- Welcome to the 2026 Challenger Exhibition Game at the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania's Volunteer Stadium.

Behind me, the Oakley California team, they're taking on Paoli-Berwyn Little League out of the Philadelphia area.

I'm Ken Sawyer along with Tom Speicher.

What do we expect today, Tom?

- A lot of smiles, Ken, that's for sure.

This is the most important game, the most special game at the Little League World Series.

These kids have their chance to shine today and be superstars.

- The game's coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for the Challenger Exhibition Game has been made possible by Eggland's Best.

- [Presenter] Hear the crack of the bat and the cheers of the crowd.

See their smiles as they cross home plate.

Eggland's Best knows these moments are some of the best times of your child's life.

Getting ready for the big game takes good nutrition.

Eggland's Best is a sponsor of Little League and the Challenger Game broadcast to support families in leading healthy lives on and off the field.

- [Narrator] More information at egglandsbest.com.

- My sons love Little League the most just because of the relationships.

- One of my favorite things is when you got opposing teammates, they're like giggling and saying hi to each other because they're friends.

- [Parent] They're not in front of a screen and they are just having fun.

- I try to encourage a really loud dugout.

- You get to see a team come together when they hit the ball or when they make the play.

They make a play and they surprise themselves.

They're celebrating one another.

It's just incredible.

- [Parent] That's the heart of Little League.

Give it a try, sign up.

It'll be the best years of your kid's life.

- [Announcer] WVIA is proud to present live from the home of the Little League Baseball World Series in historic Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the 2026 Challenger Division Exhibition Game, featuring Berwyn-Paoli Area Little League in Pennsylvania and East County Little League in California.

Now, it's the 2026 Challenger Division Exhibition Game at the Little League Baseball World Series.

- [Ken] I'm Ken Sawyer along with Tom Speicher.

This is the 24th Challenger Exhibition Game.

The game was first played in 2001.

We missed a couple of years due to COVID.

And Tom Speicher, this league, Challenger Division of Little League was founded in 1989.

It's been around a long time.

- [Tom] It certainly has, Ken.

And during that time it has grown a lot, that's for sure.

Today it has played in nearly 100 communities and 10 countries around the world, 30,000 total participants, which is just wonderful to give these kids an avenue to show their stuff on the field.

- [Ken] We said Little League founded the Challenger Division in 1989.

Berwyn-Paoli Little League started in 1991.

Let's learn more about them.

- I've been the director of the Berwyn-Paoli Challenger baseball program for the past 14 years.

And once you get started in that, you're hooked.

- Well, my favorite part is the running down the base.

- Watching the joy on the player's face, that sort of encapsulates what we're all about.

- Hey, kid.

All right.

- It's a joy to watch him hit the ball and just run the bases.

What do you do when you run the bases and you get to the base?

Yeah.

- Yeah, I'm a slugger hitter.

- [Hailie] What happens if you hit one over the fence?

- Milkshake.

- Dad gets you a milkshake.

- Yeah.

- How are you doing today?

- Perfect.

I feel awesome.

- I had an opportunity several years ago to go out to Williamsport and see one of the Challenger games with my son and two of our players.

And once I came back from that, I sort of put that on my bucket list.

- We got the email that said, we're going to the Little League World Series, Williamsport.

Like, oh my goodness, this is the big one.

- [Gary] Big swing.

Yeah, that's a tremendous honor to be able to represent, not only our league and our community, but the 30,000 Challenger baseball players and 900 teams from around the world.

- [Shari] You gonna play in the Little League World Series?

- Yeah.

- Are you excited?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- My whole family going to be there.

- [Parent] And are you excited?

- Yeah, I'm so excited.

- Yeah.

- Big stuff, right?

- Yeah.

- [Gary] Can't wait to get out there next weekend and show everybody what Berwyn-Paoli Challenger baseball is all about.

- [Group] One, two, three.

Baseball.

- [Ken] Berwyn-Paoli Little League is the 17th Pennsylvania team to play in this exhibition game.

Let's go to our public address of answer Sean Carey for the Challenger Exhibition Game medal presentation.

- [Sean] Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the 2026 Little League Challenger Exhibition Game presented by Eggland's Best.

Our teams, Berwyn-Paoli Area Little League from Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

(crowd cheering) And East County League from Oakley, California.

Let's introduce the players and coaches of both teams.

And to present the medals will be the chairman of the Little League International Board of Directors, Mr.

Steve Johnson.

First up, Berwyn-Paoli Little League from Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

Number 30, Grady Cooper.

Number 3, Matthew Lugar.

Number 4, Evan Rang.

Number 2, Derek Timme.

Number 21, Oliver Reed.

Number 20, Nate McBride.

Number 12, Jack Dagit.

Number 23, Ali Shevlin.

Number 10, Jack Fedalen.

Number 7, Jason Frech.

Number 6, Izzy Hyson.

Number 19, Michael Schuller.

Number 11, Andrew Frech.

Number 28, Cooper Roy.

And number 1, Colin Ambler.

The coaches are Steve Frech and Gary Brooks.

And the manager, Matt Lugar.

Berwyn-Paoli Area Little League from Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

And now introducing East County League from Oakley, California.

Number 99, Shane La Rue.

Number 13, Ivan Macias.

Number 1, Frankie Garza.

Number 7, Paulo Zaragoza.

Number 13, Abraham Ruben Ramirez.

Number 23, Michael Ross Oberg.

Number 18, Talon Clark.

Number 10, Kevin Tran.

Number 27, Yoonchan Kim.

Number 17, Lacole Lopez.

And number 67, Zendaya La Rue.

The coaches are Josh La Rue, Michael Oberg Sr., and Paul Camerena.

And the manager, Amanda Ehinger.

East County League from Oakley, California.

At this time, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we ask that you please rise if you are able and remove your hats.

And we call your attention to the microphone on the field in front of the pitchers mound for our pledges.

First will be the Little League Pledge.

The player pledge will be presented by East County Little League's Frankie Garza.

- Hello, my name is Frankie.

I'm from Brentwood, but my family's from Oakley.

But I'm gonna do the pledge.

I trust in God.

I love my country, and I will respect its laws.

I will always play fair, strive to win.

But win or lose, I will always do my best.

(crowd cheering and clapping) - [Sean] And now for the coach and parent pledge from Berwyn-Paoli Little League, Steve Frech.

- I will teach all children to play fair and do their best.

I will positively support all managers, coachers and players.

I will respect the decisions of the umpires.

I will praise a good effort despite the outcome of the game.

(crowd clapping) - [Sean] Please remain standing if you are able as we honor our great country with the "Star Spangled Banner" performed by Berwyn-Paoli Area Little League's Izzy Hyson.

♪ O say, can you see ♪ ♪ By the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ What so proudly we hailed ♪ ♪ At the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ Whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ Through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched ♪ ♪ Were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ And the rockets' red glare ♪ ♪ The bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ Gave proof through the night ♪ ♪ That our flag was still there ♪ ♪ O say, does that star-spangled ♪ ♪ Banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ - [Sean] Izzy Hyson.

- [Ken] Wow.

What a great job.

Izzy Hyson of Berwyn-Paoli Area Little League with our anthem, Frankie Garza of East County Little League of Oakley, California with our pledge.

It's outstanding.

Let's take a look at the starting lineups.

Batting first in this one will be the Berwyn Paoli Little League.

They'll start off with Grady Cooper, Matthew Lugar, Evan Rang, Derek Timme.

It'll be followed by Oliver Reed, Nate McBride, Jack Dagit, Ollie Shevlin, Jack Fedalen, Jason Frech, Izzy Hyson, our singer, Michael Schuller, Andrew Frech, Cooper Roy, and Colin Ambler.

Their coaches, manager is Gary Brooks.

The coach is Steve Frech and Matt Lugar.

Wow, what a great job.

Let's take a look at East County Little League out of Oakley, California.

They'll start with Shane La Rue, Ivan Macias, Frankie Garza, Paulo Zaragoza, Abraham Ruben Ramirez, Michael Ross Oberg, Talon Clark, Kevin Tran, Yoonchan Kim, Lacole Lopez, and Zendaya La Rue.

Their coaching staff, Amanda Ehinger, Paul Camerena, Michael Oberg Sr.

and Josh La Rue, the folks doing the coaching.

On the field right now, dugouts and dancing with one of the players from the kids from Pennsylvania.

Tom, tell us about the rules, the rules for the game today that we're being played?

- [Tom] Oh, this very special game has some unique rules, okay?

Like everybody, like all Little League games, everybody's going to play.

But after that, it gets a little bit different.

Everybody bats, everyone plays defensively.

All batters are safe.

Batters take one base at a time, most of the time.

(Ken and Tom laughs) They're supposed to take one base at a time.

And the last batter, when they come up to end their half of the inning, they will clear the bases, and that is a sight to behold, believe me.

And teams will use a combination of hitting off the tee and coach pitch.

Here at the Little League World Series, they'll usually try about five pitches, and then if the child fails to make a connection after five pitches, usually then they'll go for the T. And all the players, if they need it, will be assisted by a very special person, their own buddy can help them at the plate, on the base pass, and also defensively.

- [Ken] We're also going to be assisted today by our Little League World Series umpiring crew, will be here.

They won't have to call balls and strikes or outs and safe.

They're just here to support these young people.

And can you imagine coming out here in front of thousands of people, making the trip from the Chester County area or from the Bay Area of San Francisco Bay Area to come here and play?

What an accomplishment for these teams, their coaches, their families, and their buddies.

- [Tom] It's quite an honor.

That's what they keep saying to us.

It's an honor to play here.

Well, it's an honor for us to cover this game, quite frankly.

These two teams have known since the wintertime that they were coming to the World Series.

The kids keep asking their parents, "Is it tomorrow?"

And it's today, here at Volunteer Stadium.

Andrew Jones, the recent Hall of Fame inductee, the great Atlanta Braves center fielder introduced to the crowd.

Andrew will be coaching third base today.

- [Ken] All right.

Nice to have him there.

I'm sure he's going to give him the go sign.

A few years ago, we had some some of our players who hit the ball pretty hard and did round the bases.

Grady Cooper is going to lead things off for Berwyn-Paoli Little League.

Bats on the left-hand side.

Going to go ahead and just go right straight to the T.

- [Tom] I like it that he loves karate.

- [Ken] Puts it out into the field of play.

The ball will be tossed, and let's see if some of the California guys will pick it up and throw him out at first base.

Of course, he can't be out.

You see John Cooper is helping Grady.

John is this buddy as he helps him down to first base, so our first runner of the ball game is on.

Berwyn, PA is in Chester County, as we mentioned.

Some of you who may be from Eastern Pennsylvania will know it's, you know, Devon, Wayne, Newtown Square, along that area, not far from King of Prussia.

- [Tom] Matthew's gonna hit off the tee as well.

Matthew and I share the same birthday, August 9th.

- Really?

- Yes.

- [Ken] I think he's a little younger than you.

- [Tom] Just slightly.

- [Ken] Matthew Lugar.

- [Tom] He also likes playing basketball.

- [Ken] Bats on the right-hand side.

You can see, coach, you're going to help him, okay.

- [Tom] Just take your time.

- [Ken] Yeap.

He hit it once, now we're going to try it again.

See if we can get it to go a little bit farther.

- [Tom] One of Matthew's other favorite activities, hanging with his family.

Nice.

- Oh, that's a nice one right out in front of the plate.

And Matthew takes off running, and the shortstop from East County picks it up and will field it.

These teams yesterday were very busy, Tom.

They had a practice game, but I think the highlight of it was many of them got to slide down the famous hill at Lamade Stadium of the World Series.

- [Tom] They came here to slide down the hill and visit the museum as well.

They also were at the YMCA.

We'll talk about that a little bit later, as Evan Rang comes to the plate.

- [Ken] His dad, Tim Rang, is his buddy and helping him out there.

And as you can see, quite a few of these guys batting off of the tee right from the beginning.

Oh, that's a nice one.

- [Tom] All right, Evan.

- [Ken] He hits that ball out there and... - [Tom] Did you see who Evan's favorite player is?

- [Ken] Who?

- [Tom] Coach Gary Brooks.

(Tom and Ken laughs) - [Ken] Wonder if that moves him up in the batting order, having the coach as your favorite player.

- Yeah, that's right.

- [Ken] Here comes Derek Timme, coming up now.

He's a 12-year-old.

We have a little bit younger group than we've had in some years for the Challenger game as you'll see that.

Now we're going to pitch to him.

As Tom said, you get a couple of shots at this.

He's crouched down.

Throw it.

Oh, good swing.

Boy, what a nice swing.

- [Tom] Derek loves to go on hikes with his dog, Millie.

- [Ken] See, he's getting coached.

Oh, man, he's so close to hitting that.

- [Tom] He's also a basketball player.

- [Ken] Well, what a gorgeous day for these teams to play here at the Little League World Series today in Volunteer Stadium where the international games have been played all week.

- [Tom] Derek's got a good stance.

- [Ken] Oh, just missed it.

The defense is all scrunched in pretty much in the infield, just a few folks in the outfield.

- [Tom] And dugout's at second base.

I don't know if defensively or is running the bases too.

- [Ken] I'm sure not sure dugout noticed.

- [Tom] Oh, yeah.

That's true.

- [Ken] Derek Timme, getting the full measure of his time in the limelight.

As he comes up, he's gonna try at least one more, trying to hit it here.

- [Tom] There you go.

- [Ken] The coaches are working good with it.

There you go.

What a shot over the pitcher's bow.

Everybody moves up a base at our first runner.

Gary Cooper will come around, and you see Gary coming down the third base line.

They're gonna be able to, some of the players like to slide.

There he goes.

Head-first slide.

Good job, Grady Cooper.

- [Tom] And Oliver Reed, the next batter, can't wait to get up there.

- [Ken] Yeah.

Oliver's in a hurry.

All the players received medals, as you saw, and I love the facial expressions when they looked at the medals.

- [Tom] Priceless.

- [Ken] All right, Oliver bats on the left-hand side, pounds the plate after missing the first one.

Just missed the second one.

- [Tom] One of Oliver's favorite things to do, practice singing the national anthem.

- [Ken] Wow.

Oh, Izzy did a great job.

Izzy Hyson will be coming up a little bit.

- [Tom] All right.

Through the gap.

- [Ken] Out into the outfield.

What a hit.

Great job.

And the runners keep moving along.

Matthew Lugar comes in.

And umpire making sure he knows he's safe.

- [Tom] This has to be so much fun for the umpires after some pressure-filled games, I'll tell you that.

- [Ken] Hey, look at Nate McBride coming into plate.

Boy, is he working the crowd?

- [Tom] Oh, man.

- [Ken] Nate is working the crowd.

- [Tom] He's pointing.

He wants walk-up music, Ken.

- They've got about, I don't know, I can't see all the crowd, but I would say 3500 people here maybe watching the game.

- Yeah, it's a nice crowd.

- [Ken] Very nice crowd.

- Oh.

- Oh, my.

He puts it out there into the outfield.

What a hit by Nate McBride.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him go more than one.

- [Tom] Yeah, well, he stopped down at first base.

He has his arms raised like Rocky.

- [Ken] Everybody makes it around and enjoys it.

Here comes Jack Dagit.

- [Sean] Next up, number 12, Jack Dagit.

- [Ken] Jack will come up.

- [Tom] I think I need to talk to Jack after this game because he likes to play fantasy football, so maybe I could get some tips from him.

- [Ken] Maybe you could.

A lot of people getting ready for that.

Another left-handed batter swings.

Boy, McBride really put it out there.

We haven't seen one like that in a long time.

Oh, there's a good shot down the third base line.

Everybody moves up as this Pennsylvania team continues.

You know, it's amazing through the years, Pennsylvania's had 17 teams because when this started, the exhibition started, mostly Pennsylvania teams then.

But this year, California will be taking second place.

This is the fourth California team that has come here to the Challenger exhibition game.

The first was in 2013 with District 57.

Ollie Shevlin stands in now for Berwyn-Paoli.

- [Tom] Ollie loves creative writing.

- [Ken] Oh, what a hit.

Yeah, what a shot.

That would've been a base hit all around.

- [Tom] Now, Ollie wants to be a published author someday, and he authored a beautiful base hit to right field, I'll tell you that.

- [Ken] He did.

You could give him some tips about his writing.

- [Tom] Yeah, that's true.

That's true.

- [Ken] Umpires move around.

Comes Jack Fedalen coming up now.

You'll notice, of course, this team is from the Greater Philadelphia area in Chester County, and you'll see a lot of Philly names up.

You see who their favorite players are, as you would expect.

- [Tom] Jack loves video games.

- I was interested to see in some of their likes and dislikes, you see the foods that most of us, you know, associate with young people.

Oh, he hit it pretty good.

He's going to come back our way.

They're going to let him do it again.

But the creative writing and some of the other things that we saw there were really quite interesting and provocative.

- [Tom] Karate, creative writing, like we said, practicing the national anthem.

Nice.

- [Ken] Little bop into the center of the field, out toward the pitcher's mound.

It heads out toward the second base.

Oh, what a slide coming in.

That's McBride.

Nate McBride coming in.

- [Tom] Oh my.

- [Ken] What a smile on the face.

There you see some of our crowd here at Volunteer Stadium enjoying it.

Those are some of the folks.

About 90 folks coming up from the Greater Philadelphia area to support this team.

And they will be here through much of championship weekend.

Many of these teams will be going to the games later on.

Here's Jason Frech.

- [Tom] Oh, boy.

He's pointing to the outfield.

- [Ken] Calling his hit.

Getting himself moved right in there.

Ooh, nice swing.

I can feel the breeze over here.

- [Tom] Oh, you bet.

Oh, he's not deterred, that's for sure.

Look at this.

- [Ken] Let's face it, many of the Challenger games in your local area are not played before crowds like this, in a facility like this, so they're just eating this up.

- [Tom] They deserve it so much.

Jason loves to watch TV, hang out with his friends, and play video games.

And today, stir the crowd.

- [Ken] Indeed.

Getting some instruction from his coach.

He's pumping up the crowd.

Yeah, pump it up, pump it up.

- [Tom] Jason, you're a bat now.

Concentrate.

What a showman.

- [Ken] Trying to help him with the process.

- [Tom] I love how he wipes off home plate with his foot after every pitch.

- [Ken] See those nice jerseys from Berwyn-Paoli.

You see a good look at him there as you see him.

- You know, yesterday, both teams went to the local YMCA.

They were treated like superstars there.

They had a big crowd awaiting them with signs, with the kids' names, cheering them on like they are here today at the Little League World Series.

- [Ken] Oh, what a nice look at the crowd right there up above us and they are really into it.

- [Tom] Oh my goodness.

- [Ken] What a shot up the middle.

My goodness.

All the way, almost to the wall.

- [Ken] Yes.

Boy, when Jason got ahold of it, it went.

- [Tom] Good job, young man.

- [Ken] We said he had a great swing and he surely showed it once they got the tee up there in place for it.

Oh, here's our singer, Izzy Hyson.

Izzy did a great job singing our national anthem.

- [Tom] It's no surprise that Izzy loves to listen to music and watch musicals.

Also a big Philly sports fan with the Philly Sixers and Eagles.

- [Ken] All right, here's his first pitch to him.

Then he fouls it back.

Izzy tried to put this right out there where everybody else is.

There goes another one.

- [Tom] I wonder if Izzy was more nervous about the anthem or the game.

- [Ken] Probably the game.

Oh, there's a nice one.

Hoped out towards second base.

Nice pickup in the field too.

Throwing it over and we continue our rotation around as Berwyn-Paoli Little League keeps moving along.

When they had their game yesterday, they played at the original field on West 4th Street in Williamsport where the first World Series was played in 1947.

Here's Michael Schuller coming up, and Little League teams from Czechia and Australia were helping them out as buddies yesterday in that game.

Michael Schuller here.

He has a nice stance, a little bit up in the batter's box compared to some of his teammates.

And he hits a a nice ground ball right up the middle over the pitcher's mound, as that ball's played well by the kids from California out in the field.

- [Tom] It's funny on his sheet, Michael wrote that my favorite player used to be Bryce Harper, but now it's Kevin McGonigle, who's from the Philly area and is an infielder for the Detroit Tigers.

- [Ken] Well, here's Andrew Frech, his favorite is J. T. Realmuto.

Andrew, big kid.

Bats on the right-hand side, a spread stance.

- [Tom] He loves the TV show "Arthur."

That was one of my favorites too.

- [Ken] Oh, there's a nice chopper out towards shortstop in the hole between short and third.

So Andrew puts that ball in play nicely.

(laughs) We love when they come in.

Jason still makes the big move when he comes in and now he's still playing to the crowd.

- [Tom] Oh my goodness.

- [Ken] Jason having a great.

Here's Cooper Roy.

Cooper Roy batting from the right-hand side.

- [Tom] Cooper loves to lift weights.

- [Ken] Berwyn-Paoli has about 50 young people.

Oh, what a shot into the outfield.

There's a long fly ball out in the left center field.

- All that weight work has paid off big time.

Wow, what a shot.

- Cooper Roy.

Wow, Cooper put it in play big time.

My goodness.

Everybody's having a great time today here at the Little League World Series.

The smiles that you see is what Challenger Division's about.

But it helps with coordination.

It helps with learning how to be around other people.

There are many more benefits of the Challenger.

And if you don't have a challenger in your area, this is Colin Ambler, the final batter for Berwyn-Paoli.

So they're going to round the bases after this one.

- [Tom] Look out.

- [Ken] And Colin, what a shot.

My goodness, he hit it hard.

- Another one.

- [Ken] And everybody's going to keep going.

Keep Going, Colin.

- [Tom] Oh, the helmet's off.

- [Ken] He's gonna catch him.

- [Tom] Look out.

- [Ken] Cleans the bases.

Watch out, Colin.

Oh, he's gonna slide.

- [Tom] Nice slide.

- [Ken] Colin Ambler closes it out for Berwyn-Paoli.

Well, Tom, what did you think of the team from Southeastern Pennsylvania?

How did you evaluate their hitting?

- [Tom] They got a lot of power, Ken.

We saw some true shots to the outfield, and I love Colin too as he rounded first base.

He lost the helmet majestically.

It was very, very appropriate for this game as he lost the helmet rounding the bases and then sliding home to end the half inning.

Wow.

- [Ken] You're watching the 2026 Challenger Exhibition Game.

Now let's throw to our public address announcer Sean Carey for a special check presentation.

- [Sean] As the official egg of Little League, Eggland's Best is proud to help fuel Little Leaguers to be their best on and off the field and is committed to supporting the Little League Challenger Division through a grant program which helps support the operation of local Challenger teams and leagues.

Joining us to celebrate all the participants in today's game is chairman of the Little League International Board of Directors, Mr.

Steve Johnson and Eggland's Best President and CEO, Mr.

Kurt Misialek.

(attendees cheering and clapping) Little League thanks Eggland's Best for their support of the Little League Challenger Division and the 2026 Challenger Exhibition Game.

- [Ken] This is quite a weekend here for these two teams.

The Pennsylvania team busing up from the suburban Philadelphia, but the team from East County Little League and Oakley, California, you know, Tom, they had to fly all across the country.

They flew into Baltimore and then bused up from here.

It's quite a thing, and I'm impressed by the leadership of both of these teams.

- [Tom] Well, that's where it all starts, with the adults who really run the programs in their local communities.

And you can't say enough about the managers, the coaching staff for both of these clubs to develop the successful program, number one, and then navigate this trip to Williamsport because as you mentioned, a lot of activities just yesterday, you talked about the practice game at the original field.

They are at the YMCA.

A lot of activities.

- [Ken] Why don't we learn more about East County Little League out of Oakley, California?

- [Parent] Oakley is in California in the East Bay.

We're about 45 minutes from San Francisco, Oakland.

It's a small town.

- Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I did not realize at first that it was only two teams chosen out of the whole entire country.

So I am really glad and honored that we got this chance to go.

- Go, buddy, go.

- I wanted to tell a story to my family, my friends.

I'd tell it to everyone everywhere.

You could tell it everywhere around the world.

- It's just very exciting.

It's one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we are happy to be chosen.

- It is.

It's more than just a game.

It is a memorable, life-changing experience.

So yeah, it'll be something to brag about forever.

- I'm pretty excited.

It's the first time I ever get to leave state.

First time I'll ever be able to be on an airplane.

So I was pretty excited.

- Felt immediately blessed and, you know, it was when we were very emotional about it, you know, that we were going to be able to travel and see our son play in a field that a lot of families consider sacred.

And again, there are going to be many people, many children that are going to grow up that will never be able to have that experience.

- Finally, I'm going to Pennsylvania.

I'm like, very excited.

- This is about play to have fun and play for the game and play just to be out here.

They just want to play just to play.

And that's what it's about.

That's what baseball is supposed to be about.

- [Ken] Amanda Ehinger is ready to pitch to the lead off batter, Shane La Rue from East County Little League out of Oakley, California.

- [Tom] Now this team, we've been told, Ken, they love to sing and dance.

- [Ken] Well, and one of the things we found out is, when they're at their home league, they have walk-up music.

- [Tom] Of course they do.

- [Ken] So they're going to miss that here today.

That's something that we couldn't accommodate here today, but Amanda likes to coach.

- [Tom] Oh boy.

Shane's giving a lot of instructions.

- [Ken] Yeap.

Shane likes to... He's as much coaching himself as Amanda is.

- [Tom] Shane likes to read books and play video games in his spare time.

- [Ken] Got a piece of it there.

He tried another one.

Coming close.

This league in the San Francisco Bay Area was founded back in the early '90s, and they have about 45 people in the Challenger Division.

Amanda continuing to give.

We'll pick some more baseballs up so that Shane La Rue can keep going.

- [Tom] The Challenger program in district four is very robust in California.

- [Ken] There you go.

Punches it down to the third baseline.

He's going to head on down to first base.

I thought.

- Oh no.

- I guess not.

He's gonna get one more.

- [Ken] Got a piece of it.

He's gonna head out.

- Good job.

- [Tom] Tosses that bat.

Oh boy.

He might have set a record for running down to first base that fast.

- [Ken] Shane La Rue's got speed.

So Shane's at first base for the first batter to be on, heading up to the plate.

- [Tom] It's going to be Ivan Macias.

- [Ken] Ivan Macias getting up to bat and you can see his manager is having a good time talking to him, giving him a nice few pointers before they start, before this big crowd here at Volunteer Stadium.

- [Tom] When we talked to her yesterday, Amanda, the manager, she was a bit concerned with the absence of walk-up music for her team.

- [Ken] She was.

- [Tom] But the crowd is making music with their applause.

- [Ken] And she's got big smiles on her face now.

She's ready to pitch.

There's the ball.

Hit it.

Another good try at it.

The intensity of these young people, just a little bit out in front.

- [Tom] I always love it too.

A lot of these kids, like Ivan here, love to say that they hang with their family, one of their favorite activities.

- [Ken] And that's what Challenger Division really is.

It takes the whole family to make it a great experience.

Oh, so close.

Ivan trying to put the ball in play.

Oh, just missed it.

He'll try it again in just a moment.

The first non-Pennsylvania team to come here to the Challenger Exhibition Game was back in 2004, and that team was from Canton, Ohio.

- [Tom] Very close.

Ivan, I think, they'll bring the tee out.

- [Ken] They'll put the ball up there and see what they can do.

- [Tom] Ivan also likes to watch anime.

Favorite baseball player, Lawrence Butler of the Oakland Athletics.

- [Ken] Gonna adjust it just so it's at the right position.

You can see the manager and the player having a nice conversation because this is what it's about, building.

The Challenger program is about building confidence.

- [Tom] Oh my goodness, yes.

- [Ken] About helping these young people and their families.

Look at that smile, ready to go.

Okay, I'm ready.

- Nice job.

- Oh, what a job.

So Macias, oh, he throws the helmet off as he runs down to first base.

That's great.

- [Tom] You gotta be theatrical about it, Ken.

- [Ken] The defense from Berwyn-Paoli made a play, but the ball was overthrown.

And this is going to be Frankie Garza coming up.

- [Tom] Okay, we got to point this out, Ken.

- [Ken] Garza's the young man at the plate.

- [Tom] Best nickname here.

He's known as Frankie the Italian Crusher.

(Ken laughs) - [Ken] There's that toss.

Oh, just missed it.

What a great stance.

- Oh yeah.

The Italian Crusher loves to travel America and go to Disneyland.

- [Ken] Toss on.

When that ball and bat make connection, it's going to go.

- [Tom] Oh boy.

It's funny that, you know, somebody known as Frankie the Italian Crusher, favorite PBS show, "Antiques Roadshow."

- [Ken] You just don't picture that for someone this age, do you?

- [Tom] No.

Oh, my goodness.

- [Ken] I said it was going to go whenever it was hit, and it did.

It almost knocked dugout over.

So the bases are loaded for East County Little League.

- [Tom] Dugout's gonna hide behind the umpire now at second base.

- [Ken] Oakley, California's been described as the hidden gem of the East Bay.

Here's Paulo Zaragoza coming in.

And his sister Layla is going to be the buddy to go along with Paulo.

Oakley is named because they have a lot of oak trees.

Makes sense, doesn't it?

- [Tom] It sure does.

And as we learned in the package a few moments ago, pretty close to San Francisco.

- [Ken] Yeap.

San Francisco, San Jose.

They have the Almond Festival, the Harvest Festival, and a big feature during the holiday season, there is the lighted boat ride.

- [Tom] Oh, that'd be cool.

Couple of the folks from Oakley.

Joe Nixon, professional running back, played at Oklahoma, then the Bengals and Texans.

And Kyren Paris played some MLB with the LA Angels.

Paulo getting some help from his sister, Layla, and they hit that ball.

Very close.

- [Tom] That Pablo's very specific with favorite food.

- [Ken] Oh, there's a nice one down the third base line.

See the Berwyn player charge and throw on the first base.

That was a good one.

- [Tom] Yeah, Paulo likes French fries, but with Sprite.

(Tom and Ken laughs) You can't make this up.

This is awesome.

- [Ken] There's some of their fans from East County who made the trip from California, from the San Francisco Bay Area to be here with us today.

Abraham and Ramirez stands in now.

And the first pitch is a swing and a miss, but what a swing.

Oh, there's a little chopper.

- Good job, Abraham.

- Back toward the pitcher's mound as the runners vote and move around and Macias comes in to score, Ivan Macias.

And good defense by the Berwyn-Paoli teams.

They're getting that ball around pretty quickly, charging in there and picking that ball up.

- [Tom] Well, they say back in California back home, their games are very competitive.

- [Ken] I can imagine.

Michael Oberg is the new batter.

Michael enjoying the crowd as he comes up and heads toward home plate from the first base dugout.

- [Tom] Strolling to the plate, a dramatic entrance.

- [Ken] Indeed.

- [Tom] Now Michael loves to listen to music and also watch videos featuring animals.

Nice job.

- [Ken] Oh my.

They're going to charge in as the runners go.

The buddies help the runners make their moves.

Good play all around by everybody, as Michael slams that ball out towards second base.

- I love the bat flipped too, as soon as he made contact.

That's awesome.

- [Ken] Well, you know, these Challenger players pick up so much of what the players on the major league level do, as well as the having watched some of the World Series games going on here in Williamsport to be ready.

Here's Talon Clark.

- [Tom] Talon loves sushi.

I cannot imagine you eating sushi.

- You can't?

A lot of my grandkids do.

Talon has his medal on.

He's gonna bat with that medal.

That's a beautiful medal they give these young people here.

- [Tom] I would wear that on the plane on the way home.

- [Ken] Make sure you declare it to TSA, right?

Oh, what a hit off the bat right towards shortstop.

And Layla helps Paul Zaragoza go across the plate.

- [Tom] Talon got down to first base pretty darn quick too.

- [Ken] Yeah, you'll see down there at first base helping him to run is his sister, Melanie Clark, who's there helping out.

There you see the field full of players, offense and defense running around, playing inside.

We've had a couple of balls hit to the outfield.

Oh, looks like we're going to get a walk-up music, huh?

- [Tom] All right.

- [Ken] Kevin Tran is going to have Easton help him out as his buddy.

Gonna back up a little bit.

- [Tom] This is actually going to be Yoonchan Kim.

- [Ken] Okay.

Yoonchan Kim's gonna come up then, all right.

- [Tom] Like I said, Ken-- - [Ken] So we're moving the order around quite a bit here.

- [Tom] Like a sandlot game here.

- [Ken] Well, as I was saying earlier, if you think you'd like to help the Challenger program, look for one in your area, as Yoonchan misses the first and misses.

I'm working on it, getting close.

Very close.

And if you don't have one in your area, contact littleleague.org.

Oh, what a shot up the third base side.

- [Tom] Good job, Yoonchan.

- [Ken] Yoonchan Kim runs down in a hurry.

We see some speed.

This is a young California team.

If you see their ages come up, you'll see.

- Yes.

I think it's one of the youngest teams we've ever had here for the Challenger Exhibition Game.

- [Ken] Absolutely, yeap.

All right, let's see.

Oh, he didn't like that bat.

- [Tom] Nope.

- [Ken] That's the one.

Oops.

Try that one, okay.

- [Sean] The last batter was number 27 in Yoonchan Kim.

And now batting, number 10, Kevin Tran.

- [Ken] All right, we're gonna have Tran bat now, Kevin Tran, and Easton is the buddy.

This is Kevin coming up to bat.

Got their names on the back of their jerseys and you can see Kevin Tran's name there, as Amanda Ehinger tosses that ball.

Oh, almost got it.

So contact littleleague.org or call Little League headquarters here in Williamsport to see if you'd like to get a Challenger program started.

It will benefit your community in ways you can't imagine.

- [Tom] Very well said, Ken.

- [Ken] Kevin Tran, oh, just missed it.

- [Tom] Just a little bit underneath.

- [Ken] And again, working hard.

They're going to put the tee up.

- [Tom] Now, you know, Kevin loves to play soccer as well as baseball.

Also likes to draw.

- Yeah, hit it, but it went back the wrong way.

Easton puts it back up there.

Now you go.

There you go.

- Go, Kevin.

- Kevin, run.

Run, run, run, as they run around the plate.

So let's see who comes up next in the batting order.

Mr.

Oberg heads back to the dugout.

Michael, after having rounded the bases.

- [Sean] Number 17, Lacole Lopez.

- [Ken] Now this is going to be Lacole Lopez, it looks like, coming up.

- [Tom] Now, Lacole loves to dance, do nails, play with friends, and of course, play Little League baseball.

- [Ken] The Challenger Division developed in 1989 and it has grown.

As we mentioned earlier, there are some 30,000 participants in 10 countries.

Oh, nice swing.

I love the patience the coaches and families have supporting these kids.

- [Tom] Oh, you have to.

It's the way to get it done or the way to help.

When we first met the teams this morning, oh, there's a nice one back up the middle.

- [Tom] Oh, nice.

- [Ken] Lacole Lopez running down there at the first base.

- [Tom] Down there, Lacole.

Talon Clark comes sliding into the plate, big time.

Talon wants to take a beat as part of that plate home.

Marquisha will be the buddy down there at first base now working with Lacole Lopez.

- [Tom] Uh-oh, here comes Zendaya.

Zendaya La Rue.

- [Ken] Zendaya has her brother, Dylan La Rue, helping out a little bit here.

You can see this is a-- - [Tom] Dylan's getting the crowd going for his little sister.

- [Ken] And she's doing it too.

She's like, "I don't want to hold the bat.

I wanna cheer."

All right, here you go.

See the ball?

One, two.

- [Tom] Nice job.

- [Ken] Excellent run.

Absolutely.

- [Tom] Go Zendaya.

- [Ken] Oh, another safe runner diving into home plate.

- [Tom] Yeah, Zendaya's clearing the base, Ken.

- [Ken] Yoonchan Kim comes in and everybody's going to score as they come around to finish up the batting order for East County Little League here out of Oakley, California.

And the crowd on their feet.

- [Tom] Keep going, Zendaya.

She's like, "I'm tired now after going around second base.

I wanna stop."

- [Ken] Getting low-fives from some of the Berwyn-Paoli players helping out.

These teams will be spending more time together.

They've got picnics coming up.

They're going to be going to the Little League International and US Championship games.

All the umpires there in a standing ovation from our thousands of people watching here.

Let's have a nice round of applause for everybody, I'll tell you.

Andrew Jones, big help at third base, getting everybody in, getting a chance to see baseball in perhaps its purest form.

Doing it strictly for the smiles, for being able to have a wonderful physical activity.

And our admiration goes out to all of the coaches and players, the families who are involved in this that make Challenger so special.

As we said, if you don't have one in your area, you can make one if you have a Little League program there.

If you do have one, maybe you can get involved and do some volunteer work to help stretch it.

So what'd you think of the East County Little League out of Oakley?

How about there at bats?

- [Tom] Oh, I was very impressed, again, with the patience at the plate, Ken, that's what we'll say.

They had patience at the plate.

And some of the kids are very young, but they handled themselves so well.

And you just got to love the atmosphere here.

The crowd every year for this game, we've been doing it for a long time on WVIA since 2011.

The crowd every year gets bigger.

- [Ken] It does.

- Which is great to see.

- And more enthusiastic.

- Yes.

But as I think people have started to figure out what this is all about, people appreciate the fact that they have seen two teams who have, I mean, when they play at home, in most cases, it's mom and dad there.

That's about it.

And there's not many other folks here.

This is such a special stage, the medals, the treatment that they get.

We mentioned the drum event yesterday at the YMCA and then picnic, and going to the museum.

And as you can see, how much they have done.

So it has been an outstanding day for Tom Speicher and our outstanding WVIA crew.

That's the story.

I'm Ken Sawyer.

Hope we'll see you next year at the Little League World Series.

- [Announcer] Funding for the Challenger Exhibition Game has been made possible by Eggland's Best.

- [Presenter] Hear the crack of the bat and the cheers of the crowd, see their smiles as they cross home plate.

Eggland's Best knows these moments are some of the best times of your child's life.

Getting ready for the big game takes good nutrition.

As a sponsor of Little League, Eggland's Best aims to inspire families to lead healthy lives on and off the field.

More information at egglandsbest.com.

- My sons love Little League the most just because of the relationships.

- One of my favorite things is when you got opposing teammates, they're like giggling and saying hi to each other because they're friends.

- [Parent] They're not in front of a screen and they are just having fun.

- I try to encourage a really loud dugout.

- You get to see a team come together when they hit the ball or when they make the play.

They make a play and they surprise themself.

They're celebrating one another.

It's just incredible.

- [Parent] That's the heart of Little League.

Give it a try.

Sign up.

It'll be the best years of your kid's life.

- [Presenter] Let me tell you about PBS Passport, a member benefit that is... - Absolutely amazing.

- [Presenter] Agreed.

Make a qualifying donation to this PBS station and you can enjoy all that PBS Passport has to offer with the PBS app or online.

What you'll get?

A new you.

Picture it.

You could be a theater buff, a precarious wonder, a science dynamo, a history savant, or just a well-rounded, interesting delight.

What journey will you take?

Go online or reach out to the number on the screen to give now and take advantage of PBS Passport today.

(bright upbeat music)