For the players from Radames Lopez Little League, their unlikely journey to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was borne out of the island’s worst natural disaster in more than a century.
Less than a year ago, Hurricanes Irma and Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Guayama, a small coastal town on the southeastern part of the island, was among the hardest-hit areas from Maria.
Yet its resilient Little League team of 11- and 12-year-olds, despite untold damage to their homes, their community and their baseball fields, went undefeated in the Caribbean regional tournament to qualify for its first trip to Williamsport.
For Radames Lopez, which opens play Thursday against South Korea (1 p.m. ET on ESPN), going to the Little League World Series was a way of giving thanks to baseball. The game provided a sense of normalcy for the people of Guayama as they tried to rebuild their lives amid the chaos and confusion in the aftermath of the hurricane
