At a watch party at Birchwood Brewing in Gray, it was standing room only as the Gray-New Gloucester-Raymond Little League team played against Northeast Seattle at the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania Thursday afternoon.
And some fans, like Gail Smart of Gray arrived well before the game got started
"Had to get here early so I could have a front row seat!" she said.
Katie Maschino, who works at Birchwood Brewing, says the entire community has been swept up in the excitement. This is the first Maine team to compete at the World Series in nearly two decades.
"Coming from Maine is a pretty huge deal, but coming from our hometown — I'm getting choked up," she said. "There's just really at this point not a lot of words that can express how proud we are of them, how awesome it is to watch these kids."
And Maschino said it's the close-knit community that may have contributed to the team's success.
"They have a bond, the way that they mesh together, you know, play together. These kids are best friends," she said. "They go to school together. The community members — a lot of the parents went to school together. I went to school with many of these parents."
While many people at the watch party had personal connections to the players, others, like Rich Peterson of New Gloucester, came because they love baseball and the hometown team.
"I'm proud of seeing these young people with this discipline," he said. "We live in a world of uncertainty and a lot of negativity, and it's great to have some positive role models for the other kids."
The Gray-New Gloucester-Raymond Little League team is the fourth from Maine to ever make it to the World Series. They entered their first game undefeated as they faced Northeast Seattle.
Neither team scored in the first inning. But by the end of the second, Northeast Seattle started to pull ahead by two runs. And in the third, their lead had grown to eight, with Maine still at zero. Back at home, that left some of the players' friends, like 12-year-olds Madelyn Patrick and Ainsley Harris, anxious.
"Ummm, [we're] a little scared," the two said. "A little nervous. They can get it back. They've done it before."
The Gray New-Gloucester-Raymond team had some plays that elicited cheers, but they couldn't overcome Seattle's lead, which widened to a 10-0 final score.
Though they lost the game, they didn't lose their fans. Jason McVey is from New Gloucester.
"Whether they win or lose, they're winners because they made it where they made it," he said. "Just to think about the amount of kids that Seattle has to create the team against the kids we have, it's amazing."
And Maine's team isn't coming home yet. They now move to the elimination bracket and will play again at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
