The Little League baseball team from Fairfield, Connecticut, has a lot to be proud of despite losing the Little League World Series U.S. championship game to Las Vegas. 

Fairfield National, the Metro Region champions, defeated Aruba 4-2 in Sunday's consolation game to win third place in the tournament.

The Connecticut team dominated during its run in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, outscoring opponents 25-6 before Saturday's loss. They easily beat Las Vegas on Wednesday, before the script was flipped in the weekend rematch. 

Fairfield falls to Las Vegas in LLWS U.S. championship game

Fairfield's one-pitch wonder Luca Pellegrini, rock solid throughout the tournament, struggled in the first inning against Las Vegas in the U.S. title game. His fast ball kept missing the zone. He tossed 34 pitches while giving up three runs.

Las Vegas rode pitcher Garrett Gallegos to victory; he recorded eight strikeouts and hit a home run. 

The Mountain Region champions ended up winning 8-2 and advancing to play Taiwan, the international champions, for the Little League World Series championship on Sunday afternoon. 

Parade in Fairfield will celebrate Little League World Series run

Manager Brian Palazzolo showed his appreciation for fans who made the trip to the Little League championship complex in Pennsylvania, hugging out the heartache after the loss. 

"I hope we represented the Metro Region well. This one's gonna sting for a while, but our boys are resilient. They'll bounce back," he said. "It was such an incredible summer."

The players' parents are proud and grateful for a remarkable run that drew national attention to the team.

"I am very proud. I'm proud of all of them. The kids are, just been amazing, and the hard work that they've put into all of this," team parent Kristin Duffy Gryga said.

"My wife and I are over the moon. Those kids, they're 12 years old. They've put their work in, but 12-year-olds don't have a lot of dreams. This is one of them, and they worked really hard and they executed it, so they're living it right now," team parent Yanni Taxiltaridis said.

"It's given the town such a sense of pride, and we're just, like, super excited for these kids. I don't think there's been a buzz like this in Fairfield in quite some time," Fairfield Little League President Diego Da Lan said.

Fans back in Fairfield jammed Elicit Brewing and other venues for watch parties to cheer on the talented children.

The Little Leaguers will return home after putting their heart and soul into an exciting run to the national championship game.

"They're still gonna be 12 years old. They're still gonna wanna hang out and play Xbox and just do kid stuff. But we are, as a community, very proud of all these kids," Taxiltaridis said.

The town is planning a parade to celebrate the team. It will be held Monday at 5:30 p.m. beginning at Post Road in front of Dairy Queen and ending at Sherman Green. There will also be food, music, a dunk tank and more festivities.