“Baseball is fun” – Rock Island-Milan little league advances to state for first time in 20 years

For the Rock Island-Milan 11 U little league baseball team, playing their favorite sport is all about fun.

“I just have so much love for the sport man. It’s all about the lesson. You never go home with the loss, it’s either a win or a lesson,” A.J. Nunn said. “The game is everything to me and my teammates are just awesome.”

The game makes me feel good. It all goes to my uncle Ben who taught me everything about it,” Jordan Barbee said. “He would always tell me to keep my shoulder up when swinging and keep two hands on the bat. It’s been a struggle for me though. I see improvement. I’ll get better at it.”

“People have just told me to have fun and don’t get made after striking out,” Jayce Richardson said.

It’s that mentality bringing the all-stars success. They’re going to state for the first time in 20 years because of their strong bond.

“Teamwork. We all played together in the regular season and on this travel team so it’s really helped us,” Reilly Hagestead said.

This team can really come together. We’ve all played together for a few years,” Nunn said. “It’s very exciting to be the team finally making it back to state.”

When they play as a unit, there’s no end to it,” head coach Thad Pool said. “They’re unstoppable. They’re a good team. They listen to us as coaches and have in us as coaches and do what we say.”

Even with a new experience come Saturday, nothing changes for this all-stars.

“We just have to play our game and if we play our game, we’ll be fine. Win or loss, it’s an experience. Just go out and play. Even if we loss, we just have to keep our heads up because it’s going to be a fun experience for sure.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.