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Sports

All-Stars Back Home with Medals and Memories

Manhattan Beach Little League team returns home from the Senior League World Series to a warm welcome after reaching the semifinals.

The Manhattan Beach All-Stars returned home from the Senior League World Series in Bangor, Maine, on Sunday night, landing at Los Angeles International Airport to an enthusiastic greeting from family and friends. They did not have another championship banner with them, but had medals and a slew of memories that will last a lifetime from their run to the tournament semifinals.

''I'm sort of at a loss for words, again, just like I was at the end of the regional," Manager Carlos Rojas said. "The crowds, the Mainers, as they call them, the food, just everything was top class. We had more seafood this week than we'll probably have the rest of the year."

''There are so many stories, so many little stories that are just amazing," he continued. "It was amazing, awesome. There are so many words that we can use, but this is something that will stay with these kids for a long time.''

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No baseball team representing the Manhattan Beach Little League had advanced past the West Regional tournament, but the 16 players on this team almost made it all the way to bring home a world championship. They were 4-0 in winning Pool B at the series before losing to tournament host Bangor in the semifinals and were the only team to defeat the eventual champions from San Nicholas, Aruba.

The Mustangs won 19 games in a row before losing in the semfinals, getting contributions from everyone on the roster—Morgan Ascher, Braden Casady, Carter Casady, Jackson Casady, Bret Collins, Brett Clark, Ryan Erickson, Ryan Franklin, Jack Hadley, Trent Hammond, Austin Henning, Jackson Lipps, Anthony Lombardo, Ian McLoughlin, Sam O'Melia and Conrad Turner.

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''I told the kids, at the end of that game, we had a meeting and of course it was very emotional, there were tears shed and everything,'' Rojas said. ''But one of the things I told the kids was, 'Listen, nobody will ever be able to take this away from you.' And they know that. They know that and they're very happy with the outcome. Did we win the whole thing? No. But, again, it's a foundation for our league. We've only done the senior league for two years and we've been very successful. The Mainers are waiting for us to come back next year, so we're going to have to do something about that.''

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