COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Here in Greensboro, one of our Triad youth baseball teams brought home a big-time honor earlier this summer, and Wednesday we met with them to learn more about this special opportunity, in the most famous baseball destination on the face of the Earth.
Cooperstown, New York is known for two things. One, of course, is the home of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and number two is the massive national youth baseball tournaments the city hosts throughout the summer. 12 super talented young men from our area made the trip to the tournament and came back with the first-place hardware.
Inside the brand-new 'Greensboro Batting Center' (GBC), there's a very special group of 12-year-olds, who love the game of baseball.
"When I see the field, it just makes me want to work harder and be a better baseball player", Bo Nunn, an infielder for the GBC 12u team said.
Half of the kids on this team have been with the program, and head coach Ray Lopez for four or five years now.
"Our core group has been together since they were 8. The fact that they are now 12, and just won a national tournament like this is incredibly rewarding because if you look at them, they aren't a bunch of super athletes. They are just good kids, who've put in the work", Lopez shared.
That hard work has allowed for this group of kids to go to Cooperstown, New York, and come back home as the Week 5, Cooperstown All-Star Village Champions.
"We really shined. We were a little rusty in the first two games, but then we played a night game and we locked in. We hit back-to-back home runs; we pitched well. I had a no-hitter going, it was just fun", GBC pitcher, Noah Jackson said.
"It was crazy. After we won, I wasn't thinking it was just time to celebrate. Our game ended at one something in the morning. It was super fun. It's really good to have friends like this and win something that big. I feel successful", is how Nunn went on to describe winning in Cooperstown.
Now that the boys are back home, continuing to chase their dream, Coach Lopez wants them to realize they just lived one.
"The best part about it is, you hear about Cooperstown from the age of 7 or 8. You keep hearing that it's the greatest experience. When you ask any 12-year-old who attends, they'll tell you that's the best week of their life. Forget about who wins or loses, but it just happened to be that we won the whole thing too. That's the best part about it".
This team was one of 40 that competed to win the championship, with groups coming from as far as Nevada to compete.