What It Was Like To Coach El Segundo's Little League World Champions

It's been a surreal week for the newly crowned Little League World Series Champions from El Segundo.

"I don't think it's sunk in," Danny Boehle, the team's manager, told LAist. "I don't think it'll sink in for some time. I don't think 12-year-olds understand what it is that just happened."

The 12-year-olds he's talking about are the members of the 12-and-under All-Stars from El Segundo Little League, who won the Little League World Series in thrilling fashion on Sunday night in Williamsport, Pennsylvania following a walk-off home run from 6-foot-1 Louis Lappe.

The win against a team from Curacao — after the team from the Caribbean had tied it up with a grand slam in the fifth inning — capped off a hard-fought tournament, with only one loss. That defeat came against a Texas team that El Segundo then faced again to make it to the international championship game.

Boehle said his team went into every game believing they could win, even when they were down.

"We were positive and confident that we can pull it through and be resilient and never give up," he said. "And that's how I teach these kids.. it's never over, never give up."

A triumphant return home

When the team got back to California this week, they got what Coach Boehle described as a "presidential" welcome. Fans gathered at LAX to welcome the team off the plane, and they also participated in a caravan through El Segundo, complete with a police escort.

"I don't think the kids even understand what that meant," Boehle said, whose son Quinn plays on the team.

"Like they don't sit and watch TV like, like I do, or like parents would or adults would, and understand how cool it is to know that you're being walked out by the chief of police and 15 other officers, as well as having SUVs that are shaded windows that are going through a town, and everyone's praying and praising you."

Years of work went into the championship run

Boehle spoke this week with LAist's daily news show AirTalk, which airs on 89.3 FM. Larry Mantle, who hosts AirTalk, asked Boehle about what it took to be the best in the world.

While most of us have only been watching for the last month or so, Boehle says this moment was three years in the making for his team and coaching staff.

"So, we practice five days, sometimes six days a week, two hours a day. The weather doesn't help when it's hot out and humid, but we go."

And while practice goes a long way, Boehle says talent can't replace commitment on his team.

"I have a motto that says, 'do what others don't today so you can accomplish what others can't tomorrow.' So if you're not practicing on your skill and getting better at it, That talent only goes as far as the next kid that is working hard to get better than you, that wasn't as talented as you at an early age."

"Watching these kids grow and become one unit after three years was very special for me and watching them embrace how the city has welcomed them to this town and put The 'Gun to back on the map," he said.

Boehle called himself "an old school coach."

"So we're always doing basics early in the practice, which is just going back to what you learned," he said. "We're always going back to 101 things and then we get into hitting."

Boehle said the championship run required sacrifice from everyone involved — saying coaches Tim Abrams and Eddie Lee "deserve just as much credit as this than I do."

About their base in an area full of pro athletes

Mantle also asked about the team's hometown being so close to the many professional athletes who make the South Bay their home.

"We live in a city of champions," Boehle acknowledged, saying as a longtime restaurant owner in Manhattan Beach he met a lot of top athletes in the region, many of them have sent congratulations.

"I got to know all the Lakers and all the Kings and we celebrated parades with all of them. And so it does help out and rub off."

About those kudos

And it wasn't just El Segundo residents heaping praise on their hometown heroes. Just about every professional sports team in Los Angeles congratulated the Little Leaguers for their accomplishment.

“Most of the players that are on those teams have resided [in El Segundo] and I've known a lot of them 'cause I owned a restaurant for 20 years in Manhattan,” Boehle said. “I got to know all the Lakers and all the Kings [in that time] and we celebrated parades with all of them.”

Boehle says in the past days he's received messages from Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout, MLB Hall-of-Famer George Brett, Mike Eruzione, the captain of the famous 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. men's hockey team and a whole handful of Los Angeles Chargers.

What's next

The champs from El Segundo will continue their victory lap for the next couple of weeks, culminating in a championship parade on September 10th on Main Street in El Segundo.

"It's just overwhelming," Boehle said. "It's beautiful to see. It's how a city comes together as one and becomes one family. That's how I coach. And that's how these kids play."

Listen to the conversation

Megan Garvey and Matt Dangelantonio contributed to this report.