New Castle County Little League heads back home after 2023 Mid-Atlantic Regionals loss: "We worked our butts off"
NEW CASTLE, Del. (CBS) -- The journey for a little league team from New Castle County, Delaware ended Thursday. The team is headed back home after losing a pivotal game in the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Regionals.
Those eating lunch at the Greene Turtle restaurant cheered on their hometown Team MOT, which stands for Middletown, Odessa and Townsend.
"I think it's really awesome and I hope they make it all the way and win," Mary Maguire said.
But MOT ended up losing to Washington, D.C. by a single run.
"We worked our butts off," MOT catcher Ayden Markiewicz said. "Some of us have been here with Jake for four five years.
The players never gave up, including 12-year-old Markiewicz.
"They did absolutely incredible this summer," Jake McMaster said.
Head Coach McMaster says they recently won the title of Delaware Little League Baseball champions before going to regionals.
"It was really a blessing to lead them to this journey and I wouldn't have picked a better group of kids," McMaster said.
Teammate Nathan Collins says getting to regionals was years in the making.
"I'm sad because we lost but we had a really good run," Collins said.
A great run, according to MOT Little League organizers who say this was one of the best teams in its history.
"Getting here and two wins away from Williamsport — unprecedented. I couldn't be more proud of how these coaches and players represented the league in the community," MOT Little League Vice President Tom Peters said.
"I just really thought we had what it took," McMaster said. "We had the pitching staff we had the defense, we had the hitting. What you see in Williamsport is what we have on this team."
There is another team from our area that could advance to the Little League World Series. Media plays Friday.
