It was a dream come true for a group of 12-year-old baseball players from Staten Island: a spot in the Little League World Series.

“As a kid, you're always watching the Little League World Series saying, ‘Wow, I wish I could make it there,’” said South Shore Little Leaguer Jake Romero.

“This is great because I've been working for this for four years now,” said the team’s pitcher, Stephen Grippo.

“Baseball is a thing in my blood,” Romero added. “I have two cousins in the majors and an uncle, so, you know, playing baseball and making it to the Little League World Series means a lot to me.”

On Tuesday, the boys from South Shore Little League geared up for their third game in the series. They lost their first game last week, but came back with two wins after beating teams from South Dakota and Illinois over the weekend.

“The first game made it here, but when we lost, we realized we could get more so we've just been riding on that ever since,” Chace Curro said.

Making it to the series is historic for both Staten Island and the city. South Shore is the first team from the borough to reach the World Series since Mid-Island in 2018. The last time a city team won the Little League World Series was in 1964, which was also Mid-Island.

“It’s just the leagues that are there. They all focus us,” explained Bob Laterza, South Shore’s manager. “Great Kills, Snug Harbor is coming along as a very good league right now, and we all focus and work hard and they all do the same practices.”

Laterza has been coaching the league for over 30 years. He said this accomplishment is a testament to their love for the sport.

“This is just a hardworking, blue-collar group, and just work, work, and practicing, two hours-a-day since June. June 6. Two hours a day, sometimes three, and, you know, we had to win the section. We had to win the city. The regional. And here we are,” Laterza said.

“We definitely put in a lot of work,” said South Shore shortstop Alex Torres. “We've had maybe four days off this whole summer.”

South Shore lost to Florida, putting an end to their journey in the Little League World Series.

Laterza said it's a journey the team should be extremely proud of.

"I've told them the downs and the ups. Listen they played their hearts out; we could have been knocked out many times. We could have been knocked out in the state, down to one pitch. We could have been knocked out in the regional, we're down to one pitch. So great job getting here and being competitive,” Laterza said.

While it wasn’t the outcome they hoped for, they said just getting to Williamsport has been a dream come true.