Council Rock Newtown welcomed home from LLWS with big celebration

Caroline Goggin Image
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Council Rock Newtown welcomed home from LLWS with big celebration
Council Rock Newtown welcomed home from LLWS with big celebration

NEWTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- After their magical run in the Little League World Series came to an end, the Council Rock Newtown Little League Team returned home to Bucks County on Wednesday night.

"Being away from your family for three weeks, and then coming home to the whole town, it's just crazy having so much support behind you," said Greyson Gage, one of the players.

The team bus received an escort from the fire department as it entered Chandler Fields in Newtown - the exact spot where the team's journey started.

Fresh off the bus from Williamsport, the team was greeted by cheers, confetti, and hugs.

They returned home celebrities, as younger players asked them to sign autographs and take pictures.

"It was amazing to see we're supported by our whole town. Just love it," Rocco DaBronzo, one of the players, told Action News.

The boys from Bucks County fell to a team from Hawaii in the elimination round of the Little League World Series on Tuesday.

Right after the loss, back home in Newtown, preparations for their return got underway.

"It wasn't even a question whether it had to be done," said Brett D'Andrea, a board member for Council Rock Newtown Baseball. "It 100% had to be done for these boys, to welcome them home and congratulate them on an incredible summer."

This summer consisted of championship after championship for the team's 13 players and three coaches.

They went from district champs, to state champs, to Mid-Atlantic Little League Baseball Champions.

It had been 19 years since the team from Newtown competed in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, and the players told Action News it was an experience they would never forget.

"Doesn't matter if you went zero and two, or if you win it all, you're still going to have people supporting you all the way," Gage said.

It may not have been the ending the team had hoped for, but Head Coach Brad Hamilton said it's all about the journey and the lessons his players learned along the way.

"What they did recently, and how they persevered over the last three years to get themselves to this point, I think stays with them forever," Hamilton explained.

Copyright © 2024 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.