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Former Cutter Alec Bohm glad to return to Bowman

By HENRY HUBER 3 min read

In September of 2018, Alec Bohm played his last game in a Williamsport Crosscutter uniform. Five years later, he's in the midst of his fourth year as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies and his best MLB season up to this point.

It's often a long journey to make it to the league, with many players struggling for years to prove themselves in the minors. With how many players are competing for a spot on one of the 30 26-man rosters featured in the league, there are many that end up falling short.

For those that manage to make it, it's uplifting to look back on the trek there and all the trials and tribulations that went into it. To have his team named as one of the 2023 participants for the MLB Little League Classic held at Bowman Field, it was the perfect opportunity to do so for Bohm.

"It's a cool little full circle moment, being an affiliated baseball player and then coming back here," said Bohm. "It's cool being on the other side of that now and coming back."

Along with bringing up old memories of his time in Williamsport and reminding him how far he's come, he's finally had the chance to experience the Little League World Series for the first time. Though he was a part of the Crosscutters during the 2018 series, he was on the road with the team throughout it.

This was the first time he got to see Lamade Stadium in action during the series, from the competitive contests to the excitement and comradery of the kids. For him, it's been heartwarming getting to witness the kids' excitement and emotions, and he loves that they have the opportunity to participate in such a large event.

"It's awesome for the kids to kind of get a little taste of competition on this scale at the series," said Bohm. "It's pretty cool man. There's a lot of high energy there in Lamade, and it's really cool for those kids to get to play on ESPN."

Since the MLB established the MLB Little League Classic back in 2017, it's given these players the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet those they look up to and mold their games after. And being that most of these guys were a part of Little League when they were kids, Bohm believes that the fact that they all made it to the league gives the kids confidence that they can do so too.

"I think it's just when we showed up at the stadium and all their excitement," said Bohm, referring to his favorite part of the series. "We were all kids playing Little League or whatever growing up and now we're all playing in the big leagues, and we give a little assurance to them there. That's really cool."

That's a full circle moment in itself.

Although neither team features a player that played in the series, getting to see the kids experience it reminds them of their Little League days and how far they've come since then.

Starting at /week.