OKEECHOBEE, Fla. — Okeechobee is a quiet town, but on the baseball diamond, their all-star teams are making noise.
"It's the fact that we're such a small town and get to represent such a pretty big state," said Kaleb Crawford, a 12U Chobee All-Star Catcher.
Like any city, Okeechobee has a Little League, and at the end of the season, the top performers come together to represent the Chobee All-Stars.
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Seriously, they’re representing, and it starts at the 6U age group.
"We're headed to Ruston, Louisiana,” Destiny Suarez, the 6U Head Coach.
Ruston is the home of the 2025 Dixie Golden Anniversary World Series for softball, an honor the girls are happy for.
"It's going to be really exciting."
Well, the 6U aren't the only girls headed to Ruston.
The 8U girls have the same honor.
"It was super exciting. I almost cried because I know all of them, and they're my friends," said Miah Herrera, an 8U second baseman.
Friends, indeed, that community feel is what makes Okeechobee a gem of a town.
However, they have a gem on the boy's side of the diamond; it's the 12U Chobee boys all-stars who will be headed to South Carolina for the Diamond Youth Little League World Series.
"It's my first year on all-stars. We got a championship that was pretty exciting,” said Gunner Ruiz, a 12U first baseman.
"We're the first team in Okeechobee, Florida, to go to the World Series," said 12U first baseman Talen
That's correct; this is the first time in program history that the boys are competing for the grand prize, and let's say they're ready for the moment.
"It's great, and we got to go out there and represent Florida and Chobee," said Paycus Clemons, another 12U first baseman.
