When I was asked to play on the Dubuque County Legion ball team, I was a little shocked, Dubuque County has a history of producing top baseball players in the state. I never realized I was good enough to play on a team of such prestige. It took me some time to think about joining it because at first, I did not even know if playing for the team would be enjoyable. With more thought, I decided to join the team. The decision to join turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in my life.  

From the start, we were all awkward but once everybody become comfortable and got to know each other, playing together became a blast. Unlike most teams, it took some time for everybody to become comfortable with each other because in the spring, we only played four games with each other as the rest were cancelled due to weather. In Iowa, High School baseball is played during the summer. When this spring was over, we went our separate ways because most of us were playing High School baseball. We did not see each other in the summer unless we were competing against each other.  

When the high school season finally ended for everybody, we then had one practice and took off to Cedar Rapids for the Legion State Baseball Tournament. Outside of our team, most people would not have picked us to win the Iowa Legion Baseball Tournament because Johnston, the team who won the tournament last year, brought just about everyone back from a year ago. They were the heavy favorites going into the tournament. Throughout the Iowa Legion Baseball tournament, we went 5-1, defeated Johnston in the state championship, and qualified for the Regional Plains tournament in North Dakota.  

Throughout our entire run, past players from the area who had made it to the Regional Plains Tournament kept telling me it was the most fun they ever had playing baseball. Hearing all their stories and learning about all the support we were receiving had me excited for our trip. I had 3 days to pack my equipment and clothes and we were off. We met at Western Dubuque High School in Epworth, loaded the bus, and headed off on our 16-hour bus trip. Many of us were dreading the bus ride because of how boring we all thought the trip was going to be; however, this trip turned out to be quite the journey. Since we did not get to know each other very well early in the season, we used the bus trip to get to know each other. The trip turned out to be a blast. The trip went by quicker than we originally thought because of all the movies we watched, cards we played, and stories we told. When we finally got to North Dakota, the players were anxious to see who their roommates were going to be; however, before we found that out, our whole team had to go to a meeting with some very important legionaries.  

The meeting with the legionaries scared a few of us because they were very strict with us and mentioned all the things which could get us kicked out of the tournament. We soon forgot about the strict rules after the meeting when we all found out who our roommates were going to be. I was rooming with Gannon, Blake, and Joel, which I was thrilled about, little did I know that us four would be sharing a room for the next two weeks. While we were in North Dakota, trying to enjoy every moment, we knew we probably were not going to win the Central Plains Tournament, but we would still have fun anyway. The first game we had our best pitcher pitching. We figured this would probably be the only game we would win but I was clearly wrong. 

I was lucky enough to start every game that we played from the first game on. We won our first game which was a huge confidence booster for us. The saying, “We didn’t come here to participate” became very popular within our team. As the wins kept stacking up the more the saying was used. We started off the Regional Plains tournament 2-0 but was dealt our first loss in game three. The loss meant a lot to us because the Regional Plains Tournament was a double elimination tournament, which meant, if we lost again, we would be sent home. With our backs against the wall, our team bonded together and were able to string three more wins together to qualify for the American Legion World Series.  

Winning the Regional Plain Tournament meant we were the first team from Dubuque County to ever make it this far and the first Iowa team since 1986. Winning the last game in North Dakota was something I will never forgot. Seeing the excitement on our coaches faces and on the faces of everybody who was there supporting us was something that made us all smile. When we finished the celebration, the festivities slowed down, I picked up my phone. I could not believe how many texts I had received from people, many of whom I did not expect to receive anything from. After I looked at all these messages and went on social media, I could not help but grin from ear to ear, when seeing all the people congratulating us. I did not know half of the people who were posting things or expected this to be such a big deal to so many people around Dubuque County, let alone around the State of Iowa.  

The worldwide of Regional Plains Tournament was just the beginning. When we arrived in North Carolina we were treated like royalty. The plane ride to North Carolina was free, all the hotels we stayed in were free, we received twenty dollars a day during both tournaments, and we had many meals bought for us. The people of Shelby, N.C. were awesome to us and made us feel right at home. Often when we would go out around town, many people would ask to get pictures with us, always wishing us good luck, and hoping we enjoy our stay. In our first game, at the World Series, we lost to the eventual World Series Champions 3-0. Everybody on our team knew, we had many chances to win the game, but we just could not come up with the hit when we needed it. Our whole team was disappointed after the loss, but we knew were one of the final eight teams playing in the country. We all still believed we could make it to the championship as long we had confidence. Our second game of the World Series we were able to win, becoming the first and only Dubuque County team to win a game at the world series and the first Iowa team in over fifty years to do so. The support back home we received continued to grow and grow. Many fans told us they were having watch parties all over the county or they were following the game on social media. When it came time for our third game of the tournament, we were forced to wait because the game had to be moved to the next day because of the weather. To make matters even worse, we had been scheduled to play on ESPN; however, because of the storm, we would not be nationally televised.  

The third game was frustrating for everybody who was rooting for us because of how the game ended. The game was frustrating because everybody says our runner tag up safely; however, the ump did not. When they showed the replay on television, it was obvious the ump made the wrong call, and everybody knew it. If the call would have gone the other way, we would have won the game. We would have stayed in North Carolina another day and played another baseball game with a chance to play in the championship game. This lose stung for everybody because of how close the unrealistic goal of winning the World Series become so realistic to our team. If the game would have ended any other way, the loss would not have hurt so bad. After the game, we all reflected on the run we had been on the past month. We had a heartwarming moment as our head coach started to tear up telling us how proud he was of us and how proud the whole Dubuque County was of us. His words are something I’ll never forget, and this trip is something I will remember forever. The trip was a trip of a lifetime and I would do anything to get to experience the memories again.