NORFOLK, Va. (WTKR) — Most of the players in Fleet Park baseball remember watching the organization's run to the 2022 16U Little League World Series.
Two years later, a group of them are making some history of their own.
Fleet Park Little League is sending its junior and senior all-star teams to respective region tournaments after both took home Virginia State championships last week.
It's the first time they've had two teams get that far at the same time.
"It's been awesome, it's a blast," said Gabriel Rapisardi, an outfielder for the Junior team. "Knowing that they're also there, it's kind of knowing you've got the same thing going."
"There's definitely some more fans, there's the junior team and the senior team recognizing us," said Aiden Longworth, an infielder for the Senior All-Stars. "Not just them but the whole Fleet Park organization. We're just trying to pick up after the 2022 team and one-up them."
The Junior All-Stars head to Bridgewater, VA for its regional tournament while the seniors will go to Florida. Those tournaments are set to begin on Thursday.
These players all watched what happened two years ago when Fleet Park won the 2022 U.S. Senior LLWS championship and play for the world title on ESPN. They finished runner-up in that championship game, but their success has rubbed off on the groups now filling their shoes.
"It influenced us a lot. It added more confidence," said Junior All-Star Jayden Williams. "It made us push further to have better teams and play better."
"It's just like a big brotherhood, it really feels nice to see the younger guys have a shot at it as well," said FP Senior All-Star infielder Paul Green. "We had the 2022 team make the World Series, be the U.S. champs. We've never had two teams possibly be the U.S. champs and possibly the world champs for Fleet Park."
The team has set up a fundraiser to help with travel costs for the tournaments. Both Fleet Park squads will play against opponents from South Carolina on Friday, the Senior All-Stars set to start at 2:15 P.M. while the Junior team gets underway at 3:00 P.M.
