‘Dream come true’: SF Little League’s special season

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The 2024 Sioux Falls Little League All-Star team will go down in history. Despite some challenges, the team clawed their way to the Little League World Series.

It didn’t take long before they realized they had a special group.

“Right after our first week of practice, we had great practices, and we had all the positions filled that we needed. So, I knew we were going to be good after that week of practice,” pitcher and catcher Kinnick Noble said.

As they began their push to Williamsport, they breezed through the district tournament, but they faced some challenges at state.

“The state tournament was interesting. We lost our first game and had some adversity to start with. Thankfully, it’s a double-elimination tournament. We blew a lead in the sixth inning, but our boys were resilient, responded exactly how we wanted them to and came back, played well in the remaining games,” head coach Nick Kortan said

After earning a state championship, they advanced to the regionals where their backs were against the wall once again.

“When we lost to Webb City in the regional, we spent a lot of time talking about, ‘This is a place we’ve been, and we just get to play extra baseball,'” Kortan said.

Then, they won two straight to clinch a spot in the Little League World Series.

“It was insane. We couldn’t believe it. I mean, it’s a dream come true, and we just were so excited, so ready,” first baseman and catcher Ryan Henry said.

“We won late at night and then we left at seven in the morning, so we had a short hour or so to celebrate with the team and the families back at the hotel. Then all of a sudden, it was logistics,” Kortan said.

Once they figured out those, the team had a once-in-a-lifetime experience in Williamsport.

“I’d say for me, the parade was the most overwhelming part of the whole process. It certainly exceeded expectations. They estimated 40,000 people there at the parade,” Kortan said.

“It was crazy. People throwing balls at us and like we’re MLB players, like we were famous,” Henry said.

The MLB also hosted a major league game in Williamsport during the tournament, where the team got to see what it was like to be a big-leaguer.

“It was super cool to hear like their stories and how they made it to the big leagues and like what was what their journey was,” Henry said.

“They’re just normal people. They’re not like, insane. They just still act the same way as anyone else,” Noble said.

But what might have been the most unique part of their trip was interacting with players from around the country and world.

“It was super cool meeting all the international people and using Google Translate, that’s for sure. That definitely helped a lot, and it was super fun,” Noble said.

“These kids were just fearless of going and making new friends and meeting people from all over the world and not letting the language barrier deter them,” Kortan said.

Sioux Falls Little League lost their first two games, eliminating them from the tournament.

“We were there to win, and I think we showed that we can play with anybody. We gave that Florida team one heck of a ballgame, and they went on to win the U.S. side,” Kortan said.

Although it did not end the way they wanted it to, the team has a lot to be proud of.

“Yeah, it was it was sad, but you have to remember that we made it there, and that was the main goal,” Henry said.

“We played phenomenal baseball, came up on the wrong end of it, but we’ve got memories, friendships and bonds that will last us for a lifetime,” Kortan said.

The team from Florida that eliminated Sioux Falls ended up winning the entire tournament.

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