'We just made history': How Nolensville celebrated 'impossible' Little League World Series berth
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Fresh from a 340-mile trip from Nashville, a Tennessee Titans bus carrying Nolensville Little League fans emptied into a parking lot a couple hundred yards away from a meticulously manicured baseball field where a team from Tennessee and a team from Florida soon would meet in the Southeast Region final.
A trip to South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, site of the Little League World Series, was in the balance.
A Nashville flag and chants of "Let's go, Nolo" flapped in the wind as the group marched toward the field where their team's fate would be decided on a sweaty, wet Tuesday some 100 miles south of Atlanta.
"Whose time?" the crowd began to chant before answering its own question. "Our time!"
Turned out Tuesday was Nolensville's time to make a trip to the Little League World Series for the third consecutive season, the first U.S. team to accomplish the feat since 1951 thanks to a 4-1 victory against Florida-based Lake Mary Little League.
"It's impossible to get there one time," Nolensville manager Randy Huth said. "To take three different teams three years in a row ... I would love to say it's all because of me but it's not. It's a team effort and it's a big deal."
Grayson May was an example of another reason Nolensville won. His timely strikeouts, of which he had five, and serene demeanor did wonders for a defense that played excellent behind him.
After he tossed strike three for the final out of the game, May tossed his glove and made a beeline toward the third-base dugout. His Nolensville teammates dogpiled on the field behind him. Two batters earlier, May and his teammates were awaiting a review ruling that went their way.
READ ALL ABOUT IT: Little League World Series 2023: See full bracket, when Nolensville plays
"When they were reviewing the last call I said, 'My legs are dead. When this ends I'm going to lay down,' " said May, who played on the team that went to Williamsport last year. "I didn't. I was so excited.
"We just made history."
Mother Nature pressed the pause button on the enthusiasm, though, when severe storms spread violently through the area, pushing first pitch back more than four hours. The teams passed some of that time playing games of rock, paper, scissors after securing shelter from the elements.
Nolensville outfielder Jace Barney entertained the soggy, overwhelmingly Nolensville-heavy crowd pregame when he balanced a large broom on his chin for a least 45 seconds.
Once Florida's Cason Rhoden threw the first pitch of the game, 4 minutes, 8 seconds later than scheduled, the entertainment took place between the white lines.
After a short celebration the team and its coaches gathered near home plate to collect their third region championship banner, chants of “Randy! Randy! Randy!" and "3-peat! 3-peat! 3-peat!" filling the air still thick from the storm.
Not long after that, Huth stood in front of a camera behind home plate wearing a familiar smile and a headset while he was being interviewed by ESPN. His team gathered not far away in short left-center field. Gloves from the evening's celebration still littered the field. A banner proclaiming Nolensville the Southeast Region champion flapped in the wind.
"We just go crazy," said Nash Carter, who also played on last year's team. "It went by really quick. That game, it felt super fast but it was a super long game."
Which capped a super long, super exciting day for 12 super excited kids and their coaches and their friends and family.
NOLOGIRL: Nolensville Little League has its own Mo'ne Davis. A gas-throwing girl named Stella Weaver
VICTORY FORMATION: Nolensville shuts out Georgia, one win from 2023 Little League World Series
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Nolensville's 2023 Little League World Series berth is historic
