MARLTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — South Jersey’s Marlton Chiefs won the Cal Ripken World Series, making them the best 10-and-under team in the nation.
Their hometown made sure to throw a celebration fit for champions. Sunday afternoon, family, friends and fans lined up at the Diamonds at Arrowhead Park for a celebratory parade.
The 12 boys won tournament after tournament to get to Indiana. They played against 20 teams, finally beating one from Florida 4-3.
“You try to talk to all the boys — be happy you’re here, go out and compete,” said coach Mike Appalucci. “But once it got down to it, they all wanted to bring the trophy home.”
Appalucci got to relive some of his younger years watching the team celebrate. When he was a kid, he played ball and went to similar world series when he was 12, then again at 15.
On top of his coaching title this year, he also played “dad” — watching his son, Mike, win.
He, of course, reminded his father that his team won the title at a younger age: “I said, ‘You won it later and I won it earlier.’ ”
“Pretty much as soon as the game ended — ‘Hey, we got that one before you,’ ” said the coach.
Nonetheless, excitement for the team was felt all across Marlton.
“It was so fun and exciting,” said Chris Cameron, who plays left field. “Just winning game after game after game, it was great.”
“I knew our team doesn’t give up, so I knew we’d probably win,” added third baseman and team pitcher Nicholas Hopp.