a Little League World Series has proven something other than a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As far as 2025 is concerned, it’s four times in a lifetime.

Remarkably, this 12-year-old all-star team is Irmo’s fourth which has played at a Little League World Series this summer. It joins the Senior baseball, Intermediate baseball and Junior softball teams which reach their respective Series.

What a year it has been and what a way to close it out.

“Irmo Little League has, arguably, had the best summer in Little League ever,” league president Bobby Jensen said. “If I’m being completely honest, I would never think anyone could do this because it’s hard to get one team there. Look at the odds.

“I don’t even think anyone in Vegas would put odds on that.”

They would have to be a fool to do so. The chances seem about as remote as eating a ketchup Popsicle at the Sahara dessert. McClean Little League from Virginia had three teams qualify this year but no others came close. It certainly shines a light on how incredibly strong Irmo has become.

Because this is not just a one-year thing. This is its best overall year ever, but Irmo has been setting a tremendous standard throughout the decade, now reaching a Series a whopping nine times in the last four years.

“When we sent two teams, we thought, this will never be done again and then we went from two to four teams,” Jensen said. “I’d like to say this is the ceiling, but as the league president, I have to say, ‘let’s go higher.’ But in reality, we’re jut going to enjoy this right here and be thankful that we’re fortunate enough to be able to do this.”

Irmo has had good fortune at the Series. Its senior league captured consecutive national championships and both the Intermediate baseball team and junior softball teams finished among the top four American teams.

Add in the incredible run the 12U team has made and it makes for the kind of Little League season which formerly only existed in dreams. Somehow Irmo has turned into reality.

“It’s quite remarkable. We won five state championships, too, this year and six last season,” Irmo 12U manager Dave Bogan said. “It’s another reason we take pride in Irmo Little League.”

That pride spreads throughout the community and helped make Irmo one of South Carolina’s premier leagues long before this year. Irmo has featured a winning tradition for a long time and repeated as state champions this year. Irmo often is in the state title hunt every season and the league’s success has sent the winning into overdrive.

It’s become a cycle. Fantastic players are coached well by dedicated staff members and elevate the program before handing the reins to the young groups. In the process, numbers have increased and players’ ambition have as well.

That explains a lot about how Irmo has developed into the powerhouse it has become. Ironically, the wheels toward postseason success started blazing when Irmo had no shot at making Series runs. The COVID pandemic prevented any postseason play in the summer of 2020.

“They couldn’t play beyond states, and that inability to advance in the International tournaments really fueled the league,” Bogan said. “Those teams stuck together and when the community saw the success they had in baseball and softball the last few years, the league gained a lot of attention and sparked interest for kids that haven’t played Little League before, like Brady Westbrooks and Ethan Bennett on our team. And there’s plenty more that have helped the league grow beyond the Little League age. That enthusiasm really breeds more enthusiasm and helps the league keep going strong.”

Of course, all that has been built upon a rock solid foundation put in place a long time ago. The board does a good job putting the right coaches in the right positions each season and the league’s volunteers go all out, all the time to help ensure the league’s players the best experiences possible.

Everything starts there. The coaches and players help fan the flames and Irmo has kept blowing through the competition these last four years.

“You have to have volunteers who pour their heart and soul into the league. When you do that, it gets the community involved and once you have the community involved, you get sponsors and sponsorships and they help in every capacity,” Jensen said. “When you get that great volunteerism and get businesses willing to help, this is what you can accomplish.”

As much as winning defines Irmo Little League, so does the community feel. Jensen likes to say that Irmo is a destination. He’s not talking about anything on the scoreboard when he does so.

It’s about people of all ages coming by the Friarsgate Park to watch the games. It’s what he loves most about Irmo Little League. It’s the Wiffle Balls games which inevitably break out by the fields, the laughter heard throughout the crowds on warm, summer nights and fans not so much cheering for their teams, as enjoying each other’s company.

“I have 19, 15 and 11-year-old children that have gone through Little League and they always wanted to go to the park even when they were not playing. When I was growing up, you didn’t have to call your buddies, you just knew they were going to be there and it still feels that way,” Jensen said. “That’s what we try building at Friarsgate. You can watch some baseball or softball, cheer on your buddies, the parents become friends and it brings a community together. That allows something like this to happen.”

Now, all of Irmo has rallied around its latest Series qualifier as it caps one of the most memorable league seasons in U.S history.

And while the Senior baseball and Junior softball teams had made Series appearances before, the 12U team made history. It had won just one game in four previous Southeast Regional tournaments before winning four games this time. This team than put itself up there with all the other dominant ones in league history when it erased a four-run sixth inning deficit, defeated defending world champion Lake Mary, Florida and reached the Series.

Before it did so that day, Irmo made a collective decision. It traded in its South Carolina jerseys for its regular Irmo all-star uniforms. Talk about putting a cherry on top to a stunning win.

“It’s a small thing but we had worn the South Carolina jersey every game but we decided we wanted to wear our Irmo uniforms to represent our community since no (12U) team had ever been there before,” Bogan said. “That meant a lot to us.”

It was yet another unforgettable moment in what has been an unforgettable Irmo Little League year. Or is unfathomable? Either way, it’s been something we might not see happen again anytime soon.

“It’s amazing not just for the town, but for the lives this team has been able to touch with this run,” Bogan said. “Humbling is the only word I can think of.”