GROSSE POINTE, Mich. – The Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores little league baseball team is heading to Williamsport for the Little League World Series after winning the Great Lakes Regional.
Michigan's representative in the Little League World Series is riding a four-game winning streak to Williamsport after knocking off Ohio Friday in the semifinals and Illinois Saturday in the regional final.
At the start of the little league season, there were 7,000 teams. Now it's down to 16 teams in the Little League World Series, and Metro Detroit is represented.
The Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores little league team has been on a magical run ever since the state champions won four straight games in the Great Lakes Regional.
Behind every great little leaguer is a mother or grandmother cheering them on, but it's not just family that's following the Grosse Pointe team. Everyone from Grosse Pointe and the state of Michigan is rooting for them.
"The whole community is joined together in this," said Sherryl Benton, player William Pflaum's grandmother. "Everybody is rooting for our kids."
Lindsay Hill's son, Drew, plays on the team, and her husband is the manager.
"We've had a video from P.J. Fleck from University of Minnesota sent to us," she said. "We've had other Tigers sending comments. People that we haven't spoken to in 20 years are sending our kids well-wishes. It's really awesome."
The 13 teens are creating buzz and excitement for many people, and their mothers said they'll do all they can from the stands in Williamsport to keep it going.
"After we lost our first game, we changed everything up," Hill said. "We changed our clothes, and then we found new lucky spots. Every game that we won, we had to stay in the same spot and do the same spots, so every superstitious."
To hear from the mothers and watch Jamie Edmonds' full story, click on the video posted above.