Brooklyn Blue Storm baseball team makes New York proud - even with third place finish

They returned without a trophy, but lots of reasons to be proud. .

The Brooklyn Blue Storm, - the scrappy team of 8- and 9-year-olds who won the hearts of Daily News and raised more than $25,000 to attend a championship tournament in Georgia - did New Yorkers proud by placing third.

The team of 13 lost in a semi-final to a Georgian team on Saturday, but the pint-sized players were ecstatic to have even gotten the chance to compete in the tournament.

"These kids are going home with an experience they will never forget," said Coach Daniel Corona, 27. "I want to thank New York City for being behind us."

The 13-member team didn?t have enough money to make the trip just two weeks ago, but were able to fly in style after News readders donated.

"The kids felt like little rock stars out there. It was something special, representing New York City at that level," said Corona.

The Blue Storm came out strong in the first game of the tournament, handedly beating a team from New Mexico, 17-0.

The team then suffered its first loss of the season in a tight 3-0 game, falling to a Puerto Rican team that went on to win the whole tournament.

"It was like a battle of the titans on the field," said Corona. "The loss against Puerto Rico was the best (game played by 8-year-olds) I will ever witness in my life."

The Blue Storm still qualified for the semi-finals - but then had to confront 105-degree heat and the loss of two players who got sick. The Brooklyn's team lost to the home-town Georgia Yard Dogs, 13-3.

Although disappointed, the Blue Storm showed class by sticking around for the championship game and was the first team on the field to congratulate the eventual winners.

"It was really great to get this far and go to Georgia. It was an experience of a life-time," said Antonio DiGrigoli, 9.

"It was a dream come true," said Jakob Alers, 8. "We're going to take it home next year for Brooklyn."

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/latino/~3/dDxYd1xfC28/brooklyn-blue-storm-baseball-team-new-york-proud-place-finish-article-1.1125111

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