Clarendon Hills Little League Baseball catcher Hudson Lauerman called his first impression of arriving in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the Little League World Series “a whole different level of coolness.”
The Clarendon Hills 12 and under age group team advanced to the Aug. 13-24 tournament for the first time by winning the Great Lakes Region Aug. 6. The team arrived in Williamsport, the headquarters for Little League, the evening after claiming the Region championship.
“You see it on TV, but it really is amazing to come here and see all of this,” Hudson said Sunday. “They give you all kinds of free stuff, mostly baseball gear. It’s like a kid on Christmas experience, and it’s something I’ll remember forever.”
Teammate Christian Gernot had a similar reaction.
“And the first time I saw the field, what we’ve seen before on TV, it’s just amazing,” he said.
Clarendon Hills manager Brian Herold took a page out of the 1986 movie, “Hoosiers,” when his team spent 45 minutes on the field Sunday at Lamade Stadium, the renowned venue that can accommodate up to about 40,000 people for the World Series championship game.
“It’s an iconic stadium, with so much history here,” he said. “I took them around so they could see it’s the same as the field in Prospect Park. There are four bases that are 60 feet apart, and the pitcher’s mound is 46 feet (from home plate). I took them back to what’s familiar.”
While Hudson, Christian and their manager are focused on winning as many games as possible while in Williamsport, and not looking at being there as “icing on the cake” to what already has been a spectacular season, they are enjoying other aspects of the experience, especially meeting and interacting with players from nine other United States teams and 10 international squads.
“It’s kind of difficult to talk to them, but we go and play basketball and ping pong together,” Hudson said of players from non-English-speaking countries. “The whole experience has been amazing. I’ll have it in my heart forever.”
Players and managers/coaches from all teams stay in dorms and have a cafeteria where they eat together.
“The food is pretty good,” Christian said. “Our team been close during the season, but staying together in the dorms has really bonded up together even more.”
Herold is enjoying being in Williamsport for the Little League World Series, but watching the boys on his team have the experience makes it even better.
“It’s just so special, the whole uniqueness of Williamsport,” he said.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
