Izzo: Fargo’s Little Leaguers about to give city and state a lasting sports memory

FARGO – You couldn’t help but get emotional Friday afternoon when the Fargo Little Leaguers knocked off Sioux Falls, South Dakota to clinch a spot in the World Series in Williamsport for the first time.

It’s been a dizzying few days for Fargo Youth Baseball, the organization that was created six years ago, with this as their clear goal.

The organization grouped itself together with the focus on making Williamsport. Sioux Falls was able to break thru several years ago and the organizers here believed the youth in this town could make it happen.

With the creation of indoor practice facilities like The Attic and Ballyard, year-round baseball became a thing in Fargo. Kids got a chance to work on their craft in a way that never was the case before.

In 2018, Fargo made its debut at the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis and nearly shocked the field, reaching the championship game on ESPN, before falling to Des Moines, Iowa. In the subsequent years, Fargo has won multiple games in Indy, but lost before reaching the title game.

I was told this summer that this year’s group had a chance to be special. Several of the past coaches mentioned that the 2023 team had the pieces to make a run for Williamsport. The team couldn’t have started any better at the regional, out-scoring its first two opponents 31-3.

Fargo lost its first game to Sioux Falls, but got a rematch with the champs from South Dakota in the region final. They found themselves tied at 4 in the fifth inning when they broke the game open, building a 9-4 lead and hung on to win, 9-7.

I said in a commentary piece four years ago that this would happen and it would be huge for the city and the state. We’re about to see how huge it can be later this week.

“Anybody that has any ties to baseball, it’s going to be huge.” said 2021 Fargo Little League head coach Grant Gigstad. “It’s the one thing on the calendar you know it’s going to happen. It’s a right of passage, anyone that has a tie to baseball they will be tuned in.”

“To see how fun it was for them and how excited grown men can get it was a blast.” said 2022 head coach Eric Grande.

Think about the miles and time away that this team has put in. The little leaguers left August 3rd for Indianapolis and the regional. They were there for nine days, leaving straight from Indy and busing to Williamsport. They will be there till at least this coming Sunday, and potentially longer if they win.

That’s nearly three full weeks on the road. Not even professional teams can boast road-trips like that.

Fargo will make its debut Friday in Williamsport against Needville, Texas. They will play in primetime on ESPN at historic Lamade Stadium. There will be at least 20,000 people in attendance, with millions more watching at home.

The ratings for last year’s tournament saw 2.5 million viewers watch the United States championship game on ABC. That’s more people that watched the North Dakota State – South Dakota State national championship game earlier this year.

Fargo has enjoyed plenty of national attention for sports recently, but this may be the best love letter yet. For 12 boys and three coaches, they are representing the entire Upper Midwest, whether they like it or not.

“I knew it was a big deal for you guys, but this is even much bigger than I could imagine.” said 2018 head coach Mike Rerick. “We were that close, it’s pretty special what they have done.”

The players don’t realize it yet, or maybe they do, but this will be one of the most memorable weeks of their lives.

For the rest of us watching, soak this in as well.

The next ten days will provide us with one of the most talked about sports events that’s happened in this town in a long, long time.

Dom Izzo is the Sports Director at WDAY-TV. He began working for WDAY in 2006 as the weekend sports anchor and was promoted to Sports Director in 2010.