The El Segundo community rallied behind a talented group of young baseball players last August, cheering them on until they were eventually crowned 2023 Little League World Series champions.
Fast forward to Saturday, and the boys are back for Opening Day of the 2024 El Segundo Little League season.
Of course, the city celebrated accordingly when the El Segundo 12U All Stars won the championship last summer; not one but two parades were held to honor the champions, including a homecoming parade for when the boys returned home and then a proper championship parade days later, which attracted thousands of attendees.
El Segundo residents grew even closer while watching the Little League World Series-winning youngsters, and now the city hopes that more magic can be made on the diamond this year.
“This community is unbelievable...we’re a baseball town,” said Danny Boehle, who managed last season’s title-winning team. “To go as far as we did and to have the community spend months watching on TV, it was just incredible and [the community] supported us financially as well.”
“It’s just an incredible town to play baseball in,” Boehle added.
Opening Day for the El Segundo Little League also entails a parade of its own, packed with kids searching for baseball glory.
“[Lots of kids] saw some parades this summer with [the championship winners] and now they get to be involved in one,” Boehle told KTLA 5’s Erin Myers. “The parade itself kind of says ‘Let’s set the tone [because] this is who we are' and that’s a big part of Little League: creating family and unity.”
Boehle also told Myers that there are “a lot of things in the works” and alluded to a possible movie being made, adding that the publicity surrounding the boys “is crazy like that.”
“The town is on fire, and the town’s ready to go,” he said.
The 2024 El Segundo Little League season opening game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at Brett Field.
More information on the league can be found here.