This interview aired during Morning Edition on WVIA Radio.
SARAH: The Little League World Series brings players, fans and volunteers from around the world to Williamsport each year. This year's tournament wrapped up over the weekend, and WVIA's Williamsport team of Chase Bottorf and Lorena Beniquez were there for the action. Chase and Lorena, welcome to Morning Edition.
CHASE AND LORENA: Good morning.
SARAH: So the tournament's over and Florida took the championship in a dramatic extra-inning game. But Chase, you've been talking to a lot of people off the field about what they do to keep the series running. So what were some of the most interesting things that you found over the course of this series?
CHASE: Absolutely, I think the one of the biggest things to me was the dedication a lot of people have for this event each year. You know, people coming from all over the world, just to volunteer as a team host, or work as an usher or work with food for everyone. The thousands of people that come in every year...they love it. They're so dedicated, and they put their finances in to come here every year. It's astounding that they love it that much, and they love the kids, and they love the sport, and they love a Williamsport, and that's wonderful.
SARAH: And this was your first Williamsport Little League World Series as our dedicated Williamsport reporter. How was that for you?
CHASE: At first it was, it was a little like daunting. You know, (there are) all these possible stories I think everything just fell into place. And, you know, I had Lorena here to back me up on it and vice versa.
SARAH: And of course you can find all of that coverage on wvia.org. Now, Lorena, you spent some time at the Williamsport Welcomes the World Festival in downtown Williamsport during the series, what was the energy like there? Did you feel Williamsport truly welcomed the world?
LORENA: Absolutely, I mean the energy...I also got to do the parade. So, I got to see the first event and then went on to do Williamsport Welcomes the World. The parade was amazing. The energy of both of them is just, you know, you just see people from everywhere and you feel like you're in New York City for 10 days. You get see, you know, meet people and hear languages that you don't usually hear walking down the street in Williamsport.
SARAH: So many years down the line for the Little League World Series, do you think there are still people who are surprised to learn that something this large is hosted in Williamsport, Pennsylvania?
LORENA: Actually I had friends come in from Brooklyn and they were just shocked by the magnitude and how well done it is. And I think that's the big thing that people take away from it, that it's a very well-oiled machine. I live in South Williamsport and I never even know they're here, that's how well done it is. There's no interruptions with traffic or anything.
SARAH: And Chase, you've been doing a lot of reporting on that well-oiled machine. What's your take on it? What is Williamsport doing right to keep this event around for so long?
CHASE: It's one moment in the year that really - Williamsport's like a small city, like I said previously. But I mean, when the World Series happens, it lights up. It's a day and night kind of situation where, you know, thousands of people come through here. It's that dichotomy that you're not used to, but it's wonderful that people are like, 'Hey, I know what Williamsport is.' And they're from China, or they're from, you know, they're from Puerto Rico, or whatever, and they're like, I can't wait to go to Williamsport to watch baseball with the most talented kids in the sport.
SARAH: What was the population difference that you noticed going from before the World Series started to during the week? How many more people were around town?
CHASE: It is insane, especially the with the parade. All of West Fourth Street in Williamsport and downtown is just loaded with people. You're shoulder to shoulder. There's probably tens of thousands of people that are just all lined up for this parade. And you never see that kind of numbers in the city outside of the World Series.
SARAH: And you'll be looking into some of the business impact that this year's World Series had. What are you expecting those numbers to look like?
CHASE: Very inflated compared to an average day. I'm sure a lot of these businesses got like 150 maybe 200 percent higher revenue than they do in other points of the year.
SARAH: Well, the news in Williamsport certainly doesn't end with the Little League World Series, so we're sure to be hearing plenty more from both of you, Chase and Lorena, thank you so much for coming in.
CHASE: Thank you.
LORENA: Thank you.
