ORLANDO, Fla. — The Lake Mary All-Stars landed at Orlando International Airport on Monday afternoon, one day after winning the Little League World Series Championship against Chinese Taipei.
The 12 players and their team manager were met with an impressive homecoming that included water cannons that shot over their plane as it taxied to the gate. Click here or scroll below to see video of that.
As the players and team manager disembarked the plane, Queen’s “We are the Champions” began playing over the airport’s PA system.
Channel 9 anchor Greg Warmoth met up with the team upon its arrival at the airport and joined players on their bus ride from the airport to the Lake Mary Sports Complex.
Jonathan Anderson -- manager of the Lake Mary All-Stars -- told Warmoth that the team was amazed by its welcome home.
“I saw California do this last year,” he said. “I saw the water arches. I said, ‘I want my team to do this. I want Lake Mary -- I want my Little League to feel this, to experience this.’ And here we are.”
He said that his players are “flying as high as they can.”
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“They didn’t sleep last night,” Anderson said. “They just hung out with each other. They talked about the experiences that they had. And we’re one now. We love each other. We’ll never forget this.”
Player Liam Morrisey told Warmoth that he was blown away by the welcome.
“I never expected anything like this at the airport,” he said. “I knew parties were gonna come and stuff like that, but I didn’t know it was going to start now.”
Warmoth asked shortstop Chase Anderson about the sportsmanship that he and his teammates displayed as they hugged their competitors after Sunday’s win.
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander, left, is hugged by Chase Anderson, right, after Alexander's bunt single allowed the winning run to score from second base Taiwan to win the game during the eighth inning of the the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Chase Anderson , right,slides past Taiwan catcher Yu Chia-Jui, left, as he scores on DeMarcos Mieses' double during the sixth inning of the the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla. coaches Kyle Bone, rear left, and Paul Bibaud, second from left rear, hug players from the Taiwan team after the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s James Feliciano (14) takes a selfie of the team after their win against Taiwan during the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander, center, celebrates with teammates after laying down a game-winning, walk-off bunt in the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. Florida won in eight innings 2-1. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander puts down a bunt against Taiwan that scored the winning run during the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Members of the Taiwan team react after losing the Little League World Series Championship game to Lake Mary, Fla., in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Lathan Norton (9) scores behind Taiwan catcher Yu Chia-Jui for the walkoff winning run on a bunt by Hunter Alexander during the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla. takes a lap around Lamade Stadium after their 2-1 win against Taiwan during the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Taiwan's Yu Teng-Hao reacts to losing the Little League World Series Championship game to Lake Mary, Fla., in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander, left front, celebrates with teammates after laying down a game-winning, walk-off bunt in the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander, front, celebrates with teammates after laying down a walk-off bunt in the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Taiwan pitcher Chiu Wei-Che, right, ad catcher Yu Chia-Jui react after Lake Mary, Fla. scored the winning run during the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Lathan Norton slides past catcher Taiwan's Yu Chia-Jui scoring the winning run on Hunter Alexander's bunt during the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander, left, is hugged by Chase Anderson, right, after Alexander's bunt single allowed the winning run to score from second base Taiwan to win the game during the eighth inning of the the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander, front, celebrates with teammate James Feliciano after laying down a walk-off bunt in the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024( AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla. celebrates their 2-1 against Taiwan during the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander lays down a walk-off bunt, driving in the game-winning run in the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. Florida won in eight innings 2-1. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Hunter Alexander, left, celebrates with teammates after laying down a walk-off bunt in the eighth inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. Florida won in eight innings 2-1. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
Baseball: Little League World Series Aug 25, 2024; Williamsport, PA, USA; Southeast Region pitcher Jacob Bibaud (12) throws a pitch against Asia-Pacific Region in the first inning at Lamade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports (Kyle Ross/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Taiwan's Yu Chia-Jui, right, tags out Lake Mary, Fla.'s Jacob Bibaud, left, who was attempting to score from third on a fielder's choice hit into by Teraj Alexander during the second inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Taiwan's Ciou Zhi-Kai delivers during the first inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Lake Mary, Fla., in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Taiwan lines the third baseline as Lake Mary, Fla., lines the first baseline during team introductions before the Little League World Series Championship game at Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Taiwan's Hu Yen-Chun (15) hits a single off Lake Mary, Fla.'s Jacob Bibaud, driving in a run, during the first inning of the Little League World Series Championship game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
LLWS Taiwan Florida Baseball Lake Mary, Fla.'s Jacob Bibaud delivers during the first inning of the Little League World Series Championship game against Taiwan in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
Little League World Series SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA - AUGUST 24: The Southeast Region team from Lake Mary, Florida celebrates after defeating the Southwest Region team from Boerne, Texas 10-7 to win the United States Championship game during the Little League World Series at Lamade Stadium on August 24, 2024 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
“It was just like sad seeing the team lose,” Chase Anderson said. “But at the same time, we didn’t want that to be us. So you ... just tell them that, ‘We’re here. It’s OK that you lost. You played a good game.’”
Player Teraj Alexander told Warmoth that he empathized with the opposing team’s players.
“My parents raised me well,” he said of his sportsmanship. “It was just heartbreaking for the other team -- to see how down they were after they just lost.”