WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Andy Audette was in pure disbelief. Earlier this summer, Audette could tell that his son Colton's Little League team was a pretty talented bunch. But even as the wins kept piling up, qualifying for the Little League World Series felt like a far-off fantasy. Fast forward to mid-August, and that fantasy has become reality. The Audettes are here in Williamsport, Pa., the epicenter of the youth baseball universe. It is the final stop on what has been a magical month-long journey for a tight-knit group of a dozen 12-year-olds from Bonney Lake, Washington. And the reward for being one of 20 lucky teams from around the globe to qualify for this renowned tournament was not just the opportunity to live out every young ballplayer's dream, but something more. As fate would have it, the Little League team from about 40 miles south of Seattle made it to Williamsport in the same year that the Mariners were making their debut at the Little League Classic, MLB's annual showcase event held in cooperation with the opening weekend of the Little League World Series. "The kids are what this game is all about," said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, who was back in Williamsport for the first time since his Illinois team reached the Little League World Series in 1981. "When we arrived, seeing the team from the Northwest there and their reaction when we got off the bus, and the swarm of all of our guys," said Wilson, who was one of several team personnel and Mariners staff members wearing official Little League apparel representing the Bonney Lake team. "When you see it through that 12-year-old's eyes, it's pretty special." [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Colton is one of those 12-year-olds.Nicknamed Little Dumper, a nod to the Mariners' MVP candidate catcher Cal Raleigh's magnificent Big Dumper moniker, Colton had become a tournament favorite during Bonney Lake's run. Once the Audettes realized that an encounter with the star catcher could be in the cards on Sunday, preparations were made: Custom t-shirts with "Lil Dumper" emblazoned on a drawing of a dump truck and Audette's No. 22 — one for Colton to wear to greet Cal, and one to give to Cal as a gift. Big Dumper 🤝 Lil Dumperpic.twitter.com/63b61LXWqx — Little League (@LittleLeague)August 17, 2025 It wasn't that long ago that Andy and fellow coaches Scott Seibert and Chris Heacox were just hoping they could lead their boys to a state championship. Now here they were, seated behind home plate during Mariners batting practice, watching Raleigh swing away while wearing his brand new "Lil Dumper" shirt. A few hours later, they watched Raleigh send a soaring fly ball just over the left field wall for his MLB-leading 47th home run. "It's just been unbelievable — a dream," said the elder Audette, still shaking his head in awe as he watched Colton gawk at the big leaguers alongside his teammates. "When I went to bed last night — I haven't slept well at all — I'm walking around at 3 in the morning, I go down to the field, and I sit there and just look up like,what is this?" "And I'm just visualizing what today might look like. And this is exactly what I envisioned." For as special as the Audettes' experience turned out to be, they are hardly alone in their wonder from the day's events. The eighth edition of the Little League Classic provided another generation of Little League teams and thousands of lucky fans in attendance at the iconic complex in Williamsport a collection of new, vivid memories that will sustain for a lifetime. It was a little over two weeks ago that MLB set a new all-time record for single-game regular season attendance whenover 90,000 fans filled a massive racetrackin Bristol, Tenn. to watch the Reds and Braves in the Speedway Classic. It is here in Williamsport, however, that MLB has built a refreshing tradition that achieves something completely different. Rather than a gigantic spectacle a la Speedway, the Little League Classic annually features thesmallestannual attendance of the season by a comfortable margin. Delicately tucked in between the Lycoming Creek, which runs north from the Susquehanna River, and a standard neighborhood park featuring a public pool and a couple basketball courts, Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field has a capacity of about 2,500. It's a staggeringly small total to host a major-league game. For reference, the two minor-league parks currently housing major-league teams in Sacramento and Tampa hold about 10-12,000 fans, while the smallest capacity major-league stadium, Cleveland's Progressive Field, maxes out around 35,000. And with so few seats available for this unique event, MLB ensures the bulk of the crowd is made up of the Little League players, coaches, and families who get to take a break from their own high-stakes competition to enjoy an unrivaled up-close look at some of their favorite big leaguers. Squad's here!#LittleLeagueClassic|#PlayersWeekendpic.twitter.com/hEfsRVfSIT — Seattle Mariners (@Mariners)August 17, 2025 This year's contest featured the Mariners and Mets, a marquee matchup between two teams jockeying for playoff position in their respective leagues. The teams had split the first two games of the series at Citi Field before taking the quick flight west on Sunday morning for the finale in Williamsport. Entering the weekend, Seattle was one of baseball's hottest teams while New York had been scuffling hard, but this series brought a reversal of fortunes. After Seattle won an 11-9 slugfest on Friday night, the Mets bounced back with a 3-1 win on Saturday behind a strong start from top prospect Nolan McLean in his MLB debut. And on Sunday night at Bowman Field, theMets cruised to a 7-3 victoryto clinch their first series win of the month. Starter Clay Holmes pitched well for New York in what was, remarkably, his third appearance in a Little League Classic, following relief outings in the event with the Pirates in 2019 and the Yankees a year ago. Juan Soto drew three walks and delivered his signature shuffleto the delight of the crowd. Mark Vientos blasted a three-run homer to break the game open in the fifth inning. Raleigh's two-run blast was a memorable moment, but not enough to fuel a full-fledged Seattle comeback. But the truth is, the game that transpires on Sunday night is merely an epilogue to everything that unfolds over the course of the day leading up to first pitch. From the arrivals at Williamsport Regional Airport in the morning featuring Little Leaguers greeting the major leaguers on the tarmac to several hours of beautiful chaos at the complex, it's a nonstop free-for-all of autograph signings, selfies, and frantic chants from young kids from all over the world trying to get their favorite players' attention. Big league stars roam the concourses, slide down the famous hill that looms over Howard J. Lamade Stadium, and talk shop with the kids who hope to be in their shoes some day while spectating the games in progress. For the most part, it's a mess, in the best way possible, with a constant flow of players moving around the complex, attracting varying degrees of magnetic pull of a larger crowd, depending on their star power. This may be the best thing you'll see today!We mic'd up Brandon Nimmo as he slid down the hill with youngsters ahead of the Little League Classic 🤣pic.twitter.com/vat43AYRTD — MLB (@MLB)August 17, 2025 "I heard this rustling behind me," said Mariners general manager Justin Hollander. "I saw like, 70 people in a circle, and I thought, 'oh, Cal must be here.'" Multi-time All-Stars get mobbed, middle relievers wander unbothered. Amidst all the madness, some interactions carry more weight than others. Bonney Lake linking up with the nearby Mariners is surely special, but the most powerful connections are those made between the major-leaguers with international roots connecting with their native country's teams in Williamsport. Ontario's Matt Brash and Josh Naylor hanging out with Team Canada. Francisco Lindor and Edwin Diaz sitting in the stands with Team Puerto Rico. Andres Munoz and Randy Arozarena giving a pep talk to Team Mexico. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza spending time with the team that made it to Williamsport from his hometown of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, with his fellow Venezuelan players Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens close by to share their own words of wisdom. Edwin Díaz and Francisco Lindor with Team Puerto Rico 🇵🇷🙌pic.twitter.com/SaXcCmzVhm — New York Mets (@Mets)August 17, 2025 "Watching the kids staring at Francisco Alvarez or Francisco Lindor, and you just see that smile on their face, like, 'oh my god, this is Francisco Alvarez,' or 'this is Francisco Lindor!'" said Mendoza. "And it just kind of takes you back to when I was that age and being around professional players, even from a distance ... and just the fact that they were able to be that close, it was a pretty cool experience." For tens of thousands of young ballplayers around the world, reaching the Little League World Series is the ultimate dream, with just a couple hundred lucky enough to earn a berth in the renowned summer tournament. For a few dozen major-leaguers, this brief trip to Williamsport represents something different amidst the unrelenting grind of a 162-game season, a welcome detour from the dog days of summer. It's undeniably a long day at the office for the big leaguers — virtually never do teams fly inandout of cities on game days like they do for the Little League Classic, let alone all the unusual and exhausting activity at the complex that takes place before preparing for their own game — but it serves a greater purpose that is not lost on the players, win or lose on Sunday night. "It's worth it," said Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez. "If we don't impact the youth and the people around us in a positive way, we're doing this for nothing. And that's how I see it." "Even though it's more work, I think it's worth it."