SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The Little League World Series is back, and so are the fans. For the first time since 2019, spectators are allowed back inside the ballpark.
Players from all the teams walked out on the field for opening ceremonies Wednesday morning.
"It's crazy. It's like a dream come true. We've been wanting to do this since we were eight years old, and it's great that we actually came this far," said Luke Bolduc from the New England region.
This year's World Series is bigger than ever. It's the 75th anniversary of the Little League World Series, and for the first time, there are 20 teams instead of the usual 16 — ten from the United States and ten international teams.
Little League expanded the World Series as a way to give more kids the chance at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"I've watched the World Series for a while now, and I've always wanted to be on it. I've always wanted to be on TV," said Parker Workman from the Northwest region.
"I think it's something every kid dreams of, and now just to be here is really exciting," said Christian Bekiers from the Metro region, one of those four new teams.
The Metro region players are from Long Island, New York, and they say they worked hard to get here.
"Practice every day, 100 percent commitment, so really hard," Bekiers said.
"It's very exciting," Workman said. "It was a really long journey to get here. We were going for regionals, and it's really nice that we got here today."
This year's World Series has an unofficial home team. The Mid-Atlantic region is from Hollidaysburg, just outside Altoona.
"I like it because we're like two hours away, and there's going to be a lot of fans here cheering us on and all around Pennsylvania," said Mid-Atlantic player Braden Hatch.
This is the first of 11 days packed full of baseball in South Williamsport.
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