2 days ago
Clarendon Hills Little League celebrates end of magical season
The Clarendon Hills Little League's magical summer came to an end Sunday with a loss to Hawaii in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
While no World Series championship was in the cards for Clarendon Hills, it did bounce back from its opening-round loss to Nevada to beat Pennsylvania, meaning the team returns home with a win on their record.
The positives of the experience and making it that far wasn't lost on the team.
'My dream was to play with my friends as long as possible,' said infielder Matthew Kalish. 'Just being here, learning new things about different cultures, was amazing. We spent a lot of time with the team from Japan, and being here with the international teams and all the other teams was incredible. This experience meant so much. I love and live baseball.'
Teammate Henry McMahon called the experience of participating in the World Series 'the best experience I've have had in my whole life.'
'It went by so fast,' McMahon said. 'We've been practicing for a long time. Knowing there are no more games is hard to take in.'
Clarendon Hills manager Brian Herold said all along that his team wasn't satisfied to 'just be there' for the World Series. But there was plenty to be positive about, even after being eliminated.
'It's an amazing experience, an accomplishment that was our goal,' Herold said. 'We quickly shifted gears when we reached this level. To play the best teams from across the world and to elevate your game, that is what we did.
'We're also very proud of our community and where we're from. We've had great support, and we're excited to come home and share our experiences with our community.'
Details had not been set as of Tuesday morning, but Clarendon Hills officials said there will be some organized celebration for the team.
There were watch parties set for the Sloan triangle in downtown Clarendon Hills for each of the three games the team played in Williamsport, Saturday night's moving inside local establishments due to storms.
The team got off to a rough start in its first game Aug. 13, finding itself in the elimination bracket by virtue of a 16-1 loss to the Mountain Region and Nevada State champion from Las Vegas.
But the team battled back Saturday night with a 3-2 victory over the Mid-Atlantic Region/Pennsylvania State champion in front of 20,000 spectators.
Herold's son, Brody, pitched the entire game and was benefited by the team scoring first, manager Herold said.
'We know we play our best when we're ahead, and it put Brody at ease with a lead,' he said.
Elimination came Sunday with a 9-1 loss to the West Region winner from Hawaii. Teams from Hawaii won the World Series titles in 2005, 2008, 2018, and 2022.
Clarendon Hills showed resilience multiple times during its summer run, as it lost a game in district competition to Naperville, before beating the same team for the championship.
After winning the Illinois state championship without a loss, Clarendon Hills was defeated by Ohio in the Great Lakes Region tournament, but came back again to beat that same team, which earned a berth in the World Series.
Players on the 2025 Clarendon Hills team were Brody Herold, Jack Kaczmarski, Matthew Kalish, Christian Gernot, Connor Lazar, Sean Bolger, Jack O'Malley, Liam Harrigan, Luca Striltschuk, Hudson Lauerman, Luke Schaller and Henry McMahon.
