The village of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, hosted a big watch party for their hometown team on Wednesday as they made their first appearance in the Little League World Series.

The Clarendon Hills Little League baseball team earned their first trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, after winning the Great Lakes Region championship last week. 

"We're really excited to be here, and I think the boys, we've let them for the first 24-36 hours just enjoy it, but you know, they're ballplayers, and they compete every time they enter the field, and why can't it be us? Everyone has a chance, and we're really excited to see all our hard work pay off," Clarendon Hills Little League coach Brian Herold said.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the team, who will get to meet players from all around the world.

"We're staying in a dorm, we're neighbors with Australia to one side and Canada and the Mountain team downstairs," Herold said.

They faced the Las Vegas team in the Little League World Series opener Wednesday afternoon in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the game was shown on a big screen TV at Sloan Memorial Triangle in the middle of downtown Clarendon Hills.

About 200 people turned out. Many were clad in the team color, blue.

"This right here sums up Clarendon Hills as a whole of everybody always looking out for each other, rooting for each other, championing each other," said Kevin Swan. "I think it sums up perfectly what you see here today."

The excitement was palpable, even though the final score was not what the team's fans were hoping for as the team fell to Nevada 16-1.

As the team played their first game in the series Wednesday, about 200 people filled Sloan Memorial Triangle in downtown Clarendon Hills, showing their pride and support for their hometown heroes.  

The tournament is a double-elimination competition, so they aren't done yet.

"They get to play again and we'll be cheering them on, every step of the way," said Abby Ferguson.

Center fielder Jack O'Malley's grandmother, Angela O'Conner, said she's glad their team made it as far as they have.

"I'm glad for Jack. There's another game coming up on Saturday, so you never know," she said.

O'Conner noted the Clarendon Hills team lost to Ohio 11-1 in their second game in the Great Lakes Region tournament, only to go on to win the championship by winning their next two games, including a rematch against Ohio in the title game.

"Never say never, right?" she said. "The boys have been together for I think since they were age 8, so they've been playing a long time, and they're not only teammates but they're friends as well, so that helps."

O'Conner said she still has faith the team can come back like they did before.

"And this is a great community. It's a very small community, and the fact they all come out and support the boys, I think it's a wonderful thing," she said.