ORLANDO, Fla. – The Little League World Series champion Lake Mary All-Stars stopped by the WKMG-TV studios on Tuesday, part of a weeklong celebration of their tournament win.
Lake Mary defeated Chinese Taipei 2-1 in extra innings Sunday to claim the World Series title.
More than 5.4 million people watched the game, which was the most-watched Little League game since 2015.
The team flew home Monday and returned to school on Tuesday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who spoke Wednesday in Polk County, discussed the team’s big win.
“First, let me just say I want to offer my congratulations to Lake Mary Little League for winning the Little League World Series. We’ve had very rich baseball -- Little League, high school ranks -- all the way through in Florida for a long time. They are the first Florida team to ever win the entire Little League World Series championship and so we offer our congratulations to that,” DeSantis said. “They made everybody here in Florida proud.”
DeSantis wasn’t alone in wanting to tell the team how they made an impact.
ClickOrlando.com users also shared sentiments.
“I watched all your games on your journey to Little League World Series Champions. Your sportsmanship with all the other teams was inspiring to watch. You are incredible young men and you never gave up when you were down. You have to give credit to your coaches and your parents for teaching you that you can accomplish anything if you work hard for it. I know your families had to sacrifice a lot to get you to all your practices and games and I just know how much they all love you and are so proud of you. You have gained a lot of new fans in Central Florida!!” Marie Miele wrote.
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“I just want to commend the team and coaches for comforting the Taipei team on their loss before celebrating their win. It just says so much about them. Loved following their progress with Justin. He is the reason we got involved in following the team,” Igipson posted.
“It was such a pleasure just watching the team playing together and the win was a cherry on top. We became instant fans off Lake Mary Little League. I was very impressed the way they comforted the other team before they celebrated their win. Looking forward to seeing more of these young men in their future endeavors,” Kathy said.
“I just wanted to thank you for putting a smile on my face for last 2 weeks! I lost my wife to cancer recently and watching you has truly been a pick me up! So proud of what you have accomplished!! And loved the show of sportsmanship! Your parents and coaches have done a great job! Thanks again and don’t let it end here. Keep on keeping on!!” Craig wrote.
“So happy the Lake Mary Little League won the World Series. I watched the entire game on Saturday and Sunday. Justin was the best person to cover these games. The boys were great, the coaches were great, and the parents were great. Justin was so great with everyone involved. He reminded me of a little kid, making such a great bond with everyone,” Lynda Freeman said.
“Congratulations to all 12 boys, their families and coaches. It was awesome watching you play baseball for the past two weeks. I think you guys have even turned non-sports people into Little League fans,” CoachTS posted.
“Congratulations and thanks for all of your hard work. You gave us 2 weeks of great baseball and brought home the championship. Thanks again for all of the memories you gave us,” Rick W Mowery said on ClickOrlando.com.
Others posted on the WKMG-TV Facebook page.
“We needed this win! It’s wonderful to have good news. These boys are something special!” Wendy Cox said.
“You will now be known as a world champion for the rest of your life -- no one can ever take that away from you so be very proud of yourselves!!! We all are proud of you!” Mindy Montalvo Velez posted.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings also took a moment to recognize the team.
“Congratulations to the Lake Mary All-Stars, our Little League World Series champs! We are so proud of you for winning Florida’s first ever LLWS championship,” he said.
If you’d like to congratulate the boys, just leave a comment at the bottom of this story.