RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Members of the Clarendon Hills, Illinois Little League all-star team sign autographs and react during Tuesday’s Little League World Series Grand Slam Parade in downtown Williamsport.

Nearly every team Clarendon Hills, Illinois has faced this summer represents a larger town. Most times, that difference is massive.

Clarendon Hills is a small town with 8,703 residents. But in the Little League World, Clarendon Hills has become a giant. A team which captured its league’s first state championship last month now is among the world’s top 20 teams and made its Little League World Series debut Wednesday afternoon, playing against Las Vegas, Nevada.

That Las Vegas population by the way? 678,922.

But it’s not about how many players an area has; it’s about finding the right players. Clarendon Hills has proven it again this summer. And it has produced all the answers, becoming the Great Lakes Region’s best team.

“It’s remarkable that we could find 12 kids from a smaller pool like that. We feel very fortunate. We love our community and we have tremendous support,” Clarendon Hills manager Brian Herold said. “The kids appreciate the fact that this is a life lesson and they’re role models for kid who have stars in their eyes watching every game they play on this big stage. They are very good stewards for the league and they love the game and approach it the right way.”

All those are key factors in Clarendon Hills striking a blow for small towns everywhere and making it the top team in league history. Along the way, Clarendon Hills won all but two games, avenging a loss against district rival Naperville before defeating mighty Hamilton, Ohio, 9-4 for the Great Lakes championship.

Hamilton had not only reached the Series five times since 1991, as well as taking second in the country four years earlier, but also has 64,000 residents. On the way to that title game, Clarendon Hills also rallied past Brownsburg, Indiana (30,000) and Lexington, Kentucky (329,000).

Herold did not have to pull a Norman Dale and pull out the tape measure to measure the field’s dimensions in Whitestown, but what Clarendon Hills is doing sure fills like quite a Cinderella story.

“A lot of friends have reached out with references to (1986 movie) “Hoosiers,” Herold said. “It’s not lost on me because we don’t have a big pool of 12-year-olds to select from and we still had to leave two talented kids off the roster which hurts because they are terrific boys. We have a great league and feel very blessed.”

“It’s a testament to this team to be able to find 12 boys willing to put it all on the line every day. It’s really impressive,” assistant coach and Clarendon Hills Little League president Brian O’Malley said.. “The best part of it is that, coming from a small town, everyone is invested. We’re away from it, but we see all the watch parties going on and see all the social media and I had over 500 text messages by the time we had our meeting after the (Great Lakes final) game. It’s truly a community effort. Everyone feels a part of this which is really cool.”

That effort started when most of the players were 8-years-old. Herold and O’Malley could sense there could be something special brewing. Still, talent is one thing, work ethic is another. It’s that relentless desire and non-stop work which has helped Clarendon Hills break down walls which had blocked its 12U teams since the league was established in 1953.

There have been few days off this summer, and Clarendon Hills held two-a-day practices in June, but that is the way this team likes it. They enjoy working at the game they love. They appreciate the grind and played a pivotal role in Clarendon Hills getting past former nemesis Naperville (population 153,000) in districts before barreling through states, while turning a five-year dream into reality in Indianapolis last week.

Glory comes with a price and the players investing so heavily has enabled it to reap the biggest dividends. Highlighting that, nearly every player often was at practice at least 20 minutes early. O’Malley and his son would arrive at 8:40 a.m. for a 9 a.m. practice and were one of many who operated on Vince Lombardi time in this Chicago suburb.

“That work they put in really catapulted them and their skill level, being together four hours a day in the mornings and afternoons,” Herold said. “They gave up family vacations and skipped out on water parks and going to the beach and things like that. Their commitment is remarkable and it all paid off.”

“Coming into summer, we asked a lot of the boys and the families,” O’Malley said. “We asked them to believe and they gave up a lot to achieve the ultimate dream of every 12-year-old that plays baseball. It’s outstanding to see it come to fruition.”

Being a small-town, there already is a tight-knit feel among the community back home. For these 12 all-stars, the three coaches and the families the bond has become iron-clad this summer. That especially shows on the field. Clarendon Hills has dealt with costly injuries at different times this summer, but the train has kept rolling.

When adversity has struck, players have rallied around each other. When something has gone wrong, someone has picked another up and/or encouraged him. Hailing from a town which has a familial feel, Clarendon Hills Little League team has basically become one big family.

“The friendships among the boys on the team are special. They are always picking each other up and being there for their teammates,” Herold said. “It’s the times when things don’t go right that demonstrates what this team is about with them being there for their brothers. When they get older, looking back at this, I hope they remember being there for each other and remain friends. If that’s the outcome that happens, I’ll be very grateful.”

Clarendon Hills certainly is grateful for its Little League team. It may be a from a small town, but this team has shown big-time talent and heart. The impact it has made throughout Clarendon Hills is something which likely will reverberate long after they hang up their baseball cleats.

“It’s really special because we value our Little League in Clarendon Hills and it’s been a great organization for over 70 years. Us being in this position means you have all these little kids throughout town who want to play and who are going nuts about it,” O’Malley said. “All these little kids are looking up to them and want to do what they have done which is really a cool thing. It’s something that gives these kids hope and something tor strive for.

“It’s special because we’ve seen the way the younger kids look up to them and now it’s one of those things where they say, ‘Why not me?'”

This team already answered a similar question last week: Why not Clarendon Hills? Small town or metropolis, it’s often about opportunity meeting preparation. Clarendon Hills waited for its opportunity the last five years and when it game, this team made sure it stood tall among Little League’s biggest teams.

“We told them you’re a small town and the whole town is pulling for you. We’re not just playing for ourselves, but the community and they have represented them so well,” O’Malley said. “They might not understand it now, but when they get older they will realize, ‘Wow, we were not favored; not supposed to be where we were, but we did it.

“We achieved the ultimate 12-year-old baseball goal.”