SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — When the Mid-Atlantic region made its Little League World Series debut on Wednesday night, thousands of fans made the trip from Delaware County.
“They're driving up here, watching the game and then driving back home. That's six hours of driving. It's really cool that they're spending their whole day coming to see us play." said Mid-Atlantic Manger Tom Bradley.
The team is from Media, which is right outside Philadelphia. It's about three hours from South Williamsport.
"It's so exciting to have everyone that I know just come out here and support us while we play in this amazing stadium. It's just really exciting and fun and will be a memory for a lifetime." said Mid-Atlantic player Noal Gratton.
"All these fans that come out, they just cheer so loudly and there's so many people." said Rhys Muessig, another Mid-Atlantic player.
Many of the players say they grew up watching the Little League World Series and are excited to be here.
“It's amazing. Great experience. It's just awesome to be here." said Gratton.
The kids say it's nice looking into the crowd and seeing so many familiar faces.
"A lot of people that I know and the whole team knows and it's just really cool." said Muessig.
Even so, Bradley says the team is feeling the pressure.
"They were like wow there's 15,000 people here? So we try to tell them to stay in the lines. Get in the lines and play it like it's a game at media little league. If you can do that then you can block everything else out. Don't look at the stands, don't look at the people. Just focus on the game." he said.
Mid-Atlantic lost its first game on Wednesday. But the Little League World Series is a double elimination tournament so they will have another chance to play. The team plays New England Saturday at 2pm.