The team was also presented with the first-ever key to the Town of Smithtown on Sunday for its remarkable run, which included winning the state championship and playing for a berth in the Little League World Series.  Credit: Morgan Campbell

This summer has been a historic one for the St. James/ Smithtown Little League 12U baseball team. The group of 11- and 12-year-olds added another accolade to their list Sunday morning.

The Bulls waved to their friends and families who lined Main Street in Smithtown as they were paraded down the street by fire trucks. They were taken to Smithtown Town Hall, where they were presented the first-ever key to the Town of Smithtown.

“The key to the town is awesome. I’m not exactly sure what that opens, but it’s such an honor,” manager Scott Santelli said. “Just awesome to have all these people coming out, and for the town to do something like this for us so quickly is absolutely amazing.”

The lawn in front of Town Hall was packed with more than 100 supporters wearing red Smithtown gear, many of whom spent the past week cheering the team on from watch parties at Bull Smith’s Tavern.

“It really did bring the Smithtown community together,” Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim said. “Masses of people came to the restaurants where the watch parties were. Social media went crazy with this. Our phones were ringing off the wall.”

Wehrheim led the ceremony with several guest speakers, including New York State senator Mario Mattera, who presented each of the players and coaches a certificate of recognition.

“This town takes their baseball pretty seriously, so being the team that won the New York State championship and being recognized, it feels surreal,” Jeremy Katz said.

Katz and his teammates claimed the league’s first state championship on July 25 with an 8-2 win over reigning champion South Shore (Staten Island). The Bulls spent the last week at the Little League World Series Metro Region Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut, where they won their first two games by a combined score of 24-1 to come within one win of reaching the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Bulls fell to Fairfield National (Connecticut), 12-1, in the championship game on Friday.

The players’ bonds with each other only grew in their time living in the dorms on the campus of the A. Bartlett Giamatti Little League Leadership Training Center.

“Of course we’re friends, but we’re basically family now,” Eric Hanson said. “We’ll always remember this. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We had the best week of my life, definitely.”

Santelli delivered a speech Sunday morning in which he thanked everyone from parents, coaches, the town, the fire department and, of course, the players.

“You all deserve this day. You all will be remembered forever,” Santelli said in addressing his players. “Your names will be at Gaynor Park forever. Your names will be there when your kids are playing ball at the same field where your dreams started. Forever, you will be known as the 2025 New York Little League state champions, and I couldn’t be more proud of you guys.”

While the team has played its last game together, it doesn’t mean the players will go their separate ways. Katz (Kings Park) and Ryan Delgado (Sachem) don’t attend Smithtown schools, but the Bulls will always be there for each other.

“We’ve been with each other since tee ball,” Hanson said. “We will always stick together and I will definitely follow my friends from Kings Park and Sachem throughout their whole careers and always support them.”

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