Members of the Eastdale Little League major softball team captured a World Series title, earning fans from across the state. (journal file)

When we started this journey three years ago, we envisioned what it would be like to play in the Little League Softball World Series. Each year we watched other teams play for the world championship on ESPN and dreamed about the day we might be playing in that game. The girls worked extremely hard towards this goal in anticipation that they may someday get to play against international competition in Alpenrose Stadium. We even coined the phrase, “ESPN2012″ to help guide our journey. The experience that we had at the Little League World Series in Portland, Oregon was everything we could have imagined. The accommodations were incredible, the environment was unimaginable, and the competition was fierce. All of our dreams came true on August 15, 2012, when we won the Little League Softball World Series 16–1 over a very talented team from Windermere, Florida.

On August 16, 2012, as we boarded the plane bound for New Mexico, we thought this amazing journey was coming to a close. We were wrong. Since we have been back in New Mexico, we have been overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity of people from all over the state. It has been a humbling experience for the girls and coaches to receive this outpouring of support. We take pride on representing our state and we are very proud to be New Mexicans. I am writing this letter today to publicly state how grateful we truly are to all of the people in New Mexico who have made us feel so special. We fully understand what makes the state of New Mexico so unique–its people. This has been an experience that none of us will ever forget. Again, I want to say “THANK YOU NEW MEXICO.”

RENO SANCHEZ

Eastdale Little League Major Softball Manager

2012 World Champions
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal