Rodeo baseball team heads to Northern California World Series

RODEO, Calif. (KGO) -- A young team of baseball players just claimed an East Bay Regional Championship. The group of 5 year olds and 6 year olds from the quiet town of Rodeo are now advancing to the Northern California World Series that's held in Seaside in Monterey County. But not every family can afford to travel. The community is now helping to send the team to the big game.

In the past, the families have relied on car washes to help raise money for these kinds of events. But clearly there's a drought and they can't do that this time around. So instead, they're hoping that ABC7 viewers and their community will help.

The small East Bay town of Rodeo has always had a love for baseball. Dreams have been made on the field, starting with Lefty Gomez who was born there. The left handed pitcher played in the World Series in the 1930s with the New York Yankees.

Many have wanted to follow in his footsteps, including the young players on the Rodeo Shetland All-Stars. Last Sunday night the group claimed the East Bay regional championship in their age group.

"It felt good because we won and we haven't lost one game and we won 10 games," said Rylan Lucero.

On Wednesday, some of the older boys came to the field to help encourage the young team and to offer some valuable advice.

One player gave this advice, "Stay focused on the game, try your hardest, and don't give attitude to the coaches."

But getting to Monterey County for the NorCal World Series is impossible for some families who can't afford it.

"The hotel expenses, travel expenses, all that stuff it costs a lot of money and we're form this small town, not all of us have $1,000 dollars sitting in our bank accounts to get out," said baseball mom Heather Farmer.

The families are asking the community to support them by donating money through GoFundMe.com. If they get there, the Rodeo baseball team will try to make history. No other group of boys from Rodeo has ever won.

"We're hoping it will put Rodeo on the map," Farmer said. "For sure. We'll see how far we'll go."

The series starts on Thursday and goes through July 7 with eight young teams holding onto their dreams.

To learn more about how you can help the team, click here.