Graney: Once-in-a-lifetime moment awaits Henderson All-Stars

The lights are brighter than any they have witnessed. Lamade Stadium is packed with thousands of applauding fans. It’s a massive scene for a group of 12-year-olds.

And that’s before the ESPN cameras begin rolling.

It’s what those from the Henderson All-Star team can expect when playing at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

It’s also a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Henderson on Friday became the second team from Nevada to make the World Series, clinching its spot with a 10-0 win against Snow Canyon of Utah.

As champions of the Mountain Division, Henderson opens play at the World Series on Wednesday at noon PT against the Metro Region champion from Smithfield, Rhode Island.

I covered the Mountain Ridge run in 2014 to a U.S. championship game — the first team from Nevada to land in Williamsport — and it ranks among the favorite events of my career.

As much as Super Bowls and Final Fours and Olympics and Stanley Cup finals and such.

It was made this way by how engaged the Mountain Ridge players were and how manager Ashton Cave approached the experience with them. He got it more than anyone. He understood the big picture and message of Little League. He imparted this to his players and they responded in kind.

Somewhere behind the crowds in excess of 40,000 and the $60 million TV contract and the corporate giant that long ago became the Little League World Series, there still exists those who understand the innocence of this level of baseball.

How majestic Williamsport feels during the World Series, a place where memories are made and dreams realized.

“I wanted to make sure the kids embraced all of it,” Cave said in 2014. “Just getting here was huge. Sure, you then want to win. That’s our competitive side. But once here, everything else is a bonus. It was important that they experienced everything about this.”

It can be a long three months to reach this point for any team, having to battle through district and state and regional tournaments. But once you look down upon Lamade Stadium from high above, you can bet the coaches and players all feel the journey worth it.

Williamsport is a city of fewer than 30,000 that was settled in the late 18th century and prospered due to its lumber industry. And for two weeks each August, it awakens to the sound of batted balls and children playing, to brackets for U.S. and international teams, to hugs and smiles, bowed head and tears.

It is also the birthplace of Little League. Down the street from Lamade, a seemingly ordinary field along Fourth Street, south of the giant complex that since 1959 has annually hosted the best Little Leaguers in the world, sits Bowman Field.

It’s a snapshot into history. It’s also where the World Series was held for 12 years before moving to its current and far more prestigious home.

The Henderson players will be lodged in barracks at the complex and meet those from other American and international teams. They’re away from family and friends and media. Such bonding is a big part of the experience for them.

They will be a treated to new uniforms and gear and all the bells and whistles any 12-year-old baseball player can only dream of. Theirs will be an experience like no other.

The lights shine bright and the crowds swell and the national television cameras roll.

But once the first pitch is thrown, it’s still a Little League game.

Just with a lot more meaning in a very special place.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.